The Use of Probiotics in Aquaculture

[RD.]

Yes,maintenance is maintenance, but utilizing probiotics = preventative maintenance. Not only does it reduce organic matter within the system, it ensures that pathogenic bacteria never gain a foothold. That's referred to as competitive exclusion, and for some hobbyists it can be more important than the maintenance side of these products. That side of probiotics works in the background, and no one will generally ever be the wiser of what sort of hellish nightmare it might have saved one from by performing a preemptive strike on the bad bacteria that live in almost every hobbyists system.

 

[jaws7777]

Pops i agree about the maintenance being important but with a bum shoulder no way i could clean the filter pads. Since i started dosing with the ridx i went from weekly filter pad cleanings to doing it twice a month. Not gonna lie my tanks would have looked like crap this past month. After seeing that i went 4 weeks im confindent that going forward every 3 weeks will suffice

 

[pops]

I understand what you are saying, I am just under the opinion that with good tank maintenance its not needed, and i see some thinking because they use it, they do not have to do this maintenance as often. or more to the point put it off.

 

[pops]

Pops i agree about the maintenance being important but with a bum shoulder no way i could clean the filter pads. Since i started dosing with the ridx i went from weekly filter pad cleanings to doing it twice a month. Not gonna lie my tanks would have looked like crap this past month. After seeing that i went 4 weeks im confindent that going forward every 3 weeks will suffice

you beat me to my post, I have no argument with this.

 

[RD.]

Pops, you are looking at this with blinders on. Sound maintenance practices does not equate to keeping pathogenic bacteria from entering ones system. Anyone that buys a fish, a plant, etc, and adds it to their tank risks the introduction of bad bacteria. The addition of probiotics will reduce that risk factor, and over time hopefully eliminate it. You can't do that by simply performing fin level water changes, and keeping your filters clean. And no one in this thread has ever suggested that probiotics replaces sound maintenance practices. You are seeing something that isn't there amigo.

There are plenty of applications for the addition of probiotics to ones system, if you don't want to use them you don't have to. Lol, it's all good.

 

[pops]

first off no offence taken RD, I see this as a discussion, and nothing but good comes from a good discussion, I am under the opinion that if you add a new fish, or plant with a pathogen its going to infect, I am not sure how a pro-biotic going to prevent that. I do think a healthy fish with a good diet can have no issues with them.

I do ask the question of what pathogens it is preventing from flourishing in my tanks.

 

[RD.]

Apparently you haven't been following this discussion very closely, or you wouldn't have to ask that. Using your logic we should still all be changing water with buckets. Methods in this hobby are constantly advancing, and sometimes old dogs like you & I need to learn to embrace them. Not because our ways are bad ways, but sometimes, just sometimes, there are more efficient ways - like using a Python.

Probiotics don't eliminate having to change water, or clean filters, or allow one to not use a proper quarantine protocol when introducing new plants/fish/etc. to our systems. What they do is help reduce organics, which is always a good thing, and for some folks might help them go 4 weeks on a filter cleaning, vs. 2 weeks. For some hobbyists that could equate to keeping fish, or not. I consider that a plus, and Frank just demonstrated that.

With regards to pathogens, even a fish that on the outside appears healthy, can become stressed from aggression, breeding, etc, and sometimes that's all it takes for a pathogen to take hold. It could even start with something as simple as a scrape on the gill cover, lip, etc. And of course many fish that carry these pathogens, are just that, carriers, that never exhibit any symptoms of what they carry. See post # 245 in this discussion - that single pathogen alone should be enough to make one at least consider the use of probiotics. Flavobacterium columnare is a real concern in this hobby, and it is becoming more common in hobbyist tanks every year. Even those who are careful, and have excellent husbandry practices.

The point being that the introduction of numerous non-pathogenic bacteria, can result in the starving out of any pathogenic bacteria. Again, that side of probiotics works in the background, and no one will generally ever be the wiser of what sort of hellish nightmare it might have saved one from by performing a preemptive strike on the bad bacteria that live in almost every hobbyists system. Again, I can't see how this could possibly be viewed as anything but a plus.

 

[jaws7777]

I look at it like this. People including my kids and wife take probiotics (i never remember to take them even though my wife breaks my chops about it) so it it cant hurt our fish. For me the biggest bonus is filter and tank maintenance. I do multiple wc's a week on all the tanks and having to clean filter pads every two or 3 weeks is great plus i hardly have to vac and poop out of the tanks. Just drop the hose in and walk away. For my lazy @$$ it works great.

 

[pops]

again, I never said using them was a bad ideal, lets get that straight. I just think with good tank care they are not needed.

and i am sorry but I do not think it will help with a fish wound getting infected, clean pristine water is whats needed for that. IMHO

 

[RD.]

Everyone is certainly welcome to their opinion, and to stick their head in the sand if it makes them feel better. Your view has been noted, several times now. Repeating that view over & over again doesn't make it more valid.


Commercial aquaculture, where in some cases rare and uber expensive stock are raised and bred in captivity, and in some cases hundreds of thousands of $$$ are involved, many of these facilities incorporate probiotics into their regular maintenance programs. The science is all rather clear on most of this, and these products have been used successfully in aquatic applications for decades.

My reason for starting this thread was to help fellow hobbyists in an area that is seldom discussed on aquatic forums at a hobbyist level.