Marine cleaning bacteria used in freshwater

[NoeyD]

Hello everyone, maybe someone has some knowledge with this product and could possibly help answer my question I have? So I ordered a bottle of Brightwell MicroBacter7 from Amazon and when it arrived I went ahead and dosed my tank, (which was almost half the bottle as I have a 180 gallon) and then the following day started noticing fish acting a little erratic and actually lost 3 in total. Tested the water, temp was at 78.8, pH 7.2, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10-20ppm so that all seemed ok. So I was trying to think about anything different that could be an issue and that's when I noticed that Amazon had delivered the wrong product. I ordered the MicroBacter7 and received the MicroBacter Clean for Marine. At a quick glance the bottles look very similar, maybe that's why the mix up? But my concern is if this was harmful to my tank/fish? I did loose 3 fish the following morning, not sure if it was from that or not. I ended up doing a water change just in case anyway. I did call my lfs and explained what happened and the guy I spoke with said it would "be fine, bacteria is bacteria", but I thought that the marine bacteria would have something in it not safe for use in freshwater, that's why its labeled marine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Aiken Drum]

It should be safe, but the wrong type of bacteria for freshwater, so it wont be of any benefit. It will just die off.

Why are you dosing bottled bacteria?

 

[Andy Sager]

For what it's worth, there is a very slim water parameter where the nitrifying microbes for freshwater and for saltwater can both exist so while the information on the Brightwell bottle is not technically false, it's very misleading. Nitrifying microbes for freshwater are different from the ones for saltwater. That alone would make me hesitant to purchase products from this company. I would also question the person who told you that " Bacteria is bacteria" because they are not all the same ( as I just explained. )
According to the Brightwell site, the product you used should be safe from overdosing up to 5 times the standard dose. Figure out just how much you may have overdosed the tank to see if that may have been the cause. ( I do not believe that it's really safe for 5 times the standard dosage. ) Some fish are more sensitive than others so what fish of yours died and what survived?

 

[joshuakenneth]

Hello everyone, maybe someone has some knowledge with this product and could possibly help answer my question I have? So I ordered a bottle of Brightwell MicroBacter7 from Amazon and when it arrived I went ahead and dosed my tank, (which was almost half the bottle as I have a 180 gallon) and then the following day started noticing fish acting a little erratic and actually lost 3 in total. Tested the water, temp was at 78.8, pH 7.2, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10-20ppm so that all seemed ok. So I was trying to think about anything different that could be an issue and that's when I noticed that Amazon had delivered the wrong product. I ordered the MicroBacter7 and received the MicroBacter Clean for Marine. At a quick glance the bottles look very similar, maybe that's why the mix up? But my concern is if this was harmful to my tank/fish? I did loose 3 fish the following morning, not sure if it was from that or not. I ended up doing a water change just in case anyway Sustainable marine products. I did call my lfs and explained what happened and the guy I spoke with said it would "be fine, bacteria is bacteria", but I thought that the marine bacteria would have something in it not safe for use in freshwater, that's why its labeled marine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

The mix-up between Brightwell MicroBacter7 and MicroBacter Clean for Marine could have contributed to your fish losses. Marine-specific bacteria and additives may not be safe for freshwater tanks. Potential issues include oxygen depletion, bacterial imbalance, or chemical additives. Your quick water change was the right move. Monitor fish for further stress, increase aeration, and consider running activated carbon. Moving forward, double-check labels before dosing.