Dosing bacteria-based products isn’t as novel a technique as one might think. Despite the recent boom in biopellets and the various dosing systems aimed at improving biological filtration, companies like Prodibio have been doing it for over 13 years. I was first turned onto the world of bacteria dosing when I worked for a local fish store during my years in college. The story behind my first experience with Prodibio can be read below. Seeing as how these particular products come in glass ampoules that have to be broken in order to dose, we decided to do a brief “How To” video showing just how to add the bacteria and carbon source to your aquarium. Dosing is simple, but must be done with caution. The broken glass can cut your fingers, as I have had to find out at least once. A piece of rubber tubing, which is provided, slips over the tips of each ampoule and allows hobbyists to break the tip safely. After breaking the two tips, the solution will pour out of the ampoule freely, though I like to rinse the vial in the water a few times to make sure I get everything.
One particular aquarium at the aquarium store I worked at had become overrun by a dark red algae that had hitch hiked in on a coral prior to me starting there. Despite our best efforts, the algae persisted and choked out countless frags. Water changes did nothing, and urchins and snails ate the algae but it would grow back faster than they could keep pace. So, we decided to expand our search for an answer and stumbled upon Prodibio products.
We started dosing BioDigest and Bioptim on a two week schedule and found amazing results after only the second dosing. For once, the cleanup crew could actually keep pace with the algae growth. The algae was still growing, but seemingly at a much slower pace. Titration test kits indicated a slight drop in both phosphates and nitrates, and the dosing continued. Eventually, the aquarium was completely devoid of the red terror and it could be repopulated with corals.
Seeing as how simple and effective the Prodibio was, I starting using it in my personal aquariums. I didn’t have any excess algae, but occasionally a little patch of cyano would pop up in a couple of low flow spots in the tank. After dosing in my reef for a couple of months, I noticed the cyano stopped showing up and the corals appeared more colorful and grew at a slightly faster pace. I continued to dose the two Prodibio additives until I tore down the aquarium in preparation for a move, at which point I started dosing their StopAMMO in order to remove any available ammonia during the livestock’s transition to the new setup. Not a single fish or coral was lost in the aquarium that was treated with StopAMMO, though I did lose one fish in the nano aquarium that wasn’t treated.
I briefly stopped dosing Prodibio in favor of experimenting with the ZEOvit system. The ZEOvit nutrient control system proved to be more effective, but given the daily dosing, ZEOlite tumbling and extremely high costs to maintain, I switched back to Prodibio. After a short stint without an aquarium, I have started dosing Prodibio once again and couldn’t be happier.
