Test tube Beneficial Bacteria

[Ballyhoo]

So I have been waiting for a few months to set up my 73gal bowfront, it has been continously delayed by the basement flooding twice now. Growing tired of the carpet being destroyed we ripped out the carpet and are trying to find someone to install a slate floor. That being said, I don't want to have to wait even longer to cycle my tank so I've come up with an idea. I have some down time in my Cholera research so I decided that I am going to culture my own BB. I know that the bottled stuff sold in stores is hardly functional at best, but I'm curious if the extended shelf time, under inappropriate conditions, and shipping has caused the bacteria to die thus registering the product ineffective.

I have 2 established 10gal tanks with sponge filters. From these I am going to take squeezings and from the water I gather I will attempt to isolate and culture the nitrifying bacteria.

I know I could just sqeeze the sponges into the Magnum to cycle it...but where's the fun in that?!

and it begins....

 

[oo7genie]

Interesting idea. Going to start the next Bio-Spira craze, are we?

 

[Ballyhoo]

Interesting idea. Going to start the next Bio-Spira craze, are we?

It'd be sweet if it works but I'm not looking to make a profit, just to cure my boredom and impatience.

 

[Ballyhoo]

This morning I collected samples from each sponge filter, my D.P. tank and my Invert tank. I took each sponge and squeezed it into seperate cups rinsed then squeezed again and transfered to the afore picture Falcon test tubes.

I went to the lab and made 4 total plates. One streak dilution plates for each sample and one lawn plate for each sample.

The purpose of the streak dilution was to isolate a colony for further testing
The purpose of the lawn is to grow out all bacteria that are present in the sample and to view various morphologies.

I then placed the plates in an anerobic chamber and stored them at 26C, this equates to about 75F. This is slight cooler than I keep my tanks but the only available incubator was set at 37C which is about 96F and that was too much of a difference.

I opted for the anerobic chamber because I was advised that denitrification only occurs in an anerobic setting, this being true I am purifying my sample by selecting for anerobic activity.

I had originally sealed the plates with parafilm, but after more thought I removed it. I removed it because I reasoned that while parafilm is semipermeable the gas exchange is very slow. Having O2 trapped inside the dishes defeats the purpose of having the plates in an anerobic chamber.

 

[TabisFish]

I like your nail polish (PLUS YOURE A FLIPPIN GENIUS)

 

[cpetrosky]

smart but how do you plan to identify the BB from all the other microorganisms floating in the water?

 

[Ballyhoo]

smart but how do you plan to identify the BB from all the other microorganisms floating in the water?

A few ways.
1. Anything that isn't anaerobic will not survive the anerobic chamber.
2. After I have a colony I will perform a few metabolic tests to see if the bacteria is able to break down nitrite and to what extent
3. If those both fail I'll take a new colony off of the plates and start over.

 

[Rbishop]

Doc Bally-Tim.....

 

[jetajockey]

I thought you were looking for nitrifying bacteria? They are aerobic.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I thought you were looking for nitrifying bacteria? They are aerobic.

I was talking to my professor and he said that the nitrification process happens under anaerobic conditions. Hes a very knowledgable man. phd from Harvard and one of the nations leading AIDS/HIV researchers, his name is Harry Kestler if anyone is interested.

But I'll be sure to look more into this, I'll bring it up to him and if I fail to have growth I'll put it in an aerobic incubator

Doc Bally-Tim.....

Lol what?