O.C.'s Pellet questions and answers!

[DiverDude]

ok, noob question here....the term "monoculture" has been used a bunch of times in this thread and each time I hear myself saying "and just what the hell is monoculture?"

Clearly it is a singular strain of bacteria of some sort but which one and why is it so relevant to NP Pellets ?

Enquiring minds what to know !

[Zoaelite]

Having a large varied biomass of bacteria maximizes the types and amounts of nutrients exported out of your system. A single type of bacteria is suited for what it requires while many different species cover the whole spectrum.

That being said, very little is known on the relationship between Bacteria and their surroundings, this is something that is currently being studied. Most of the bacteria supplements we add to our tank are nitrobacter or Nitrosomonas but here is a statement from Ency. Britannica to give you a little info.

any of a small group of aerobic bacteria (family Nitrobacteraceae) that use inorganic chemicals as an energy source. They are microorganisms that are important in the nitrogen cycle as converters of soil ammonia to nitrates, compounds usable by plants. The nitrification process requires the mediation of two distinct groups: bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites (Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, Nitrosococcus, and Nitrosolobus) and bacteria that convert nitrites (toxic to plants) to nitrates (Nitrobacter, Nitrospina, and Nitrococcus).

[Werbo]

N/P pellets are part of the evolution of carbon dosing and the first "solid" vodka method. Carbon dosing in some form is key to Zeovit and other UNLS systems. Vodka was a cheaper alternative. Early criticisms of dosing vodka alone was that it would produce a monoculture of bacteria in your aquarium and limit the diversity of good bacteria. Vodka is not the only carbon source. A variation that incorporate vodka-sugar-vinegar and incoorporated biodigest became quite popular as theory of the VSV method was to avoid a monoculture. Here is a good read.

http://glassbox-design.com/2008/achi...perimentation/

As far as I know the make-up of N/P pellets is still unknown so some critics fear it will create a monoculture of bacteria, especially after longterm use.

[DiverDude]

So in a nutshell, a little bit of a lot of different types of bacteria is what we want. A lot of a single strain is not (probably runs amok !).

I hope to have pellets online tonight so we'll see how it goes.

[Werbo]

If it was me I'd start dosing a bacteria source first for 2-4 weeks before starting the pellets in a fluidized reactor. I use Brightwells Microbacter 7 (its cheapest) but Prodibio biodigest or whatever Zeo calls their bacteria culture. Build a diverse bacteria population first and then begin exporting it via carbon dosing/protein skimming.

[DiverDude]

Interesting thought. I was planning on running about 1/10 of a bag (so ~100ml) of pellets to start. After a few weeks, I was going to double it and run with a total of 200-250 ml.

The thought was to not shock the system too much. On top of that, I've just torn the tank apart to add the sump and re-aquascape so it's almost 100% new water and freshly cleaned sand so I'm a little low on bacteria right now.

Maybe I need to rethink this.

[loveless]

Well I have egg on my face. I took a water sample into a LFS yesterday and guess what. Thats right no Nitrates and no Phos either. Looks like that new test kit I bought was faulty as well as my old one. Now off to buy a new test kit. Hopefully its my tests that are bad and not the LFS'.

Cam