Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter Start XLM - 250ML

MicrōBacter Start XLM Professional 15X Strong
 

Professional 15x strength powerful live tank starter nitrifying bioculture, with much fewer temperature and shelf life restrictions than competing products, for rapidly cycling new marine fish and reef aquaria and brackish aquariums, and for recovering from overcrowding or disasters where the bacteria bed has been damaged or when adding new fish.  It is also quite useful after re-arranging decorations or performing major maintenance, such as cleaning substrates or biological media to "recharge" the nitrifying bacteria population.

 

Super concentrated 15X Suspension of LIVE non-pathogenic microbes, specifically formulated to extremely rapidly establish biological filtration in new aquarium set-ups, and to enhance the rate of nitrification in existing systems.
 

Useful for rapidly re-establishing nitrification bacteria in case of an emergency
 

Particularly useful in aquaria with high population densities and when adding new fish
 

Helpful to re-establish nitrifying bacteria after cleaning rocks and surfaces and after use of medications.
 

1. Rapid reduction of ammonia, and nitrite.

2. Prevents “New Tank Syndrome.”

Supplied in a proprietary base which provides for maximum longevity

Formulated utilizing extensive data compiled by microbiologists

 

MicrōBacter Start XLM 15X creates a nitrifying biological filter in marine & brackish aquaria of all types and is particularly useful for new startups, resulting in cycling in about 5 to 7 days in most cases.  It quickly removes toxic ammonia and nitrite naturally through non pathogenic nitrifying bacterial action.  Even though this product is extremely potent, it may be overdosed at up to 5 times the rated dosage during aquarium emergencies.  It should be your first choice to remove ammonia during emergencies where the filter has been inadvertently killed or when experiencing overcrowding.

 

Technical Background

 

MicrōBacter Start XLM 15X is a highly concentrated, selective complex of live, extremely effective microbes and enzymes that rapidly reduces the concentrations of organic nitrogen - i.e. ammonia, and nitrite in marine and brackish ecosystems, leading to greatly improved water quality and much faster cycling. Use of MicrōBacter Start XLM does not alleviate the requirement for regular partial water changes to help maintain proper concentrations of elements that are vital to long-term health and survival of aquarium inhabitants.

 

Notes - It is normal that clumps may form in the product and the product and the aquarium may have an “earthy” smell or smell “off” and the aquarium water could become cloudy and the smell and cloudiness could remain for many hours after using. This is due to the bacteria themselves and is an indication of quality and is the reason it is necessary to shake product well immediately before using.

 

Pitfalls:  Brightwell recommends that you not use any other type of bacteria product until your cycle with this product is complete !!! Do not even use MicrōBacter7 or MicrōBacterCLEAN until the cycle is complete (then you will want to use one of them to help through the "ugly stage".  MicrōBacterCLEAN   will work best for this.)  Do not use live sand and particularly DO NOT USE dry seeded artificial live rock until cycling is complete. There are no dry bacteria species that will be compatible with this nitrifying bacteria product or that are useful to cycle an aquarium at all! To use a dry bacteria will only lengthen the time it takes to cycle by many weeks and increase your work many times!  Wet cycled live rock or even previously cycled wet man made rock will work fine (although this may be a bad idea due to the possibility of introducing parasites or pathogens from another aquarium).  Dry sand is fine to use, but not bagged, so called "live sand"  because the manufacturer will usually introduce other bacteria species to replace the natural bacteria that will die and these will be counterproductive to your cycle.  Also, several so called "probiotic" salts are available.  Again, there are no species of bacteria that are conducive to cycling that are available in a dry form.  Therefore, do not use any salt that is labelled as probiotic or says it contains dry bacteria.

 

Storage & Shelf Life: Shelf life is typically 18 months from manufacture date (more than twice as long as any other nitrifying bacteria and 8 or more times as long as most others).  Although product can withstand elevated temperatures for short periods of time (a few days), for best longevity and highest potency, keep below 80°F and if possible, it will be best kept refrigerated at 50°F to much prolong shelf life. Do not freeze! Freezing can kill the bacteria.  (This product will usually withstand a freeze or two in transit in the winter, but do not freeze, thaw, freeze thaw and keep from freezing if at all possible.)  If the product arrives frozen, then thaw at room temperature, NEVER MICROWAVE!

 

A word about substrates: Most aquarium bacteria and certainly those in MicrōBacter Start XLM live on substrates, that is, they attach themselves to surfaces of rocks, piping and any other surfaces that are available.  Most modern aquariums do not have enough surface area.  The advent of artificial "live rock" has made available products made from concrete or plastic that look like live rock, but do not have the porosity, so their surface area is too small to support the number of bacteria needed to properly filter the aquarium.  Brightwell recommends that you provide plenty of bacterial surface area, either through plenty of porous natural aragonite live rock, or by providing additional filtration media, such as our XportTM media which has the highest surface area per unit volume of any medium in the world, or our less expensive MicroBacter LatticeTM.

 

Before you get started, you will need:

 

An appropriately sized bottle of MicrōBacter Start XLM.  At a minimum, you will need 1.2 ml of product for every gallon of aquarium capacity.  For example, if you have a 100 gallon tank, you will need a minimum of 120 ml of MicrōBacter Start XLM.

a good grade of the following test kits:  ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH

a bottle of Brightwell Erāse-Cl to remove all chlorine or chloramines (if you skip this, you can kill the bacteria in MicrōBacter Start XLM.)

Of course, you will need an excellent aquarium salt mix, such as Brightwell NēoMarine and purified tap water.  Brightwell recommends the tap water be filtered by Reverse Osmosis with post deionization and that you change your carbon filter regularly.