Introduction of the Hwa Bacter
Why use bacteria?
Appreciate all the feedback and comments on the content i have created and shared so far, it is certainly awesome to get great feedback on it. While rare to share openly information, i think there should be a depositary where all the information are gathered together to educate the shrimp hobby.
coming back to today’s post on Hwa Bacter, and it took me a good 4 years before i actually share this information because i didn’t had sufficient data to back them up and also haven’t been a religious user of bacteria products.
The only reason why i share this information is because i wanted to give a different perspective of bacteria product and when can and should be use.
Basically why we need to use bacteria such as Hwa bacter and what it actually contain?
Like most of the bacteria product on the market i think we need to differentiate the different type of bacteria and usage.
These are some of the questions i get and i would take this opportunity to share the information.
Nitrifying Bacteria:
This bacteria is essentially to convert Ammonia to Nitrite and then to Nitrate. That is the purpose of this bacteria and they do not mulitply fast under low pH which is normal in Caridina tank. Hence, it takes time for this bacteria to multiply and go through the entire cycling process.
Probiotics (bacillus subtilis)
This bacteria shouldn’t be confuse with the nitrifying bacteria as they have a different purpose. Bacillus subtilis can be understood as probiotics like in human however the ones from Hwa are extracted from the Japanese Fermented Soya Bean also known as Natto. Hence there is a variant of Bacillus subtilis var. natto. In other words the plant base probiotics has a great potential to improve nutritional value to shrimps.
This has long been used for aquaculture with those against the use of antibiotics. There has been many articles regarding shrimp farm (for consumption) where they’re fed with doses of antibiotics to prevent bacteria infection. However, in recent time antibiotic usage has been frown upon and the rise of more natural products to help the long term farming of shrimps. This also help reduce reliance of antibiotic to get a better harvest.
This now being used under the aquarium hobby for some time and being sold in many different name and brands. The Hwa Bacillus subtilis var. natto has undergone quite a lot of refinement over the last few years while we are at it. It is important to note the history of progress on this as the powder used to be gray in color and some were dark brown which is natural since the original color of the Natto is light brown. The extraction process using a normal method which is less costly derived gray powder however over time as we continue to refine the powder it is now white.
Lubao/Kallax ball
This is again a totally different purpose, and shouldn’t be confuse with bacteria powder production of biofilm. The fermentation of the plant base lubao is to extract the best of the properties to form the biofilm for shrimps to feed on.
How to use it
Using the Natto bacteria is certainly more an art than a science because depending on the tank size and number of shrimps, i would always error on the side of conservative. However, before we go into the usage, it is also good to note that in some of the articles regarding Bacillus subtilis in general will prohibit diseases from formation through inhibiting the environment.
For the Natto bacteria, we can consider using them when you have a mature tank after cycling and because there are a lot of ‘food’ or biofilm available, the use of bacteria Natto may not be as efficient. An approach you can consider is when they start feeding pads and once they are able to do so, you can consider feeding them after every water change once a week. Weakly weekly. A small spoon, stirrer plastic spoon or half a stirrer plastic spoon for 20L and a full one with 40L and above. Like i have mentioned, this should be highly depending on the tank volume and number of shrimp. Giving a bit mix into the water after water change for them to consume and then shortly after (an hour or 2) you can resume normal feeding.
Can i use this during tank setup and cycling? Yes you certainly can too and add about 2-3 of the stirrer spoon to startup. I personally haven’t use it to start a tank as i always like to cycle for a long time and only then when the shrimps are in i’ll start it but in general, it’s always weakly weekly.
What if i overdose?
Like all products, overdosing is harmful as your filter may not have the capability to remove them and the sudden surge of powder will clog filters and thus increasing ammonia spike. Hence, if you accidentally put a lot of them into the tank, it is generally best if you remove the shrimp to another tank. Hence, please use all product carefully and as per direction.
I hope this article shed some light on the properties of bacillus subtilis var. natto.
Cheers!
