Schrodinger's Bacteria.

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Beyond the fact that it has to be there, I don't need to know that much about Beneficial Bacteria.

If I read it correctly, in a post I read this past week, the poster said that they had left their cannister unplugged overnight and killed all of the BB because of a lack of oxygen.  The first obvious question is: Was it really dead?  The second question for me is: How did they know?

Several sites I checked today seem to indicate that the bacteria can live anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 year like this.  Some sites state that the nitrifying bacteria can go dormant, while other sites say that it just gets really slooow.  I couldn't find a definitive answer.

This takes me to bottled bacteria.  Is it alive, dead, or both? If the lack of oxygen or the lack of ammonia kills the bacteria in the filter within hours, what is in the bottle a year later?  Lacking a microscope, do people buy the bottled bacteria in the hope that at least a few of the bacteria remain alive? 

 

[Guppysnail]

Some of the bottle bacteria go into a cryptobiosis spore form. Just like brine shrimp eggs. 
Others have live bacteria usually suspended in hydrogen sulfide as an anesthetic of sorts to keep them greatly slowed. Those stink and have food that often coats the bottle. 

[_Eric_]

I like the title.

Nitrifying bacteria is a bit of a mystery.  We don’t really know what types we have exactly we just observe the outputs.

Room temp bacteria in a bottle are spores that are supposed to activate when you put in the tank.  Turbostart has to be refrigerated because it is live bacteria but its activity is slowed down by cold temps.  If you let it warm up the bacteria will act normally and run out of food / O2 quickly and die.  Even at low temps there is an expiration date for when it will run out of nutrients.

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On 9/27/2023 at 3:34 PM, Pepere said:

I knew I had dying beneficial bacteria as the ammonia levels in the tank was 1 ppm after turning the filter back on for 2 hours…. Hence dying decaying bacteria…

 

canister had been off for 8, and ammonia test before turning back on showed no discernible ammonia…

 

the bottles of bacteria in a bottle are claimed to hold the bacteria in spore form…

I have tried multiple doses of multiple brands of bacteria in a bottle wanting to believe it helped.  I honestly perceive no benefit from any of them to me… 

The makers and sellers made money, but I derived no tangible perceivable benefit from any of the,…. Dr Tims, quickstart, stability, fritzyme and a few others that Iforget the names of…

I will never be buying any of them again….

In the back of my mind I was thinking that you were the OP.  I don't know why, but I thought you were seeing dead bacteria.    I have used the bottled product once.  As I was already doing a fish in cycle, I don't know how much it helped.  On the bright side, you have given me  another reason to never have a cannister filter.

[Biotope Biologist]

The bottled bacteria helps little. You also don’t know how long it’s been sitting and the expire dates are of little help.

bacteria takes time and patience. If you disturb a mature bed like @Pepere even for a few hours you can have significant die off. But the core population should stay alive and recover. 
 

back to bottled bacteria. It’s not that it isn’t a bottle full of bacteria, it’s that is it a bottle of the “right” bacteria for most people’s needs? The answer and general consensus seems to be ‘no.’ 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I know this is a highly debated topic, but years ago when I was new to the hobby those products definitely helped me out. They definitely helped me save time and definitely helped me out of some sketchy situations when I was brand new and didn’t know what I was doing.  
 

At this point, I have other resources (like seasoned sponge filters that will “instantly” cycle a tank, tons of established media and substrate, etc.) so I have no use for those products, but they definitely have their place. Someone might not have tons of other tanks, friends with tanks, or an LFS to get seasoned media from. Also, peace of mind for some is worth the price of that bottle that can definitely help someone out. 

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I believe expiration dates are a best guesstimate. The green steak next to the curdled milk in the frige doesn't know it expires next week.  Even If the quality control in manufacturing is precise, the shipping and handling usually is not. 

I usually have a bucket of fish water sitting around for the houseplants.  I don't know if the bacteria in the bucket is the correct bacteria or not, but I do believe it to be thriving days later.