Bacteria

[Michelleuk]

Hi 
 
does tetra nitrate minus have the same type of bacteria as tetra easy balance?
 
And is fluval cycle the same type of bacteria? 
 
 

 

[daizeUK]

I can't tell you whether the first two contain the same type of bacteria.  They claim to reduce NitrAtes and I don't know much about those sort of bacteria.  You might need to ask Tetra directly.
 
Fluval Cycle won't be the same type of bacteria as it is aimed at removing ammonia and nitrite, not nitrAte.  It's a fairly new product that I haven't seen before.  I'd be wary of it as there are a lot of nitrifying bacteria-in-a-bottle products on the market, most of which don't seem to be very effective.  There are only one or two products that are scientifically proven to actually have the right kind of nitrifying bacteria and they hold the patents on those bacteria so any other product that claims to do the same thing deserves suspicion, especially if they do not publish the species of bacteria you are buying.
 
Personally I'm dubious about all of these products.

 

[Meeresstille]

What I understand about nitrate is that the only ways to reduce it is to have live plants using it as food or doing water changes.
 
Are you looking for bacteria in the bottle to help cycle a tank? I believe the one that is of any use is Dr. Tim's One and Only! These bacteria help convert Ammonia into Nitrite....not sure if it contains the ones that convert Nitrite into Nitrate.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The bacteria that mostly handle nitrate need to operate anaerobically. This means one needs special media in their filter or a deep enough substrate. They are more common in sw tanks and in in well planted fw tanks.
 
Since most fw tanks require regular water changes for a number of reasons, nitrate is most often handled this way. Enough plants or algae can also do the job. So in most tanks nitrate will not be an issue. But as with most things in the hobby there are always exceptions.
 
Have a quick read here for more info on denitrification, http/www.selba.org/EngTaster/Ecological/Water/Denitrification.html
 
There are also bacteria that convert nitrate back into ammonium rather than nitrogen gas. The true completion of the nitrogen cycle results in unused/uneeded nitrogen being returned to the start of the process. Remember, when animals etc. die, they rot and the nitrogen can also return to the beginning part of the cycle this way.

 

[daizeUK]

Are you looking for bacteria in the bottle to help cycle a tank? I believe the one that is of any use is Dr. Tim's One and Only! These bacteria help convert Ammonia into Nitrite....not sure if it contains the ones that convert Nitrite into Nitrate.

 
Yes, it does.

 

[KirkyArcher]

My Biohome mini ultra ceramic media I believe is now home to the anaerobic bacteria that process nitrate, My nitrates never get above 20ppm even without doing a water change for over 4 weeks! If that was just the case in my heavily planted tank I'd assume the plants were responsible but even in my smaller tank with only a few small plants in it never show high nitrates, and both tanks are admittedly heavily stocked with fish!