Glasgarten Bacter Ae Review – Grow Healthy Shrimps

Biofilm is an essential food source for shrimp. It is also one of the reasons why we need to cycle a shrimp tank for long periods even though the tank might be small.

Although the ideal scenario is create a 100% natural ecosystem, we do need certain help from time to time, especially when you are new to shrimp breeding.

This is where biofilm booster comes in.

From my experience, the glasgarten bacter ae is one of the best and safest way to increase your shrimp tank’s biofilm development. You can tell the difference by the amount of biofilm being built on the plants and the filter area, after a period of time. Best of all, it serves as a good food source for the shrimps.

If you are intending to introduce a biofilm booster, try bacter ae.

 

Bacter AE benefits

1. Clear ingredients label: If you never bought any biofilm booster before, you might not know that many Asian brands do not disclose their ingredients. This makes it hard to know what type of product are you buying. Bacter Ae is one of those that does.

2. Introduces bacteria to speed up biofilm production: In general, there are 2 types of boosters. Bacter Ae falls into the 2nd group (see below). It introduces 2 common types of bacteria in addition to other ingredients such as amino acids and vitamins.

• Without bacteria: these group of products help to boost the growth of bacteria which are already existing in your tank.

• With bacteria: this group will introduce new bacteria. In particular, they will introduce Pediococcus Acidilactici  and Bacillus Subtilis, which are 2 common types of bacteria. The former grows very fast under low ph water and is a good food supply for shrimplets. The later is not a food source but helps to keep the water conditions stable.

3. Doesn’t affect water stability: Bacter ae doesn’t lead to huge spikes in tds, unless you overdose the amount. If you follow the instructions that I laid out below, your tds level should be fine.

4. Easy to use:  There is no complicated steps or preparation needed. Just dissolve the necessary amount and pour that into the fish tank.

 

How to use bacter ae

If you are purchasing bacter ae for the first time, here are some usage tips to help you get the best from it:

• Use 1/4 of the suggest amount when you first started. Slowly increase the dosage until the desired results are reached. Doing so will keep the water perimeters stable. In addition, if you add too much, there will be lumps that cannot be dissolved easily and can foul the water easily

• No bacter ae under the substrate: Do not try to put it under the substrate. Going by past experience, it will rot and foul the water. The ideal placement is above the substrate to give them sufficient oxygen to grow.

 

Bacter ae alternatives

If you had a bad experience with bacter ae or simply want a cheaper alternative, here are some other top brands you can consider.  I have not used all of them before and will indicate accordingly.

• Mosure BT-9: Unknown ingredient list which is a big turnoff for me. Not sure if it contains bacteria or just boost current ones.

• Genchem Biozyme: This does not introduce new bacteria to the tank but is able to boost growth of existing bacteria.  This brand discloses the ingredients list.

• Shrimp King Bio Tase: Shrimp King is a brand that I prefer as I have used their other products. Have not personally try this one but have hear good things. It is more expensive then bacter ae by a few dollars.

• SL Aqua Magic Powder: I have not used it before but this brand also introduces bacteria into your tank. Price wise, it is on the same level as Shrimp King, which means it is a bit pricey.
  

 

Conclusion

I don’t use that many non natural supplements for my tanks but bacter ae is an exception. It improves the cycling of the tank and encourages a healthy biofilm environment. So far, I have not seen any bad effects coming from using this product.

It is definitely one to consider if you are looking for a solid biofilm booster.