The Puffer Forum

A person on another forum asked a question about cycling their tank and someone recommended Septo Bac. They've used it with success to fully cycle a tank. I've met this person, seen her tanks, and she is no beginner.

Just thought I'd put that out there. If someone needs their tank cycled and already has fish and can't get used media then they might as well try it. It's worked for at least one person.

that is septic tank bacteria!

LOL!! who would have thought!

Well, some tank-cycling products do use the same kind of bacteria that's in septic systems.

LOL. That makes it even more interesting.

Well... We all do it...

ETA: Couldn't resist.

haha

Th bacteria involved are not the right ones to establish permanent colonies in fish tanks. Those are spore-formers, and ours are not. Just because they are both dealing with ammonia and its partially oxidized forms does not mean that our tank conditions ever even approach those of of a septic tank or sewage processing plant - they do not at all. Septic tanks are highly anaerobic to anoxic conditions. Our filters are (or should be) highly oxygenated places. Such conditions make all the difference in the world to bacteria - it is one method of selecting which bugs grow and do the job. Our filters are the highest flow, best oxygenated places in the tank.

Don't chase pipe dreams. Water partials work, in exactly the same percentage reduction of metabolites as the partial. If one is not enough, do another or more. If you want bacteria, get them from another tank or from Dr. Tim Hovanec. His work.

HTH

RTR commented on that thread too.

I am not using it, my tanks are cycled.

As I said previously, I was just forwarding it as I found it interesting.

I would guess this stuff, like many other products that we know don't actually do the job but people SWEAR make them lose less fish, may help temporarily, slightly softening the cycling process. I could imagine it building colonies at the very bottom of the tank, and consuming solid wastes that settle down there for a bit, at least until a good vacuuming sucks most of it out.

The substrate does in its depths, come closer to septic or sewage processing, depending on the depth and particle size and whether or not the tank is planted.

Actually, many of the spore-formers can live temporarily in higher-O2 conditions and process metabolites - but the don't establish long-term colonies. The trick would be to not have them starve out the good guys while those colonies were developing. I have no info on the processing rates of the spore formers.