Cultivating Instant Beneficial Bacteria

[jayc]

Time for a new article. 

 

Stay tuned while I put finishing touches on it.

Edited November 10, 2014 by jayc

[jayc]

Cultivating Instant Beneficial Bacteria

 

How to make instant beneficial bacteria for your aquatic tanks.
Didn't know where to put this, it could go in Health & Care, or Water Parameters. I have added it in Water Parameters since we talk about bacteria and cycling in this subforum.
It can be used in aquariums for shrimp, fish, koi pond that beneficial bacteria needs to be introduced instantly. Cycle new tanks within days, rather than weeks. With a slight modification of the ingredients, you can create one for Marine tanks.

 

So, I have a surplus of Mosura BT-9 that I don't know what to do with. I do not want to throw it away. So remembering my DIY days of activating yeast and fermenting sugar to turn it into CO2, I thought I'd activate the bacteria in BT-9 and turn it into a DIY Instant Beneficial Bacteria tonic with added minerals. I locked myself up in my "mad scientist lab" and ran some trials. My real journey into creating this really began in 2013 when I completed my review of the Azoo Max Bio Ball here -
http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/index.php/topic/4631-azoo-max-bio-ball-review/

 

After reading up on the use of probiotic cultures containing Bacillius spp being used in the commercial aquaculture industry. Using retail products like BT-9 is much safer than playing around with pure bacillus probiotics, since it is at much lower levels.
Those that dabbled in DIY CO2 or home brew beer can probably see where this is going already, but for those that didn't play with DIY CO2 or Beer this is what you need.

 

Ingredients:
1) Mosura BT-9, 8gm or roughly 1/2 teaspoon
2) Sugar or Raw Sugar, 30gm or roughly 2 tablespoons
3) A plastic bottle, (I used a 600ml Tupperware plastic bottle- plastic is thicker). 
4) Kettle for boiling water
5) Tongs for handling things in boiling water
6) Pyrex mixing jug.
7) Measuring utensils / syringe
8) Optional - Prodibio Trace

 

Preparation:
a) Boil some water.
The preference is to use Reverse Osmosis water.
Alternatives are distilled or demineralised water. Boiling the water removes any harmful bacteria or micro organisms.
Tap water contains chlorine or chloramines, so avoid, if possible. If you have no other alternative, treat the tap water first to remove chlorine/chloramines, at least a day prior to starting.
Tank water already contains some bacteria, and I don't want it influencing the outcomes. So I avoided tank water.

 

b) Sterilise the bottle with the boiling water (Be careful if you use those thin plastic water bottles, it will melt).
Sterilise a pyrex mixing jug <-- It's got measurements on the jug.
Sterilise the tongs.
Sterilise the bottle cap with the boiling water.

 

c) Pour about 200ml of boiling water into the pyrex mixing jug.
Add 30gm of the sugar into the pyrex mixing jug.

Mix the Sugar until it dissolves.
You'll have roughly 400ml in the mixing jug.

Transfer the mixture into your cleaned & sterilised bottle.

 

d) Leave the Sugar solution to cool to room temperature (still warmish but not boiling hot).

 

e) When the Sugar solution has cooled, add 8gm (~1/2 teaspoon) of Mosura BT-9 into the solution.

 

f) Place the top on your bottle, being careful to handle it with the sterilised tongs.

 

g) Tighten the cap and shake, to help dissolve any remaining sugar and mix the BT-9 in.

 

h) Leave the bottle in a warm dark place for 2 weeks (in summer); or for 4 weeks in winter (bacteria is slower at multiplying in the cold). Swelling of bottle should take place and is completely normal. This is a sign of the bacteria activating and consuming the sugar. A word of warning: the gases released stink, so if the household is sensitive to foul smells, release it outside.
This fermentation time is required to let the bacteria multiply, and to consume the sugar. Just like in DIY CO2 production.

 

i) Invert the bottle twice every 2 or 3 days to mix the culture. If the bottle is building up pressure (hard when pressed), release the pressure by opening the lid slight before inverting the bottle to give it a gentle mixing. Again, no need to shake it violently. We just don't want pockets of sugar in the bottle. Note: if you use a glass bottle, you will just need to release the pressure build up every 2-3 days, cause you won't get any indication of pressure build up in a glass bottle.

 

Sorry, no pictures this time. There was nothing exciting to see.
The end product is just a dark brown colour soup similar to black water extract but with good bacteria.

 

Dosage:

<I have adjusted dosage amounts, as the first suggestion might have been too aggressive>
New tank: Use syringe to measure 3ml per 10 litres of tank water
At weekly water changes: Use 1.5ml per 10 litres of water
Non water change dosage: Use 1ml per 10 litres of water

 

For larger batches, you can scale up the ingredients to suit your required bottle size.

 

Observations:
In winter, the prepared bottle can be stored for up to 6 to 7 months. In summer, the bottle can be stored for up to 3 to 4 months.
As an option, you can add a vial of Prodibio Trace into the bottle to make it even more potent. Trace contains all the microelements needed for aquarium life - amino acids, enzymes, natural vitamins.
Store in a dark, cool place like in your tank cabinet, and avoid extreme heat or cold to let the bacteria last longer.
Make smaller batches at a time and ensure you use it up within the period mentioned above. This is not a product you want to be keeping for too long on the shelves.

 

This will be a good test to see if the bacteria additive product contains beneficial bacteria or not.
If the bottle doesn't bloat and ferment, then there is no bacterium in the product.
In fact, if the mix does not ferment and release gases, then DON'T use it. As it clearly does not have bacteria in it and you are just going to add a sugary mix into the tank.

 

Sterilising the equipment and bottle minimises harmful bacterial pathogens being introduced, and affecting the potency of your Instant Beneficial Bacteria cultivation. Please note the extra precautions in sterilising.

 

Turn off UV sterilisers or Ozone generators for 2days after dosing.

 

I have noticed shrimp being more active, and the tank never looked so healthy. The shrimps have long stringy poos, which means a healthy gut system. The tank walls have developed a blurry haze of biofilm, which means more food for new born shrimps, and hopefully greater survival rates.
Use it while transporting fish or shrimp, with a few drops in the bag.
Use it on new tanks - prepare it in advance of setting up new tanks. Let me know how long it took you to cycle a new tank (I'm interested to know). Just turn the heater up and add this.
Or use it on old tanks to boost your filter's bacteria.

 

Cost:
Well for me virtually nothing, cause I used ingredients already lying around.

 

Alternative products:
These are untested, but you could replace BT-9 with Borneo Wild Enlive, ADA Bacter, ATM COLONY Freshwater, Prodibio Bio Digest, or any quality bacteria additive.

 

I'm working on version 2 which uses ATM Colony and Inner Health Probiotics powder ($20-$25) where the latter contains nothing but Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium lactis. Which are great for the shrimps internal gut flora.

Since BT-9 doesn't list what bacteria it contains, we will have to assume it's various spp of Bacillus. So by using ATM Colony instead, which claims contents of "true nitrifying bacteria" where it contains "real Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria" and with the added Bacillus from Inner Health probiotics powder, I will have nitrifying bacteria plus bacillus flora in one. But that's another article.

 

Best By date & Storage:

Depending on where you store it (cool dark place), I would suggest not keeping it for longer than 3 months.

No specific reason, just a precaution.

Edited March 11, 2015 by jayc

[matblack]

Is this Silanes formula

[The prawn]

A bit more advanced than my capful of quickstart added to a bucket of aquarium water with an airstone and handful of fishfood!

[fishmosy]

excellent write-up and idea mate.

Do you know if Bacillus spp. will convert ammonia/nitrite to nitrate?

We use Bacillus spp. in marine aquaculture as a probiotic, but as far as I am aware it acts by filling all the space and eating the majority of nutrients which are available for bacteria, so there is much less room/nutrients for pathogenic (bad) bacteria to grow. Therefore less likely to get outbreaks of bad bacteria and disease in fish.

Since you are cultivating the Bacillus on sugar (to get a fermentation reaction), I would suggest that they wont readily break down ammonia or nitrite. It takes a considerable amount of time for bacteria to convert from one energy source to another because their biochemistry is geared towards the original, and therefore has to be changed. For example, even changes from sucrose to glucose can mess with bacteria, and those chemicals are both sugars, just slightly different chemical compositions.

[jayc]

As far as I know Bacillus spp will not break down Nitrogenous waste (ammonia, nitrite).

As you mentioned, it mainly inhibits pathogenic bacteria.

If the shrimp eat it, it also goes towards improving the health of the shrimp, much in the same way humans consume probiotics.

 

Most off the shelf powdered (dry) "bacteria" products will only contain bacillus. 

 

It does seem to speed cycling of a new tank however. More experiences from users are required.

I only had one tank to test on. And it might just have been a coincidence, that this time the tank cycled quicker than previous times. 

 

But one thing for sure. Biofilm created is definitely visible. 

It's only as good as whatever product you choose to start with.

 

<edit> that's why I want to try ATM Colony as version 2. But seeing what you said, real Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria might not like the sugar. I'm going to test it anyway.

Worse outcome is that I just dose ATM Colony separately to bacillus.

 

<edit2> another thing I didn't mention is that cultivating Bacillus on sugar encourages more anaerobic bacillus spp. ie. Nitrate factory. BUT this needs to be confirmed. I didn't mentioned because I don't have any Nitrates in my tank to test. 

Edited November 17, 2014 by jayc

[inverted]

This is interesting.....

Is it possible you may get a better result using dry malt extract instead of sucrose or dextrose

[jayc]

This is interesting.....

Is it possible you may get a better result using dry malt extract instead of sucrose or dextrose

I don't see why not.

DME is used for beer cause it contributes to the flavour. That's not necessary here.

DME isn't something everyone has in their house. So it's a bit more inconvenient, but if you have it, go for it.

DME might carbonate a bit less too. So you might not have to release the gases so often.

[Aquathumb]

Would yoghurt culture/bacteria work? I got it with my home-made yoghurt machine. Its a dry powder that's kept in the freezer.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Aquathumb

[jayc]

Yes that would work, as long as it doesn't have dairy in it.

[Aquathumb]

Great will give it a try. Thanks JayC you come up with some awesome/interesting stuff!