To dose mb7 or not to dose

[paulsz]

Hi all,

 

I have a bottle of microbacter7. I had gotten it because my tank was barebottom and i figured it could use a little extra bacteria supplement every now and then. The only issue is that i have to dose phosphates and nitrates to keep them from dropping to 0. 

 

So, am I better off not dosing mb7 at all? because it says that it lowers nitrates and phosphates. I'm just trying to promote as much beneficial bacteria as I can. But i'd rather hold off on that if it's going to be counterproductive.

 

edit: it's a 13.5g tank. Started 4 months ago. Went through dinos phase but that seems to be under control. GHA went wild but now the snails are eating the their heart's content and it's almost all gone. 

[seabass]

You shouldn't need it for additional nitrifying bacteria (even with a bare bottom tank).  Sounds like things are shaping up after your dinos, I probably wouldn't introduce more variables just right now.

[paulsz]

35 minutes ago, seabass said:

You shouldn't need it for additional nitrifying bacteria (even with a bare bottom tank).  Sounds like things are shaping up after your dinos, I probably wouldn't introduce more variables just right now.

Thanks for the input. I know they say "don't fix what isn't broken". So yeah i'll hold off on that for now and see how the tank shapes over the next couple of months

[Tired]

The best way to promote beneficial bacteria is to have conditions it can grow in (read: anything remotely like proper reef conditions), and lots of places for it to grow. Assuming you have a reasonable amount of live rock, the best thing for it is just time.