Beneficial Bacteria

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I’ve never seen any article that supports its use based on scientific evidence. It’s doubtful that what is sold as beneficial bacteria has any living bacteria in it. I don’t think it poses any harm but have serious doubt it has any benefit. Once established I don’t understand the reason pond owners believe they need to continue to add it.
 

Mmathis

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I’ve never seen any article that supports its use based on scientific evidence. It’s doubtful that what is sold as beneficial bacteria has any living bacteria in it. I don’t think it poses any harm but have serious doubt it has any benefit. Once established I don’t understand the reason pond owners believe they need to continue to add it.
It’s called brainwashing, I guess. I like to think of it as “snake oil.”
 
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In the aquarium world, no one believes that BB can be bought commercially that is alive. I started my pond with some filter media from my aquariums to get a head start but that's the only way I have seen it work. I found it interesting when I started researching my pond that it is sold to pond owners but not the aquarium owners.
 

Mmathis

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In the aquarium world, no one believes that BB can be bought commercially that is alive. I started my pond with some filter media from my aquariums to get a head start but that's the only way I have seen it work. I found it interesting when I started researching my pond that it is sold to pond owners but not the aquarium owners.
Pond owners are more gullible.
 
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The beneficial bacteria that is needed for the nitrogen cycle can't live long in a sealed bottle on a store shelf. I suspect by the time it even gets to the store, it's dead and useless, if they are even the right type of bacteria.

There are a couple of companies that sell the real thing, but they have to be sent by air overnight. So they are very expensive.
 
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When my pond was on the newer side and i was battling string algae. I did try Nualgi and it definitely made a change to the pond/ the string algae is stead of being STRINGY it started to clump up and developed air bubbles and floated to the top. So i have to differ while yes bacteria is all around and in many forms like moss that is everywhere it has different strains. Now was it a miracle product no but i could see a clear difference when it was used. It is more then bacteria it is isotopes and Trace elements that can be missing or depleted. this is what they boast and it is what i experienced For many eutrophic ponds, results may be visible by afternoon on the first dose – starting with the bubbling up of oxygen, elimination of odor, and Blue Green Algae crashing and floating to the surface. If nothing else it put a hurt on the string algae and i certainly welcomed that after all the hard work i put in to the pond. it may have been jumping the gun a little and the pond was on it's way to being free of algae but it was not cheap either 115 bucks for a 16 oz bottle i believe it was. they claim three years shelf life once opened. I hate additives and chemicals i did a lot of research before i tried this product. Will i continue to Not religeously but only as a buffer to the trace elements
 
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I think you are comparing apples to oranges here. Nualgi does not contain any beneficial bacteria that is needed for the nitrogen cycle. That bacteria is nitrosomas bacteria which converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrobacter bacteria which converts the nitrite to nitrate.

I found this information on the site for Nualgi Ponds:

Nualgi is a patented nano silica based nano nutrient formula in size range of 5-100 nm. The silica becomes both the carrier for other nutrients and the nutrient by itself. It contains the important micronutrient -iron (0.01% to 50% of Fe) and other micronutrients- Mn, Zn, Co, Cu, Mo, B, S, Ca, Mg, P, K. Due to its nano size, Nualgi is able to pervade very small spaces in the subsurface and remain suspended in water. This allows particles to travel farther than larger, macro-sized particles therefore providing easy absorption.

And this from Pacific Pond and Aquarium website:

Nualgi® is composed of a nano-sized silica base that carries 12 essential nutrients for diatom. Nualgi works by fueling growth of diatoms to compete with other algae for nutrients, effectively starving nuisance algae. The diatoms then feed zooplankton, which are in turn consumed by fish, completing the food chain.

I can find no mention of beneficial bacteria in that product. It contains minerals, not bacteria.
 

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