Probiotics

[jimmyrickson]

Why can't I find anyone selling/info probiotics for aquarium use (e.g. Bacillus sp.). Its seems to me, especially in a commercial setting where bact. infections can run rampant, that they could be very beneficial.
Additionally, I wonder if live rock functions as a probiotic...

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What would you be hoping to accomplish? Out-compete pathogenic bacteria for space or nutrients?

[jimmyrickson]

Yeah, you know Bacillus sp. and such...

[FunkieReefJunkie]

F & S sells Probiotic Marine Formula. But before getting excited about its possible potential to eliminate or reduce disease here are my thoughts on this. One, if anything it does nada. Second, if it does affect anything at all, it may imbalance the bacteria you've $$$$ spent so much attaining through live rock and sand. Better to save your hard earned dough on a quarantine tank. It would be great if we could restore bacteria, say as we do by eating yogurt in the hopes of helping the GI system. What are these "protective bacteria" contained in this PMF? And have tests actually confirmed it usefulness in marine application?

[jimmyrickson]

Yes they are useful (according to my info). I went through an aquaculture training prgram ( called a "two year A.S. degree") from a local community college in conjunction with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (you know, where O.R.A. is located). I also worked in a shrimp hatchery that rented space at H.B.O.I. Probiotics are mainstreamly used in aquaculture. They do in fact help to inhibit bad bacteria (aeromonas, pseudomonanas, etc.) I don't know that the the Bacilus sp. probiotics would be necessary in a personal aquarium, but in comercial systems, which I am working with now (not happily either) ... could they help with the rampant bacterial/septicemia I see in our fish. It pains me so much to se them suffer...

[FunkieReefJunkie]

There are many other preventative measures taken to reduce disease in large scale aquaculture. From use of ozone, U.V., to simple back to basic water changes. If probiotics could be distinguished as the one preventive measure amonge the others the answer to whether probiotics are effective would be more clear. In the end, without separate controlled studies ( not altered by paid corporate biased researchers) its hard to have total and complete confidence in probiotic results.

Where your working now are they not going through the proper chain of disease prevention: quarantine, and tx? Else this rampant bacterial disease wouldn't have had a chance to take foothold. In business it seems its all about the dollar. Cutting corners, fast tx and selling stock quickly are sadly often the norm in the industry. If you can prove to the average LFS you can eradicate disease more quickly and efficiently than standard quarantine and treatment then surely it would make good financial sense to them.

I'm a very open minded individual. I thrive off of bouncing ideas back and forth in an effort to see things in new ways. I've used probiotics way back when quarantine hadn't been hammered into my head yet ; ) It literally did nothing but allow the fish to die because stubborn me refused to use the traditional tx because I didn't want to tear down my tank to catch and separate the sick fish to quarantine tank. But there are many other factors to look at as well... like onset of illness, water parameters, etc., that could have influenced this outcome. Honestly I hope this thread can spur a lively healthy debate without unnecessary intellectual sucker punches.
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