The Use of Probiotics in Aquaculture

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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Dec 13, 2018
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Are you using a protein skimmer on the brackish system?
This could help cut down on water changes, by perhaps 50% if the skimmer is strong enough.
I built one for the mono sebae when they were in a 30 gallon tank, and I thought it worked OK, but I hadn’t considered putting one together on this 90 gallon system yet.

I’ll give it a try and see what happens.
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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BTW, I am going to get some Bio-clean and try it in the 240 system, but also in the brackish.
I couldn't find anything on this, but I did read it can be used in a marine tank.
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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I lied.

Instead, I bought Dr Tim’s Waste Away: $30 for 1 pt. Liquid at the LFS. He raises corals and saltwater fish and recommended this as it is what he uses.
image.jpg
It says that it is specifically for saltwater tanks so I figured it would work fine in the brackish tank. I put a half dose in all my tanks, and the freshwater tanks seem to be clearing up immediately. The brackish tank doesn’t look any different yet.

My water was already very clean, & I expected the water to initially get cloudy in these tanks. Instead, it got even clearer, within 2 hours.

I was going to siphon the brackish tank today, but instead I’m going to stir the bottom and give it a second 1/2 dose.
 

SuperNinja

Plecostomus
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I have a good sized bioload. Small arowana, kelberi and some bichir. dosed ligt last week and just completed a slightly higer dose this week. Well under the 1 teaspoon per 50 gallons. I will post my results. Tank is cloudy now as many people have mentioned. Excited to see where this goes!
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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Well it has been six days and I’ve done two water changes and each system has received a second half dose and a full dose.

The brackish system only had one 50% water change. It actually seems to have less ammonia now and is doing better than the fresh water systems.

I had an ammonia spike only on my largest system. I changed 1/3 & again 1/3 after 2 days, & today it is better but still not Primo.

I’m going to stir/siphon 1/3 (80 gals) out on my redwood trees and fill it up again with another dose tomorrow.

Also, I am going to go buy a tub of Bio-clean because Dr. Tim’s is not as powerful. I think it is diluted in order to be more gentle for use in Coral systems (but I don’t know anything about coral.)
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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It has been 28 days since I started using Dr. Tim’s and my off the cuff advice is that it works in my cichlid aquariums, but it seem to work twice as well in the brackish water.

And it says on the label it is for saltwater aquariums.

How I judge the effectiveness of this product was by the flow rates I was able to achieve.

On the brackish system I normally have to run the pump at 60%. but I find that I am achieving the same flow now with 45% simply by adding Tim’s to my well used filters.

I do 50% water changes each week, but I have not touched those filters in about 40 days.

The brackish system has a filter you can look right into, and it is visibly obvious that there is a reduction in goo plugging up my floss.

I have three foam filters in the sump, & the air stones are working better than before.

Color me happy.
 
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Wharf

Peacock Bass
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Wonder if Dr. Tim's freshwater waste-away is more effective in the aquarium setting since it uses heterotrophic bacteria that are supposedly isolated from aquaria vs. the bio clean I have been using the last year or so intermittently. Very curious about this. I have fallen prey to aquarium marketing and have bought many diluted products and ineffective aquarium supplements in the past. Hence, I am fairly wary and skeptical. Dr. Tim seems to be a pretty stand up guy though compared to most of the aquarium marketers.
 
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Ulu

Potamotrygon
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Instead of Dr. Tim’s, I bought some Roebic K57 today. This is basically a bottle of water and bacteria. It rated fairly high on the listand it was available at Lowe’s, and very inexpensive at $14 per 2 quarts. I’m going to try it on the 240 freshwater system first.

I also bought a 18 ounce bottle of pond water conditioner today at Lowe’s, which is supposed to remove chlorine and chloramines and ammonia from your pond water. It was only $12 where I am paying $20 for 1 pint of Dechlor. It appears to be slightly less concentrated, but it claims to have some soothing botanical stuff in there for the fish.

Because of environmental factors, they have been putting a lot more chlorine in our local water. Consequently I’ve been going through a lot of Dechlor when I do water changes. I’m also pre-treating and pre-aerating the water before I dilute it into the sumpwater and pump it up into the system.

Hopefully I will reduce some water changing and filter cleaning with this method in the future.
 
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