EMeyer Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Ever notice how many of our tasks in saltwater aquarium husbandry all come down to adjusting the bacterial community? Carbon dosing, Live rock, Protein skimmers, a hundred different flavors of Bacteria in a bottle, Probiotics, the list goes on and on. Did you ever wonder what these things are actually doing to the bacteria in your tank? Ever seen a tank where everything you can measure appears correct, but fish or corals aren't doing well? Ever get the sense there was something important you weren't able to measure? Its often been said we shouldn't dose what we don't measure, but who has the ability to identify and measure the bacteria in your tank? Until now, these tools were limited to scientists at research universities. This spring that is changing. I am launching a new company, AquaBiomics, bringing research-grade tools to the aquarium hobbyist community. Sample your aquarium using our custom sampling kit, and I'll tell you Which bacteria live in your tank, and the abundance of each type How your tank's microbiome compares to other reef tanks What do those bacteria do in natural ecosystems? This technology is mature and ready to use, but biologists have been so fixated on studying corals in nature that frustratingly little is known about the microbiome of saltwater aquariums. That is about to change. My new lab has two parts: A molecular lab for analyzing DNA from client's tanks. This is where I take your sample and prepare it to be loaded onto a DNA sequencing machine. An aquarium lab where I'm running rigorous, properly-replicated experiments to test the effects of maintenance or dosing practices on the microbiome. Together, we will learn how to adjust the bacterial communities in our tanks, reducing the detrimental microbes and promoting the beneficial microbes. My business model is built around data, not snake oil. In fact, I plan to directly test many of the products some reefers criticize as snake oil. Because of this, at my initial launch, my claims are modest. I can identify and quantify the bacteria in your tank, and compare it with other tanks. As I gather experimental evidence in my new lab, I'll bring this evidence directly to the hobbyist community. As we gather data, I'll be able to offer increasingly practical advice for doing something about the microbiome in your tank. I have some exciting experiments beginning this month, and pledge to only provide recommendations when we have evidence to support them. So watch this space for interesting developments as the data come in... Thanks Andy for setting this up, and everyone for the warm welcome. In the near future I'll be inviting a few reefkeepers in the region to sample their tanks for free, in order to build the database... so if anyone is interested in a free analysis of your tank, stay tuned! -Eli 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 This is a fantastic idea! Definitely following! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badxgillen Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 This is Awesome Eli, I am looking forward to contributing as well as garnering sample data from you and your business. I will be "tuned in" for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 So excited to be a part of this new development in the hobby!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Tavan Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Is there any research showing a correlation because the bacterial population in the water column vs bacterial population on surface of the rock and sand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMeyer Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 Thats a great question. Important because the populations that matter most for nutrient processing are associated with surfaces, rather than being truly free-living bacterioplankton. We know that in nature there is some exchange between surface associated bacteria and free-living bacterioplankton. Unfortunately I'm unaware of any studies that address this in recirculating aquariums. If I spot anything I'll post it here. My gut says that with constant recirculation of water through live rock in the sump, and the vigorous mixing inside the display tank, bacteria are constantly sloughing off from surfaces and getting suspended in the water. This is definitely a good question to test in our first batch of samples... thanks! This is a great example of something I want from this community -- if there are questions in your mind about the use of this technology for reef tanks, I'd love to hear them so we can address them early. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 1 hour ago, EMeyer said: Thats a great question. Important because the populations that matter most for nutrient processing are associated with surfaces, rather than being truly free-living bacterioplankton. We know that in nature there is some exchange between surface associated bacteria and free-living bacterioplankton. Unfortunately I'm unaware of any studies that address this in recirculating aquariums. If I spot anything I'll post it here. My gut says that with constant recirculation of water through live rock in the sump, and the vigorous mixing inside the display tank, bacteria are constantly sloughing off from surfaces and getting suspended in the water. This is definitely a good question to test in our first batch of samples... thanks! This is a great example of something I want from this community -- if there are questions in your mind about the use of this technology for reef tanks, I'd love to hear them so we can address them early. As a scientist by training myself I am really excited to see how this evolves! Ultimately, if one could put together a profile for successful tanks (assuming of course there is such a thing) it might really help to take some of the frustration and mystery out of reef keeping - the issue of "all my parameters look good but things still don't thrive" has plagued us all at some point. The more detailed water testing for elements has at least provided some insight into tank conditions for which there isn't home-accessible testing but that still leaves a huge knowledge gap. It will be interesting also to see where this lands re sampling protocol (water column, sandbed, rock, etc.) and what other contextual information proves useful for establishing best practices (type of coral kept, substrate, refugium algae, dosing, food, etc.). Glad someone with a reef-keeping background is taking this on as I do think it has the potential to be super informative. Look forward to hearing more! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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