Shipping Live Bacteria

[billybatz9]

I am thinking about buy live bacteria (dr tims one and only). Does anyone know if the bacteria gets bad if its shipped? Normally they come in just a box without styrofoam or anything. Can the bacteria go bad if overheated when shipped?

[seabass]

Does One & Only ALWAYS have to be refrigerated?

No. One & Only should never be frozen, nor should it be kept at temperatures above 95°F. Normal room temperature will not harm the bacteria in One & Only. Perhaps it is easier to think about it this way: One & Only is not like an ice cream cone. Once ice cream is exposed to room temperatures it starts to melt, and if it completely melts you have a mess and no longer ice cream. One & Only is not like this. One & Only will last for 6 months at room temperatures (65 to 85°F). At colder temperatures (around 50°F) One & Only will last one year.

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/helpful-hints/one-and-only-nitrifying-bacteria-faqs

[brandon429]

Agreed

 

It's hard to kill bacteria shipped in water adapted purely to living in water

 

It would take something extreme to kill them

 

Extrapolated bacterial impacts:

same for going fallow in a tank

 

Aquarists always worry about ghost feeding or loss of bac, not

 

The fallow tank still has water, massive organic stores, and permanent bac whether fish no fish feed no feed etc. my own pico has been fallow forever, only corals and rock. I could add a fish right now and not need built up bac...all reefs using typical substrates have more than what's needed as excess surface area.

 

Tank cleaning- rinsing live sand to rid it of waste doesn't make sand sterile, after a rinse even in tap, the bed still has filter bac. Tap does not sterilize, it inoculates...opposite of assumption.

 

Moving live rock from a pet store to a home doesn't kill bac. To me there are neat ways to rely on bacteria so we can do things with our tanks 20 yrs ago thought impossible