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Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria?

NotoriousENG

Member
Joined
17 Jul 2021
Messages
144
Location
Eastern USA
Heard the benefits of PNS mentioned on a podcast. Looked into it a bit and it seems to be pretty useful in reef keeping. Apparently, they also live in freshwater (might even prefer it). Of course the claimed list of benefits is long and seems to good to be true so I wanted to check with the experts here. Not really considering using it, but was curious to know if it could offer any benefit in a planted tank.

Link to a sellers description:

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Hello,
I'm always leery of products being pushed for sale without any actual data to show it's benefits. It happens that the bacteria and archaea that we are already familiar with, such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter and so forth are themselves Chemoheterotrophs and Chemoautotrophs thereby performing the work necessary for the nitrogen cycle. Apart from that, the photosynthetic mechanism of PSBs does not result in the production of oxygen, whereas the photosynthetic apparatus of plants produces copious amounts of oxygen which benefits fish and the aerobic filter /sediment microorganisms. It's not clear therefore what the advantages of PSBs in a bottle can offer beyond what plants already accomplish.

Cheers,
 
Hello,
I'm always leery of products being pushed for sale without any actual data to show it's benefits. It happens that the bacteria and archaea that we are already familiar with, such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter and so forth are themselves Chemoheterotrophs and Chemoautotrophs thereby performing the work necessary for the nitrogen cycle. Apart from that, the photosynthetic mechanism of PSBs does not result in the production of oxygen, whereas the photosynthetic apparatus of plants produces copious amounts of oxygen which benefits fish and the aerobic filter /sediment microorganisms. It's not clear therefore what the advantages of PSBs in a bottle can offer beyond what plants already accomplish.

Cheers,
I guess the claimed benifit that caught my eye was ability to feed heterotrophicly on dissolved organics. If it's effective at this it seems like it could have a similar effect as purigen. I read somewhere (will have to go back and look for it again) that the PNS has been used to eliminate water discoloring compounds released by saltwater macro algae. If true, perhaps it could be useful in clarifying water?


On a side note, when I was last in the hobby before taking a break for school, DOC was being looked at as a cause of BBA. There used to be a really long thread on APC discussing this and had results from users who send samples off to labs for DOC testing. Sadly I can no longer find the thread. So I'm curious if DOC are still considered to be linked to BBA or if the thought process has changed?

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Hi all,
Not really considering using it, but was curious to know if it could offer any benefit in a planted tank.
Apart from that, the photosynthetic mechanism of PSBs does not result in the production of oxygen, whereas the photosynthetic apparatus of plants produces copious amounts of oxygen which benefits fish and the aerobic filter /sediment microorganisms. It's not clear therefore what the advantages of PSBs in a bottle can offer beyond what plants already accomplish
It is a fair and balanced article, but as Clive says what it emphasizes is that the problems marine aquarists have are mainly due to the lack of marine angiosperms and, an understandable, reluctance to change large volumes of water. Nitrate (NO3-) and DOM aren't major problems for us.
So I'm curious if DOC are still considered to be linked to BBA or if the thought process has changed?
Some suggestion of this for both Staghorn (Compsopogon caeruleus) and <"BBA (Audionella)">. We have a couple of very long (and ultimately inconclusive) threads, <"What exactly causes......."> and its sequel <"What exactly ...part 2">.

cheers Darrel
 
On a side note, when I was last in the hobby before taking a break for school, DOC was being looked at as a cause of BBA. There used to be a really long thread on APC discussing this and had results from users who send samples off to labs for DOC testing. Sadly I can no longer find the thread. So I'm curious if DOC are still considered to be linked to BBA or if the thought process has changed?
I suppose there are those that will argue but the general consensus on this board at least is that BBA and red algae in general are CO2 related algae. DOC plays a role in just about all algal forms in a planted tank due to it's effects of lowering dissolved oxygen due to bacterial action as well as it's ability to coat the leaves, causing an additional barrier to the uptake of nutrients and CO2. It's negative effects should not therefore be overlooked. Frequent and large water changes helps to keep this under control. Fundamentally however, poor CO2 uptake, or unstable CO2 uptake are considered the main culprit. Fixing the CO2 technique by careful attention to water flow and distribution, as well as to the timing of the gas goes a long way in keeping this under "control".

Cheers,
 
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