Does anybody know what specific species of bacteria make up biomedia?

[wonword]

Well, im studying alot of bacteria to differentiate between pathogens and normal flora, and how to figure out the species based on the media used and a gram stain. In doing so, i've come across a number of species that reduce nitrate to nitrite. Species like Haemophilus influenza and the group of bacteria called Enterobacteriaceae (Serratia, Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Eschericia coli, Klebsiellia, etc). I remember the question being brought up of when cycling the tank, where do the microorganisms come from, and this sparked my curiosity as to where it did come from, and where the bacteria is naturally found. Im biospira and quickstart are based on bacteria they cultivated from healthy filter media. I was just curios because maybe I could try plating it on the correct media evntually, growing it and inoculate a new tank with the bacteria for a quicker cycle Maybe if somebody has a bottle of biospira or quickstart, it might say?

 

[12 Volt Man]

there are many species of bacteria that nitrify, some of them are:

nitrosomonas
nitrobacter
nitrospira

but these nitrify ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate, depending on the species.

those that denitrify (nitrate to nitrite), are going to be facultative anaerobes (eg. E. coli that you mentioned)

 

[wonword]

there are many species of bacteria that nitrify, some of them are:

nitrosomonas
nitrobacter
nitrospira

but these nitrify ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate, depending on the species.

those that denitrify (nitrate to nitrite), are going to be facultative anaerobes (eg. E. coli that you mentioned)

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, i dont know why I wrote that all out when we are going in the opposite direction, I guess I just went on a brain storm. I remember alot of those bacteria you mentioned when making a Winogradsky Column. You wanna take a guess into which ones they incorporate into products like biospira? And do you think they are already in the water column, and thats how they get into out media?

 

[12 Volt Man]

the bacteria grow everywhere in the aquarium, on all surfaces. including filter lines and intakes. however, the biomedia is the most friendly enviroment for a biofilm to develop because of the water flow (that brings in detritus (food) and dissolved oxygen, and substrate space available.

if you tank a brand new sterile tank and add fish (without seeding of any kind) the tank will obviously still cycle. the bacteria find their way into the new tank and begin to colonize.

this is because nitrifying bacteria are everywhere. including clinging to aerosols that find there way into your aquarium, and probably a few riding in on the slime coat of the new fish..

 

[wonword]

Cool thanks! Anybody have any knowledge of the ones in a cycling product?

 

[12 Volt Man]

products like Cycle and Stress Zyme apparently contain nitrifiers in the sporulation phase (ie they contain spores) that become active when conditions are right (which is supposedly when introduced into the aquarium).

not sure which specific bacteria they contain, that info may be guarded by the companies.

 

[JakeH]

I've heard nc_nutcase mention Nitrosomonas Europa, but that could be hair gel for all I know...

 

[Toby_H]

lol, darn I'm busted!!!

I've never done any testing to identify bacteria species... nor have I read of tests done on freshwater aquariums identifying the most common ones...

I have read articles that suggest certain strains of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria or Nitrite Oxidizing Bacteria are more common than others...

But I have seen no scientific information to accurately identify them...

 

[JakeH]

Speak of the devil & the devil appears...

 

[12 Volt Man]

I've never done any testing to identify bacteria species

I have while in university microbiology class. we were given an unkown sample (everyone had a different bacterium) and had to do a million tests to identify it.

I was given bacillus aureus, a spore forming bacterium that is responsible for causing botuilism, a type of horrible food posioning. luckily, the lab was after lunch not before it.