"Bottled Bacteria"

[Marshall]

I was chatting with a friend of mine yesterday about the idea of beneficial bacteria or bottled bacteria for ponds and aquariums etc. and she made an interesting point. Number one she said that the majority of all bacteria that could be helpful would also be nearly impossible to keep viable in a bottle for more than 7 to 10 days and number two you could create a product 4 times as potent an effective with nothing more than a 5 gallon bucket some water and halogen lamp. I am going to ask her to write out a direct instructions on how to produce and verify homemade bacteria as well as her analysis on the store products.

 

[MitchM]

Actually, you can bottle beneficial bacteria for up to 1 year, in the right conditions.
The problem is being able to ensure the survivability of that bacteria before it gets to the end user.
-and there is no way for the end user to know whether or not they are atually getting live bacteria.

There are many marketing approaches that completely misrepresent what the product is to be used for.

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[Marshall]

Actually, you can bottle beneficial bacteria for up to 1 year, in the right conditions.
The problem is being able to ensure the survivability of that bacteria before it gets to the end user.
-and there is no way for the end user to know whether or not they are atually getting live bacteria.

There are many marketing approaches that completely misrepresent what the product is to be used for.

.

I agree. But, surely there is someway to test the product to see if anything is actually "alive" in it ? I would be willing to test a few products if I knew how to do it because the only bottled product I have used that really does work is algecide but I am always suspicious of many of the others for sale.

 

[MitchM]

Number one, a person needs to determine if adding bacteria is actually "needed".
There is no shortage of bacteria in our world.

If people were not so impatient, rest assured, bacteria will find them.

If you have a microscope, you can find bacteria.

 

[mgmine]

Keep in mind that because something is said on the internet or in a book doesn't make it true. Ever wonder why everyone has the same advise to solve a problem? Could it be that they read about it so they repeat the same solution? How many people have experienced the problem that is posted? Chances are not many but they do have the solution. Do this or don't do that. As far as the bacteria goes a lot of money is spent on it but so is a lot of time promoting it.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

If it's true that any aerobic nitrifying bacteria could survive for up to a year in anaerobic conditions (inside a bottle) it would be quite amazing, and clearly demonstrate the tenacity and resilience of the little buggers, and most importantly it would demonstrate the complete lack of need to add any additional numbers to a pond. Unless of course you happened to scrub the entire surface of you pond and everything in it with bleach, and boiled all the water you filled the pond with. In which case I could see it might be "slightly" useful to add some additional bacteria boot start the colony in your pond. However I still content that it would still be more useful (and cheaper) to just pee in your pond since you'll be adding both bacteria and a nutrient source for them.

 

[MitchM]

Agree, Mucky.
My main point is that what if someone came around to your or my

.place and tried to sell us some spruce trees?
We would tell them no, we already have lots growing naturally all around here.
Same idea.
We just can't see the bacteria that we already have. There's no need to buy any.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

For boosting the start-up time in new ponds, packaged AOB can be quite helpful. Totally a waste of money if used otherwise.
Packaged heterotrophic bacteria (Sludge Busters) although successful in some instances, do absolutely nothing to resolve the underlying cause of the sludge....high BOD.

 

[DoDad]

Keeton Ki Nitrifier Revive is the best but spendy.

 

[MitchM]

Keeton Ki Nitrifier Revive is the best but spendy.

That makes 4 suppliers that I know of that offer refrigerated nitrifying bacteria.
If I was going to purchase bacteria, I would look for a refrigerated product.
I'm not sure what makes one better than the other though.

I don't intend to characterize any pond product retailer as a retailer trying to sell bogus products, but we have seen people on this site that have purchased a product on the sole recommendation from the supplier, only to find out later that the product was not viable to begin with.

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[Mucky_Waters]

That makes 4 suppliers that I know of that offer refrigerated nitrifying bacteria.
If I was going to purchase bacteria, I would look for a refrigerated product.
I'm not sure what makes one better than the other though.
.

Marketing .

 

[DoDad]

What are you trying to say? I've used it but don't sell it.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I'm not sure what makes one better than the other though.

How many of the myriad pond products flooding the market can you really be sure of?

 

[MitchM]

What are you trying to say? I've used it but don't sell it.

You said that Keeton was the best, what makes it the best?

-My other reference was a general comment regarding other posts I've made regarding bacteria in a bottle product, not aimed at anyone in particular.

.

 

[MitchM]

How many of the myriad pond products flooding the market can you really be sure of?

If I buy a section of hose, I know what I'm getting.
Bacteria in a bottle is only as good as it's age and how it has been handled since it was bottled.