boxofrain
does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
I have no doubt that the processors add the bacteria that they claim is in their product. But the fact is that the bacteria in question they add do not live in the water column, they are benthic in nature. In short order they form a biofilm on the surface of the container, and unless it's scraped off it doesn't enter the tank when the water is poured in. The things which boxofrain are talking about are the plankton normally found in seawater. They are filtered out before the water is packaged, because they would invariably die in the conditions under which the water is stored before sale. Furthermore, not everything floating around in natural seawater is something you would want in a reef tank. I used to collect natural seawater to perform aquatic bioassays at a lab I worked at, and after a day you can see a fine film of detritus on the bottom of the container which is the dead plankton. We then transferred the water to clean containers before using it. I have also collected seawater specifically for the plankton to be used in the rearing of captive bred marine fish. Two very different scenarios.
Thanks, I am now smarter than I was yesterday!