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Infusoria and effects on water quality.


Sunset Coral
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Hello, a question regarding infusoria I've been culturing. I have a thriving colony of paramecium and other small life to feed my guppy and minnow fry. My question is -does the addition of these tiny critters, and the bacteria they're feeding off, affect or benefit the chemistry of the tank water?
I've tested the brew, (pH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate), and it always just reflects the aquarium water I use to top up the jar after each feeding.  Will adding healthy infusoria speed or support an aquarium's nitrogen cycle? Also curious as to how bottled nitrifying bacteria is made and concentrated.

 

thanks!

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42 minutes ago, Sunset Coral said:

Hello, a question regarding infusoria I've been culturing. I have a thriving colony of paramecium and other small life to feed my guppy and minnow fry. My question is -does the addition of these tiny critters, and the bacteria they're feeding off, affect or benefit the chemistry of the tank water?
I've tested the brew, (pH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate), and it always just reflects the aquarium water I use to top up the jar after each feeding.  Will adding healthy infusoria speed or support an aquarium's nitrogen cycle? Also curious as to how bottled nitrifying bacteria is made and concentrated.

 

thanks!

I recommend that you take care to feed very sparingly. I have heard some folks express concerns in the past about too much infusoria leading to water fouling.

Question for you: Why are you feeding infusoria to guppy fry? Guppy fry can eat much larger foods. What "minnows" are you referring to? Do your fry absolutely need infusoria? We have raised a _few_ species that required very small foods. But we've always found that an established tank provides a lot of resources for fry. Sponge filter squeezing can be easily stratified to find infusoria too.

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@Sunset Coral I think that's a good question, what impact can infusoria cultures have on water quality. Personally I don't worry about moving the needle on ph or nitrogenous compounds but instead what microbes I might be culturing and then introducing in mass into an aquarium. I'm no microbiologist but my personal belief is that it depends on what method you use to culture the infusoria and at what point you harvest. If you're feeding the culture with decaying vegetable matter, dog food, etc.. then I think there could be some cause for concern. The guides I've read describe a clouding of the water with bacteria followed by clarifying as the infusoria eat the bacteria. They caution to wait until the water clears before feeding to avoid injecting massive amounts of who knows what bacteria into the aquarium. Taking that advice might be one way to mitigate risks.

My personal practice is to culture paramecium caudatum (purchased initially from a biological supply company) using whole wheat and yeast. My intuition is that with the main food source being carbohydrates, the yeast will become the dominant microbial presence in the culture and simply outcompete anything yucky. I feel like it's similar to the way that cheese can safely age above refrigeration temperature because lactobacillus is so much better suited to that environment than other bacteria. 

As far as any risks associated with introducing live yeast to an aquarium, I can't say for sure. I figure there isn't much food for them so they would just fade away. All of this is just my line of thinking, it would take someone much smarter to tell you for sure!

Edited by Lowells Fish Lab
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Thanks for the replies! I had the question and found only one other person on the internet had asked (that I could find via google.) So I essentially just copied and pasted the question here.

I don’t have guppy or minnow fry to feed and understand they don’t really require infusoria to rear.

I read online that some people keep scud cultures in their canister filters and they help eat all the detritus which helps maintain water  quality. I was wondering if infusoria could work in a similar manner in the water column, as evident by bacterial blooms clearing up as the infusoria consume them.

Also still wondering how nitrifying bacteria is farmed and concentrated as it’s done with products like API quick start and Seachem Stability if anyone is able to answer.

 

thanks!

Edited by Sunset Coral
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