100% agree, I’ve never used them on my ponds and they’ve always been fine. It can take a while when you build a new pond, but if you introduced fish slow the filter will mature naturally. Ps brilliant videos! Thanks for all the great advice!
The reason these bacteria can remain alive in the bottle is that they are usually in a dormant state, often as spores or in a resting form. In this state, they require little to no food, and their metabolism is extremely low, allowing them to survive for long periods. The bottle also contains a special solution that helps keep the bacteria alive by maintaining a suitable pH and temperature. When you add these bacteria to your pond, they come into contact with oxygen, nutrients, and a suitable environmental temperature, which wakes them from their dormant state and activates them. They then start working
Loving this approach to ponding. It has made me think about the products I buy, the approach to filter cleaning and opened my eyes to an easier much cheaper approach. I was really surprised at the results, that just leaving things to nature had. I have no idea why I thought I could challenge mother nature tho 😜. Since I just let the filters do their thing water parameters have been so stable. Fish appear healthy and the hobby is enjoyable and financially not crippling me. Keep up these great video loving the contents
Thanks for the comment Gary appreciate it glad things are going well. Pond keeping is easy and doesn’t have to be expensive with Mother Nature by our sides. Thanks again!
I'm so glad I've finally found someone who is not trying to sell expensive products ive got jumbo koi and I only ever used tap safe never had a problem once I started to buy all the expensive products last summer I lost every single 1 so this year. I'll be getting some new koi only 4 or 5 and using nothing and letting nature take its cause so thank you.
its not a fact. The reason these bacteria can remain alive in the bottle is that they are usually in a dormant state, often as spores or in a resting form. In this state, they require little to no food, and their metabolism is extremely low, allowing them to survive for long periods. The bottle also contains a special solution that helps keep the bacteria alive by maintaining a suitable pH and temperature. When you add these bacteria to your pond, they come into contact with oxygen, nutrients, and a suitable environmental temperature, which wakes them from their dormant state and activates them. They then start working
If these products are as you say then they are fraudulent and should be reported as such, however, bacteria can be dormant until exposed to oxygen as they are aerobic and can be in suspended animation which is part of bacteria life cycle. As to the efficacy I think these products are for augmentation and assistance rather than substitution for maturation and can assist in the start up and replacement of colonies. I have used these products and they have assisted positively in the filter's capacity to handle the nitrogen cycle; this is evident when I have renewed & changed the filter foams and media which resulted in a faster establishment of them as contrasted with just letting them do it without assistance.
Thanks David. Good to hear that it has helped you. We just like to do things naturally and work’s extremely well at no added expense. The manufactures are very clever in how they market their products and they have a big influence on the market. They only have to say something and everyone believes them and will go and buy it to try it. People love their fish and they know that so people spend money on lots on items they may not need. We are a big fan of products that you need not so much the rest, if you haven’t all ready work that out lol thanks for comment happy pondings
i've always wondered this myself. ive bought various types in the past but dont really think they did anything to be honest. nice honest video . thank you
Have you used microbelift, its a liquid fermented in the actual bottle you buy, it is rancid stuff, the stench from it is unreal. Fed the filter for a month, 100ml every few days, tbh did it work? Who knows, but i had no issues when adding 7 fish on start up 👍🏻
Yes maybe worth it on a new pond but that's it once a ponds been running 12 months its snake oil in a tub or bottle you don't need it i said this in my last video and and you are right waist of money
Thanks for comment yes it’s not worth just putting in every time you clean your filters. Like I said in the last 15 years we have never spent a penny on it and god know how many ponds/filters we have installed then and no probs.
Hello mate you are right about doing it natural way is always best but for some cases you do need to use some products to keep things going and keep it under control if we was aware about every single stuff what do they put in the those nitrifying bacteria bottles we all will do it ourselves the technology is a way far then what people think there is must be found a way to do this with using all those technologies we have those days and I can’t say all the products will work but if the products has been stored in right condition until we buy it and then if we use it right way they do actually work but the problem is does the shops store them in right conditions until customer come and get it in most case that when they don’t work it is mostly either seller didn’t store it in a right condition or buyer didn’t use it right just like fish without putting oxygen in a fish Cary bag you can only expect fish to survive maximum 48 hours but but they do put pure oxygen in to a bag before they post fish and that fish do survive 1 week easy , and believe or not tecnologie is gone too far from that mate they must be able to bottle those bacteria and give them right environment for them to survive before they send it out I do prefer cycling the tanks naturally always but what can you recommend me to do if I have a set up with 10 tank with sump at the bottom all connected to each other and 50-100 fish in it and I had to medicate the system with antibiotics which will stripe out most my beneficial bacteria that’s for nitrifying? In those case this products will have to be used , prime + nitrifying bacteria bottles , yes we can dose with prime only every 48 hours until bacteria grows and catch up but that is mean we will have to dose prime for months with out forgetting even one day late In short way they are good thing to use for water change , after medication ,cleaning filter or adding more fish but shouldn’t be the first option to start cycling a system that’s what I think For the people who is king of keeping fish they do not need any of those stuff because they know what they do but there is so many fish lovers and they are new to all about keeping fish those people have to have those in their hands because they are going clean too much when they clean their filters/tanks/gravels or add too many fish at once or whatever there is 100s of mistakes they can and they do. This products fixes their mistakes mate
My pond had a leak I completely drains it then fixed leak and refilled it I’ve no plants just liner the pond was empty for 3weeks I’ve 10 koi fish small young ones about 10 inch big my water is testing Nitrates very high I’ve turned my uv light off stopped feeding fish and was told I needed to add microbe lift 2gallons as my pond is 6300 gallons will this help me it cost 200 dollars but I want to do what’s rite for fish please please advise love ur videos
That is actually how we started a big public aquarium in Sweden. Before open to public there were signs on all rest rooms saying, If you are going to do number one, please do it in the shark tank. Obviously before the sharks was in. We added 8 sharks, 10 rays and more than 10000 different reef fish at once without problems.
I have fallen for the magic 2.5ltr Gel & bomb very expensive,I should have used some wast water from my small indoor tanks just idea,when I replaced my outdoor sponge system dunk my sponges in my old tank water change water in bucket ,then replace in the pond filter system.think the big company types scare you with new pond syndrome when u start off,but I have known people have fish die in new pond I suppose it’s to clean 🧐.great videos I’m following u know cheers
Please dont believe this video. 1. You dont need oxygen in the bottle to keep the bacteria live. Its easy to keep bacteria live in a suspended state. Theres various methods to do this that manufacturers use 2. Bacteria starters are not necessarily using live strains of bacteria. Some use materials that effectively give a boost to bacterial metabolism. Think of it as giving a caffeine hit to make the naturally occurring bacteria strains more efficient. These though are generally marketed as bacteria boosters rather than starters. 3. The best products on the market do both at the same time. They use live strains in suspended state with the boosters. 4. A filter will usually mature naturally if conditions are right. However the cycle of maturation is well documented, you need organic materials which are used by aerobic heterotrophs, these provide the necessary chemical energy required for autotrophs. Its these autotrophs that effectively remove the ammonia that fish keepers are so concerned by. This cycle can take aprox 4 weeks with still further time for nitrite removal for total maturation of aprox 8 weeks. By adding heterotrophic cultures ( the bulk of bacteria starters on the market fall within this category as its much easier to create the suspension thus no need for oxygen) this time can be shortened to aprox 4 weeks for maturation. By using autotrophic cultures ( much rarer as these are far more difficult to store in suspension and are often very temperature sensitive thus more expensive) this time can be shortened even further, in good conditions aprox a week. Filter starters arent well understood by non professionals and arent necessary in the long term but manufacturers are not ripping people off. There is a real place for them in the hobby and serve a real purpose. They can significantly cut the risks of new filters and additions of increased bio load as well as useful tools in event of incidents.
I have a mature koi pond . With 27 fish . I have treated them for Costa and fluke killing my filter bacteria so adding fish slowly is not an option because there already in there . I have stopped feeding but ammonia is creeping up still nitrite is still fine . What do you suggest other than small daily water changes regards Ben
Hi Tim if your filter is mature then their is no need. The bacteria are still there, they just slow down with water the water temp. Thanks for comment! Cheers
Good Day Thank you for a simply outstanding set of videos for us to watch and learn from. I have a question I’d be most grateful for any help with….. I have just purchased a NEW filter box system, I’m very keen to get this filter up and running ASAP. My pond water testing is great with my existing filter, I’m aware I can add filter bacteria to my NEW filter however I’m more then keen to get this new filter running much faster for the fish heath etc, I was thinking could I remove as much filter bacteria as possible from the old filter box and adding this to the New filter along with the bottled bacteria purchased…. Would this be possible ? would it work ? Kind regards Lee
Hi Lee. Yes it is not a bad idea at all transferring some of the old “bacteria” over. Still give the new filter time to mature and don’t go mad with feeding to help keep ammonia levels low. Thanks for the comment
I've always wondered how this bacteria survives in a bottle or gel ball etc, when it needs certain environments in your pond or aquarium to survive. Doesn't make sense as far as I can see.
Very interesting video, to start I’d like to say, I’ve used a brand of bacteria in the past on my tropical and marine tanks but not in my pond. Personally I didn’t notice a difference between using the bacteria and doing it naturally. So here’s my question, I am going to be starting a new pond soon and will use some water from my pond to help start it but what fish would you recommend for starting a pond, I used gold fish for my first pond but they were borrowed and it’s now a trout pond, i don’t think they are hardy enough to start a pond with, any suggestions would be appreciated.
@thep0ndman yes but shortly offer a time it all gone . and without a food source they would die or am I wronge . I always think natural way I have a few fish ticking my pond over ready for the temps. As my fish and filter was stolen last year . So bigger filter and security cameras let's see what happens now . I was surprised that nothing to do with a pond is covered by my insurance. Do you now if it even possible to get cover for it thanks
sorry for the delay steve, just another thing for you to buy. Keep water quality in order with good filtration and don't over feed, you wont need to add anything else
I have purchased the ea bomb don’t think it done anything when using it. Also have the small jell balls for if I get a amonia spike etc but if I’m honest I am thinking they are a load of crap myself too! Prity anoying really I wounder if they even do anything
Thanks Charles! We aren’t a fan but I know it’s good to have a backup. For ammonia spikes we usually recommend to stop feeding to give the bacteria chance to catch up. Do you get ammonia spikes often?
@@thep0ndman yes I had a pond with koi 20 years ago but have been kipper all types of fish for years closed my fish house down but have 100 gallon in my dinning room with B/Tricoti wild 1 male 3 females I know if I have a deep sub start I will in corsage anaerobic bacterium but don’t want to reduce the water in the tank Am build a 3000 gallon koi pond
i'm pretty sure you're wrong about these bacteria bottle.. you think all these companies scientist didn't look thru a microscope to see these bacteria... lol
About time, an honest & truthful podcast letting us pondkeepers make an informed decision on what we buy! Bravo 👍👍👍 excellent video!
100% agree, I’ve never used them on my ponds and they’ve always been fine. It can take a while when you build a new pond, but if you introduced fish slow the filter will mature naturally.
Ps brilliant videos! Thanks for all the great advice!
Thanks for comment yes a little patience goes a long way!! Happy pondings
The reason these bacteria can remain alive in the bottle is that they are usually in a dormant state, often as spores or in a resting form. In this state, they require little to no food, and their metabolism is extremely low, allowing them to survive for long periods. The bottle also contains a special solution that helps keep the bacteria alive by maintaining a suitable pH and temperature.
When you add these bacteria to your pond, they come into contact with oxygen, nutrients, and a suitable environmental temperature, which wakes them from their dormant state and activates them. They then start working
Loving this approach to ponding. It has made me think about the products I buy, the approach to filter cleaning and opened my eyes to an easier much cheaper approach. I was really surprised at the results, that just leaving things to nature had. I have no idea why I thought I could challenge mother nature tho 😜.
Since I just let the filters do their thing water parameters have been so stable. Fish appear healthy and the hobby is enjoyable and financially not crippling me. Keep up these great video loving the contents
Thanks for the comment Gary appreciate it glad things are going well. Pond keeping is easy and doesn’t have to be expensive with Mother Nature by our sides. Thanks again!
I'm so glad I've finally found someone who is not trying to sell expensive products ive got jumbo koi and I only ever used tap safe never had a problem once I started to buy all the expensive products last summer I lost every single 1 so this year. I'll be getting some new koi only 4 or 5 and using nothing and letting nature take its cause so thank you.
Cheers many thanks for the comment
for confirming this fact. I've always wondered how the bacteria could be alive in those bottles!
Thanks for the comment
its not a fact. The reason these bacteria can remain alive in the bottle is that they are usually in a dormant state, often as spores or in a resting form. In this state, they require little to no food, and their metabolism is extremely low, allowing them to survive for long periods. The bottle also contains a special solution that helps keep the bacteria alive by maintaining a suitable pH and temperature.
When you add these bacteria to your pond, they come into contact with oxygen, nutrients, and a suitable environmental temperature, which wakes them from their dormant state and activates them. They then start working
I agree with everything you said we used to use ammonia to start a pond of
Thanks Terence yes you are not the only one who does that thanks for the comment!
If these products are as you say then they are fraudulent and should be reported as such, however, bacteria can be dormant until exposed to oxygen as they are aerobic and can be in suspended animation which is part of bacteria life cycle. As to the efficacy I think these products are for augmentation and assistance rather than substitution for maturation and can assist in the start up and replacement of colonies. I have used these products and they have assisted positively in the filter's capacity to handle the nitrogen cycle; this is evident when I have renewed & changed the filter foams and media which resulted in a faster establishment of them as contrasted with just letting them do it without assistance.
Thanks David. Good to hear that it has helped you. We just like to do things naturally and work’s extremely well at no added expense. The manufactures are very clever in how they market their products and they have a big influence on the market. They only have to say something and everyone believes them and will go and buy it to try it. People love their fish and they know that so people spend money on lots on items they may not need. We are a big fan of products that you need not so much the rest, if you haven’t all ready work that out lol thanks for comment happy pondings
I THINK A LOT OF THE TIME, IT JUST MAKES YOU FEEL YOU ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING. ALTHOUGH AS YOU SAY IT COSTS YOU MONEY !!!!
Yea I know as our fish are our pets and we want the best for them! Thanks for the comment!
i've always wondered this myself. ive bought various types in the past but dont really think they did anything to be honest. nice honest video . thank you
Thanks for comment Game Changer!
Another great video, and I agree with all you say!
Cheers appreciate it! Thanks for the comment 👊
Have you used microbelift, its a liquid fermented in the actual bottle you buy, it is rancid stuff, the stench from it is unreal. Fed the filter for a month, 100ml every few days, tbh did it work? Who knows, but i had no issues when adding 7 fish on start up 👍🏻
No not used that but always up for products that work! Good to hear it thanks for the comment!
Yes maybe worth it on a new pond but that's it once a ponds been running 12 months its snake oil in a tub or bottle you don't need it i said this in my last video and and you are right waist of money
Thanks for comment yes it’s not worth just putting in every time you clean your filters. Like I said in the last 15 years we have never spent a penny on it and god know how many ponds/filters we have installed then and no probs.
Hello mate you are right about doing it natural way is always best but for some cases you do need to use some products to keep things going and keep it under control if we was aware about every single stuff what do they put in the those nitrifying bacteria bottles we all will do it ourselves the technology is a way far then what people think there is must be found a way to do this with using all those technologies we have those days and I can’t say all the products will work but if the products has been stored in right condition until we buy it and then if we use it right way they do actually work but the problem is does the shops store them in right conditions until customer come and get it in most case that when they don’t work it is mostly either seller didn’t store it in a right condition or buyer didn’t use it right just like fish without putting oxygen in a fish Cary bag you can only expect fish to survive maximum 48 hours but but they do put pure oxygen in to a bag before they post fish and that fish do survive 1 week easy , and believe or not tecnologie is gone too far from that mate they must be able to bottle those bacteria and give them right environment for them to survive before they send it out
I do prefer cycling the tanks naturally always but what can you recommend me to do if I have a set up with 10 tank with sump at the bottom all connected to each other and 50-100 fish in it and I had to medicate the system with antibiotics which will stripe out most my beneficial bacteria that’s for nitrifying? In those case this products will have to be used , prime + nitrifying bacteria bottles , yes we can dose with prime only every 48 hours until bacteria grows and catch up but that is mean we will have to dose prime for months with out forgetting even one day late
In short way they are good thing to use for water change , after medication ,cleaning filter or adding more fish but shouldn’t be the first option to start cycling a system that’s what I think
For the people who is king of keeping fish they do not need any of those stuff because they know what they do but there is so many fish lovers and they are new to all about keeping fish those people have to have those in their hands because they are going clean too much when they clean their filters/tanks/gravels or add too many fish at once or whatever there is 100s of mistakes they can and they do. This products fixes their mistakes mate
thanks for the comment!
My pond had a leak I completely drains it then fixed leak and refilled it I’ve no plants just liner the pond was empty for 3weeks I’ve 10 koi fish small young ones about 10 inch big my water is testing Nitrates very high I’ve turned my uv light off stopped feeding fish and was told I needed to add microbe lift 2gallons as my pond is 6300 gallons will this help me it cost 200 dollars but I want to do what’s rite for fish please please advise love ur videos
Just take a slash in the pond for 3 weeks before adding fish🤣
That would work
That is actually how we started a big public aquarium in Sweden. Before open to public there were signs on all rest rooms saying, If you are going to do number one, please do it in the shark tank. Obviously before the sharks was in. We added 8 sharks, 10 rays and more than 10000 different reef fish at once without problems.
I have fallen for the magic 2.5ltr Gel & bomb very expensive,I should have used some wast water from my small indoor tanks just idea,when I replaced my outdoor sponge system dunk my sponges in my old tank water change water in bucket ,then replace in the pond filter system.think the big company types scare you with new pond syndrome when u start off,but I have known people have fish die in new pond I suppose it’s to clean 🧐.great videos I’m following u know cheers
Thanks for the comment. Yes lots of things to be a little wary about when it comes to purchases in this game unfortunately
Great informative vid thank you.
Cheers Graham!
Why don't you take them to court with trading standards if you think it's bollocks?
Too much hassle cheers for the comment
Please dont believe this video.
1. You dont need oxygen in the bottle to keep the bacteria live. Its easy to keep bacteria live in a suspended state. Theres various methods to do this that manufacturers use
2. Bacteria starters are not necessarily using live strains of bacteria. Some use materials that effectively give a boost to bacterial metabolism. Think of it as giving a caffeine hit to make the naturally occurring bacteria strains more efficient. These though are generally marketed as bacteria boosters rather than starters.
3. The best products on the market do both at the same time. They use live strains in suspended state with the boosters.
4. A filter will usually mature naturally if conditions are right. However the cycle of maturation is well documented, you need organic materials which are used by aerobic heterotrophs, these provide the necessary chemical energy required for autotrophs. Its these autotrophs that effectively remove the ammonia that fish keepers are so concerned by. This cycle can take aprox 4 weeks with still further time for nitrite removal for total maturation of aprox 8 weeks.
By adding heterotrophic cultures ( the bulk of bacteria starters on the market fall within this category as its much easier to create the suspension thus no need for oxygen) this time can be shortened to aprox 4 weeks for maturation.
By using autotrophic cultures ( much rarer as these are far more difficult to store in suspension and are often very temperature sensitive thus more expensive) this time can be shortened even further, in good conditions aprox a week.
Filter starters arent well understood by non professionals and arent necessary in the long term but manufacturers are not ripping people off. There is a real place for them in the hobby and serve a real purpose. They can significantly cut the risks of new filters and additions of increased bio load as well as useful tools in event of incidents.
🥱
Can you supply some links or studies?
I have a mature koi pond . With 27 fish . I have treated them for Costa and fluke killing my filter bacteria so adding fish slowly is not an option because there already in there . I have stopped feeding but ammonia is creeping up still nitrite is still fine . What do you suggest other than small daily water changes regards Ben
If you have an existing system and pond are they not a good product to use after winter when you haven’t fed your fish ?
Hi Tim if your filter is mature then their is no need. The bacteria are still there, they just slow down with water the water temp. Thanks for comment! Cheers
Good Day
Thank you for a simply outstanding set of videos for us to watch and learn from.
I have a question I’d be most grateful for any help with….. I have just purchased a NEW filter box system, I’m very keen to get this filter up and running ASAP.
My pond water testing is great with my existing filter, I’m aware I can add filter bacteria to my NEW filter however I’m more then keen to get this new filter running much faster for the fish heath etc,
I was thinking could I remove as much filter bacteria as possible from the old filter box and adding this to the New filter along with the bottled bacteria purchased…. Would this be possible ? would it work ?
Kind regards Lee
Hi Lee. Yes it is not a bad idea at all transferring some of the old “bacteria” over. Still give the new filter time to mature and don’t go mad with feeding to help keep ammonia levels low. Thanks for the comment
The bacteria have scuba gear. Of coarse you have to buy it seperatly.
😂
I've always wondered how this bacteria survives in a bottle or gel ball etc, when it needs certain environments in your pond or aquarium to survive. Doesn't make sense as far as I can see.
It does make you wonder thanks for the comment
Very interesting video, to start I’d like to say, I’ve used a brand of bacteria in the past on my tropical and marine tanks but not in my pond. Personally I didn’t notice a difference between using the bacteria and doing it naturally. So here’s my question, I am going to be starting a new pond soon and will use some water from my pond to help start it but what fish would you recommend for starting a pond, I used gold fish for my first pond but they were borrowed and it’s now a trout pond, i don’t think they are hardy enough to start a pond with, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi thanks for the comment. To be honest your big standard gold fish are usually the best as they are cheap and also very hardy. Cheers
Makes sense 👌
Cheers Sandy!! 👊
If there was ammonia wouldn't that kill off the backbacteria in there anyway
No the bacteria break it down, so it’s kinda good for them
@thep0ndman yes but shortly offer a time it all gone . and without a food source they would die or am I wronge . I always think natural way I have a few fish ticking my pond over ready for the temps. As my fish and filter was stolen last year . So bigger filter and security cameras let's see what happens now . I was surprised that nothing to do with a pond is covered by my insurance. Do you now if it even possible to get cover for it thanks
Can anyone help me with NT labs medi clay. Is it worth it or not?? Cheers all
sorry for the delay steve, just another thing for you to buy. Keep water quality in order with good filtration and don't over feed, you wont need to add anything else
I think it's a waste of money the only thing I use is clay. I think clay is brill for the pond
Thanks for comment! They only clay we normally use is digging it out or getting stuck in it! lol
Just throw some soil in the pond and you’re good to go 😅
😂
I have purchased the ea bomb don’t think it done anything when using it. Also have the small jell balls for if I get a amonia spike etc but if I’m honest I am thinking they are a load of crap myself too! Prity anoying really I wounder if they even do anything
Thanks Charles! We aren’t a fan but I know it’s good to have a backup. For ammonia spikes we usually recommend to stop feeding to give the bacteria chance to catch up. Do you get ammonia spikes often?
@@thep0ndman no not at all! Only when the pond was in its first year!
I have been keeping fish of all types I think you are wright don’t can you suggest how to culture anaerobic bacteria
Hi Alan thanks for comment. Do you want to know how to culture anaerobic bacteria?
@@thep0ndman yes I had a pond with koi 20 years ago but have been kipper all types of fish for years closed my fish house down but have 100 gallon in my dinning room with B/Tricoti wild 1 male 3 females
I know if I have a deep sub start
I will in corsage anaerobic bacterium but don’t want to reduce the water in the tank
Am build a 3000 gallon koi pond
Never buy them waste off money
👌
i'm pretty sure you're wrong about these bacteria bottle.. you think all these companies scientist didn't look thru a microscope to see these bacteria... lol
Haha yes you would think so but no oxygen live bacteria lol who knows thanks for comment
Might say you're pissing your money away. Just be easier to piss in the pond...