I have read that thread in the past, the real irony is that at the end of that long winded discussion they are still arguing. lol I'm more of a hands on type of guy, and while tests & studies & papers are interesting, I began testing these products on my own years ago. Controlled? Not really. Peer reviewed? Nope. But good enough for me to understand that under the conditions that I used them, they worked. In fact I was using, and promoting septic tank bacteria (heterotrophs) for cycling many years ago, because just like discussed in the link that squint posted I knew that products like SeptoBac would consume ammonia, and assist in the cycle. Even Fritz admits that.
"In the absence of an organic nitrogen source, many heterotrophs can utilize ammonia instead."
The part that they left out in their little story, is that when cycling a bare bones new tank that is "fishless", and simply adding a source of liquid ammonia, those bacteria are forced to feed off that ammonia. And as squint knows, nitrifying bacteria are already in our water distribution lines, so they begin slowly building in the new tank as well. No study required, been there done that, as have many others, many years ago. A little trick that started approx 25 yrs ago with a now defunct cichlid club in Eastern Canada. (CRLCA)
There are a LOT of variables involved in these types of discussions, size of tank, pH, water temp, 02 levels, type of bio-media, the list goes on & on. One thing that I discovered with Seachem Stability, and my set up, was that in order to maximize the speed of the cycle, I had to use double the Seachem recommended dose. A tank that was showing high ammonia levels (I had wiped out most of the bio-bacteria from the use of medication) was brought back to a fully cycled balanced tank in 5 days. And from day 1, while using a double dose, the free ammonia level dropped to near 0, and I left the fish in for the full 5 days with no issues. Without Stability the fish would have most likely been scorched to death from the ammonia, before the bio bacteria recovered on their own.
What the exact science is in all of this I do not know, nor do I really care. I just know that many of these products do in fact work, exactly as claimed. Fritz isn't the only company that figured out how to keep these bacteria dormant in a liquid state. Anyone with a lab at their disposal can reverse engineer these products, and with a few tweaks take out their own patent. The dry formulas, such as the septic products, they are old school for sure, but they still have a place in this hobby as well. Different bacteria, for different measures.
"In the absence of an organic nitrogen source, many heterotrophs can utilize ammonia instead."
The part that they left out in their little story, is that when cycling a bare bones new tank that is "fishless", and simply adding a source of liquid ammonia, those bacteria are forced to feed off that ammonia. And as squint knows, nitrifying bacteria are already in our water distribution lines, so they begin slowly building in the new tank as well. No study required, been there done that, as have many others, many years ago. A little trick that started approx 25 yrs ago with a now defunct cichlid club in Eastern Canada. (CRLCA)
There are a LOT of variables involved in these types of discussions, size of tank, pH, water temp, 02 levels, type of bio-media, the list goes on & on. One thing that I discovered with Seachem Stability, and my set up, was that in order to maximize the speed of the cycle, I had to use double the Seachem recommended dose. A tank that was showing high ammonia levels (I had wiped out most of the bio-bacteria from the use of medication) was brought back to a fully cycled balanced tank in 5 days. And from day 1, while using a double dose, the free ammonia level dropped to near 0, and I left the fish in for the full 5 days with no issues. Without Stability the fish would have most likely been scorched to death from the ammonia, before the bio bacteria recovered on their own.
What the exact science is in all of this I do not know, nor do I really care. I just know that many of these products do in fact work, exactly as claimed. Fritz isn't the only company that figured out how to keep these bacteria dormant in a liquid state. Anyone with a lab at their disposal can reverse engineer these products, and with a few tweaks take out their own patent. The dry formulas, such as the septic products, they are old school for sure, but they still have a place in this hobby as well. Different bacteria, for different measures.
