[kizwan]

I found out some people use this bacteria to clear organic matter in aquarium. Can anyone tell me more about this? If it have any effect on Nitrogen cycle? I'm not planning to use it but just want to learn more.

 

[jeffkrol]

Blue green "algae" is photosynthetic bacteria.
Need to clarify.

 

[kizwan]

example: https://myaquariumshops.com/product/otto-psb-photosynthetic-bacteria-5-l/

 

[jeffkrol]

Oj so you are talking purple bacteria that live on low O2 conditions.
Fine if you have low O2 areas.
Otherwise you are just adding....nothing.

http://beneficialbacteria.net/benef...beneficial-bacteria-nitrogen-cycle-aquariums/


That article is junk though.

For "fun"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/photosynthetic-bacteria

 

[Oughtsix]

Planted tanks are FULL of all different kinds of bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria get all the press coverage but there are hundreds of other strains in a healthy planted tank. The nitrifying bacteria might establish and balance itself in a couple months. There are several other bacterial species that are benificial to your plants which I belive take much longer to establish themselves and come to their own equilibrium.

As I am setting up my new tank I am moving a lot of dirt from my old planted tank to the new tank to introduce all the bacteria that are doing such a good job in my established to my new tank.

 

[kizwan]

Oj so you are talking purple bacteria that live on low O2 conditions.
Fine if you have low O2 areas.
Otherwise you are just adding....nothing.

http://beneficialbacteria.net/benef...beneficial-bacteria-nitrogen-cycle-aquariums/


That article is junk though.

For "fun"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/photosynthetic-bacteria

So, it will be shortlived bacteria since aquarium will always rich in O2. No wonder people who use this need to dose it regularly. I found about PSB at local fish keeping (mostly non-planted) club.

Planted tanks are FULL of all different kinds of bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria get all the press coverage but there are hundreds of other strains in a healthy planted tank. The nitrifying bacteria might establish and balance itself in a couple months. There are several other bacterial species that are benificial to your plants which I belive take much longer to establish themselves and come to their own equilibrium.

As I am setting up my new tank I am moving a lot of dirt from my old planted tank to the new tank to introduce all the bacteria that are doing such a good job in my established to my new tank.

A bit of topic; usually how deep the dirt you use in your tank? Did you cap it with sand & how deep?

 

[Oughtsix]

A bit of topic; usually how deep the dirt you use in your tank? Did you cap it with sand & how deep?

In my current tank there are places where the dirt was over 5" deep. The dirt kind of compresses a bit over time and the deep places are more like 4" now. I have never experienced the rotten egg smell of anarobic bacteria which I read online might be a problem if my dirt is too deep. The first months of my current tank I did have a lot of gas (CO2) released from the soil as the bacteria was busy munching the food rich soil and breaking it down to molecules the plants can absorb.

I cap my dirt with a good inch or more of gravel. I think the gravel is easier to work with than sand and also lets debris work its way down to the soil/dirt layer.

In my new 180g tank I have no worries about 6", 8" or even deeper dirt.

 

[kizwan]

In my current tank there are places where the dirt was over 5" deep. The dirt kind of compresses a bit over time and the deep places are more like 4" now. I have never experienced the rotten egg smell of anarobic bacteria which I read online might be a problem if my dirt is too deep. The first months of my current tank I did have a lot of gas (CO2) released from the soil as the bacteria was busy munching the food rich soil and breaking it down to molecules the plants can absorb.

I cap my dirt with a good inch or more of gravel. I think the gravel is easier to work with than sand and also lets debris work its way down to the soil/dirt layer.

In my new 180g tank I have no worries about 6", 8" or even deeper dirt.

That depth is good. I was told minimum depth is 3 inch while preferred depth is 6 inch. It is important for the aerobic & anaerobic bacteria.

Mine is less than 3 inch, including cap & I have problem with reoccurring BGA.

 

[Oughtsix]

That depth is good. I was told minimum depth is 3 inch while preferred depth is 6 inch. It is important for the aerobic & anaerobic bacteria.

Mine is less than 3 inch, including cap & I have problem with reoccurring BGA.

My hunch is the depth of your substrate is not the cause of or contributing to the BGA. When I was setting up my tank it was common knowledge that a soil depth of 6" would invariably cause anaerobic conditions releasing sulfur-dioxide killing everything in the tank. I took that advice with a grain of salt and went as deep as I felt needed for my scaping.

I had algae problems for several months when I setup my dirt bottom tank. Eventually everything balanced out, the algae subsided and the plants flourished. With all my efforts to fight the algae I think the only truly effective approach was patients... which unfortunately I have a shortage of.

 

[kizwan]

My hunch is the depth of your substrate is not the cause of or contributing to the BGA. When I was setting up my tank it was common knowledge that a soil depth of 6" would invariably cause anaerobic conditions releasing sulfur-dioxide killing everything in the tank. I took that advice with a grain of salt and went as deep as I felt needed for my scaping.

I had algae problems for several months when I setup my dirt bottom tank. Eventually everything balanced out, the algae subsided and the plants flourished. With all my efforts to fight the algae I think the only truly effective approach was patients... which unfortunately I have a shortage of.

I have doubt that too but I have thoroughly clean (almost because I can't clean every residue on the leaves) this tank & BGA is still coming back. I'm right now believe because my substrate is not enough deep, there's not much space for the aerobic & anaerobic bacteria to live. I don't know, maybe that causing anaerobic conditions in my tank which is why BGA is reoccurring. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I have fight many battle with algae but BGA is wearing my patience down. The stem plants & the crypt Wendtii are growing well, that's why I put up with this tank. Somehow the floaters are not. Fish & snails don't last long in this tank, especially snails. The only one that survived is ghost shrimp, specifically the riceland prawn. Right now the tank is fishless just in case I need to nuke it because of the BGA. One of the surviving albino bristlenose pleco & three ghost shrimps are relocated to my empty 4ft tank.

I also didn't get the rotten egg smell. I started to think people back then are talking based on theory, not based on experience. This is the video I learned why deep substrate is key of success if you're using dirt.
https://youtu.be/8LPqo_abbps

 

[kizwan]

So the purple bacteria (psb) feed on the organic matter. Would this have any effect on the nitrifying bacteria? Like the decaying process releases ammonia & the nitrifying bacteria take it. Would the nitrifying bacteria starving if there's no ammonia for them to take & therefore lead them to death?

 

[kizwan]

If our tank have deep substrate, can PSB flourish in there?

So, what about Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria? Is it same thing, purple bacteria?

 

[Tiger15]

There have been many discussions in fish forums on adopting anaerobic denitrification in deep sand as used in saltwater, but it has not gotten traction in freshwater. Saltwater has more diverse fauna in live sand to carry out denitrification at higher efficiency than in freshwater. Making artificial saltwater is expensive and tedious, so saltwater folks employ every biochemical filtration option available to minimize WC. Freshwater is cheap and nitrate reduction can be achieved much easier by water change or growing plants. Anaerobic denitrification in freshwater is too slow and hazardous (due to potential release of toxic gases) to worth the effort.

Chloroplasts of all green plants and algae are symbiotic descendents of cynobacteria. It's good to know that there is a diversity of other photosynthetic bacteria besides cyanobacteria that utilize different processes to capture sunlight energy to make food.

 

[kizwan]

Thank you for the response. PSB or purple bacteria is use widely in local aquarium enthusiast community but these guys are just aquarium with fish in it. No plant. Since I read more on this bacteria & how it more active in anaerobic condition, I thought it could live in deep substrate, hence the question.