Hello Shawn,
Well it’s nice to see that
a shopowner is actually taking pride in what they sell and not letting commerce
dictate that for them. It’s a hard judgment call on doing what is right over doing
what will bring in the most revenue for your business. It sounds to me that you’re looking out
for the betterment of your customers.
In the article: Testing
11 commercial products claiming to contain nitrifying bacteria that will
facilitate in the conversion of toxic ammonia to nontoxic nitrate within the
pond. None of the cultures used did I give
names to in that article because of liability lawsuits and unfortunately some
of these companies that make these products have lawyers on retainer that will
destroy a biologist or chemist’s career if they were given the chance to. I have a chemist I work with that
almost lost everything by the big tobacco companies because he had a product
that would stop cigarettes from causing cancer. Yes, lung cancer and other
respiratory diseases would be a thing of the past. The tobacco companies sued
him because his product would be ‘an admission of guilt’ if they were to use it
in their products.
All testing on the bacteria cultures in
the article were tested at an optimum temperature of 27°C (77°F), temperatures
that our ponds never reach until late summer or if you live further south than
the Mason-Dixon Line then maybe sooner. Remember, the testing was at ‘optimum
conditions for cell growth’, something that our ponds never replicate like in a
lab.
The two products
you’re referring to: AWT-1 and Koi Care Kennel Jump
Start are blends of Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter, and Nitrospira bacteria and if I
remember correctly… one or both of them have to be refrigerated to give it a
longer shelf life. Most storeowners do not carry those products here in Chicago
because of the refrigeration they require. The refrigeration process is to slowdown
the cells inside the bottles down @ 2.22°C (36°F) but not killing them
altogether. You may want to read Nitrobacter and cold weather:
My
endorsement is on both of these products from lab testing that I have personally
done. You can rest assure you’re doing your part in selling the hobbyist a good
product for inoculating their ponds in early spring as being honest to your
clientele, a lot better than the freeze-dried cultures because of faster
reaction times.
Question: Also, do you have a recommendation for a
qualified bacterium that aide in the removal of sludge? This is also a product
we sell a lot of and I do not want to sell something that does not work.
Now this is something I
really question when a hobbyist ask me this. Why do you have so much sludge
(smuts) in your pond in the first place? Why aren’t your bacteria
taking care of the nitrogen processes and the oxidation of these organics in
ridding your pond or water garden of this sludge? Is the hobbyist confusing
sludge with mulm? Is the mulm inert and has it been broken down into its
simplest form already? Mulm only becomes a problem when it begins to clog
biological and chemical pathways; otherwise it becomes another biological media
for the bacteria to live on. At least in natural systems that’s how it works.
Okay, sorry for the
rambling but too much sludge in anyone’s pond from Autumn foliage or yearly
buildup is not a good sign of astute pond husbandry. When it comes to sludge,
look for a bacterium product that mainly takes care of organic materials using
heterotrophic bacteria. Most products out there use exclusively heterotrophic
bacteria in their sludge additives that use organics as a foodsource. Once
again stick with those that come in liquid form over freeze-dried because of
reaction time is shortened.
There is a way of improving
these sludge remover products that hobbyist buy.
1)
Increase aeration from bottom to top of pond
heavily with air stones and a strong air pump.
2)
Increase water movement along the bottom of
the pond to bring more oxygen and oxygenated water turnover to the organics
that you’re trying to oxidizes.
Heterotrophic bacteria need lots of oxygen to multiply and can become
very competitive with the animals in our ponds for oxygen and will cause a pond
die-off if the consumption of oxygen outcompetes that of the higher life forms.
3) Never
let hobbyists think that an overabundance of heterotrophic bacteria from sludge
removers in solution ends all problems, because they will outcompete
autotrophs’ for space, food and oxygen and they will end up with a pH swing or
an inefficient nitrogen cycle. They will then have to inoculate their ponds
once again with more autotrophic bacteria for their nitrogen cycle and may end
up with an ammonia swing because that is the byproduct of heterotrophs.
What I’m
saying if you sell a hobbyist a sludge remove make sure they have a backup
product on hand. Such sludge remover will also consume
large amounts carbon. These reduced carbon compounds can be used as an
energy source by the autotrophs and provide the energy in food consumed by
heterotrophic bacteria too. Ninety-five percent or more of all types of living
organisms that live in our ponds are heterotrophic and I bet most of your
customers don’t even know that.
So the sludge
remover you’re selling is a good one and there are several other brands that
would service too but they are all about the same.
Kevin
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