Eco Bio Blocks.... test begins

[DrNo]

I'm a newbie, but I agree you should wait longer to make judgment to be fair.
I looked at the site and they never mentioned EcoBio-Block will intensify the color of the fish. It' says they'll improve the water quality.

Welcome to the forums loveaqua!

I agree with your comment. I think one can make an argument that improved water quality translates into better fish health, coloration. size, appearance, etc. I've certainly experienced this since introducing these bacteria

 

[Spewn]

Is the thinking that the bacteria stays on these blocks, or that it inhabits the rest of the tank as well?

 

[DrNo]

Is the thinking that the bacteria stays on these blocks, or that it inhabits the rest of the tank as well?

The bacteria requires significant oxygenation so I don't think it could be expected to spread throughout the tank unless there was an active flow of oxygenated water (e.g. an airstone). I have one set over my disc airstone (90 gallon) and the other is in the filter itself (125 gallon). Either was purported to be acceptable per instructions.

 

[THE V]

It actually spreads throughout the tank very rapidly. It will also colonize in your filter as well. It just turns evil and converts NO2 and NO3 into NH3 in anaerobic conditions. Just like many other bacteria.

 

[Squawkbert]

Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacters are all over the tank. The whole trick to this type of system (if, indeed it works biologically and not chemically) is that it provides some anoxic space for a third type of bacteria to reduce NO3 to N2 (and other stuff). If it's just a chemical adsorption of NO3, it's like purigen or zeolite. The EcoMagic system w/ RUGF etc. sounds like it's designed to provide the low oxygen environment needed by the NO3 fixing bacteria (like liverock in a marine tank - it provides deep, small pores with low diffusion rates, so water with very low oxygen levels gets to bacteria that can then fix NO3 anaerobically.

 

[Spewn]

Sqwakbert; I'm not sure that this product advertises Nitrate removal in anaerobic conditions...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165354&page=3

"What does all this mean?

In anaerobic conditions B. subtilis converts nitrate to nitrite and then to ammonia... not good for a fish tank. Keep up the water changes.

In normal conditions it produces antifungal and antibacterial chemicals. Good for the aquarium as it can help keeps bacterial or fungal blooms from occurring."

Doesn't appear to have anything to do with Nitrate removal. Since the instructions say to place the block in a high flow area, anaerobic doesn't make sense to me :/

 

[Squawkbert]

There are heterotrophic bacteria that run the cycle more or less backwards, and there are those who live in a nearly anoxic state and can convert NO3 to N2 and other stuff - not the same species, not the same process.

 

[THE V]

There are heterotrophic bacteria that run the cycle more or less backwards, and there are those who live in a nearly anoxic state and can convert NO3 to N2 and other stuff - not the same species, not the same process.

Correct --- but this product is selling B. subtillis which runs the cycle backwards from N03 to N02 to NH3. It doesn't advertise any of the heterotrophs that do the NO2 to N2 chemical pathway. I also seriously doubt that there they can make porous substance that will allow bacteria to colonize and allow NO3 to penetrate but not 02 (a smaller molecule). Kind of doesn't make sense to me.

 

[1oooop]

Correct --- but this product is selling B. subtillis which runs the cycle backwards from N03 to N02 to NH3. It doesn't advertise any of the heterotrophs that do the NO2 to N2 chemical pathway. I also seriously doubt that there they can make porous substance that will allow bacteria to colonize and allow NO3 to penetrate but not 02 (a smaller molecule). Kind of doesn't make sense to me.

well... they can do osmosis... where the inside already had o2 but no no3...

 

[Star_Rider]

I wonder how it works in live rock.

different bacteria?