- Two things today
we call it the biome cycle, but what is it?
They call it the ugly stage.
But what is that?
This is BRS TV Investigates
and the answers are going to shape this experiment
and reshape how you look at your tank.
A coral reef biome, a vast community of organisms
that live inside in around the coral.
All thriving in a shared environment
of temperature, light, intensity, and nutrient levels.
We commonly think of this as a harmonious ecosystem
of fish, coral, snails, urchin, and shrimp
because it's what we can see with the naked eye.
However, beyond what the eye can see
is a marine microbiome.
Similar but at a much smaller scale.
Thousands of types of bacteria
microscopic life forms that scour the surfaces
looking for resources and territory.
A reef tank is an attempt to take
a slice of that ocean biome and recreate it
in a much smaller form factor in our living rooms.
Ideally in a manner that looks visibly powerful.
While we can't see the microbiome war with the naked eye,
we can see when it's going wrong.
It's called the ugly stage
where the green and brown algae take hold,
rapidly spreading.
Cyano emerges, diatom blooms
and dinos collect into a slime that blankets the tank.
The biome cycle experiment is a deliberate attempt
to create a natural stable biome from the start
and avoid the most challenging aspects of a new reef tank.
In this series, you're going to see a few themes emerge.
One, these ugly photosynthetic pests all have
different ideal environments where they thrive.
Two, solving for one often creates an ideal environment
for the next in a frustrating game of whack the ugly.
Third, rather than focusing on
one of those in individual lessons
we consider how these lessons layer together
to create a network of bio redundancy.
Where one layer supports the next
and solves the next wave before it ever happens.
First step, know your enemy.
There are five major uglies.
Chrysophytes, or golden brown algae.
Cyanobacteria, diatoms, dinoflagellates
and green algae.
You'll see all 12 of these in our experimental tanks.
All thriving in different environments.
Starting with chrysophytes,
often referred to as golden brown algae
because of the color, but there are over thousands
of types that range from looking like golden brown fuzz
a light brown filamentous algae,
or even colonies that develop into bubble like forms.
Many types looking like a hybrid bridge
between algae and bacterial pests.
chrysophytes are mobile and can easily migrate
throughout the entire tank.
Because of that you can often see chrysophytes
suddenly emerge and cover the entire tank all at once.
Well chrysophytes thrive in light,
in the absence of ideal environments like minimal light
some forms of chrysophytes may turn predator.
Feeding on bacteria or diatoms rather than light.
Meaning the dark period
may not eradicate chrysophytes quickly.
In our experiments there seems to be an inverse relationship
between many forms of chrysophyte
and basically every other pest.
When one shows up the other leaves.
It's rare to see many forms of chrysophyte
share the tank with anything else.
We'll explore why that is throughout this experiment.
I've personally only encountered chrysophytes
in newly established dry rock tanks.
Likely because chrysophytes are better prepared
to take advantage of an imbalanced environment or biome.
In our experiments,
they showed up in what most reefers would consider to be
the most sterile approaches to cycling a tank.
Chrysophytes also seem to out compete
other photosynthetic uglies
in the lowest nitrate and phosphate environments.
Potentially because they can scavenge
sources of nitrogen phosphorus better or faster
than other organisms.
In this case, they may be able to acquire nutrients
via preying on bacteria or diatoms.
That microscopic war that we can't see.
Nutrients is one of the important themes to look for
in this experiment.
Why are high or low nitrate and phosphate levels
both the cause and the solution
depending on the type of pest you're dealing with?
The answer in just a moment when we weave together
those layers of biome redundancy.
Next cyano bacteria.
One of the causes of red, reddish brown, or purple slime
that covers surfaces.
Under the microscope it looks like a network of thin strands
that can crowd everything else out.
Cyano prefers low flow areas of the tank.
When removed, often comes back exactly where it was
rather than spread to another area.
Cyano may prefer low flow areas
simply because it doesn't get blown away as easily,
but low flow areas also happen to be
where all the decay organics,
nitrogen and phosphorus settle out as well.
Cyano is a component of the ugly stage in new tanks
just as often is in more established tanks.
It's commonly believed that cyano is directly caused
by high nutrients and poor tank maintenance.
Which is likely only partially true.
I've never once seen anyone solve it
by lowering nitrate and phosphate,
even for prolonged periods of time.
There's a relationship with nitrate and phosphate
but likely not as simple as high or low levels
either direct cause or a preventative.
One thing we see consistently in this experiment
is small amounts of cyano eventually shows itself
in most tanks but only becomes a major problem
when the tank has a lot of decaying organics settling out
and inadequate methods of rapidly removing those organics
from the tank.
We commonly see cyano explosion
right after a different pest organism dies off.
One problem the direct cause of the next.
Maybe the biggest tell that you're dealing with cyano
is Red Slime Remover and Chemiclean work
at nearly eliminating it from the tank.
Red Slime Remover says that it's a
salt-based biological accelerator
which may affect cyano's biology directly
or may simply feed competitive organisms
that then out-competes the cyano for nutrients or territory.
Likely another healthy bacteria or component of biofilm
that beats out the cyano.
Chemiclean also says it's a proprietary salt
but in this case says it works by
oxidizing trapped organic sludge
and then promotes ideal enzyme balance.
Visually different salt-based solutions
but both work well in seemingly different ways.
These effective solutions providing a window
into preventions as well.
Can a healthy bacterial biofilm in the rock or sand
help out-compete cyano?
Can a solution for excess decaying organics
like flow, filtration, oxidizers like ozone,
scavengers or predators prevent the cyano
before it takes over?
Next diatoms.
A single celled algae
that exists in tens to hundreds of thousands
of species on earth.
In a reef tank often experienced as a light to medium brown
coating in new tanks that disappears as fast as they come.
A cycle that can last as little as a week.
Other times diatoms can come back with a vengeance
and cover the entire tank.
When diatoms get this invasive
they tend to out-compete nearly everything
and swallow the tank.
They're dependent on nitrogen, phosphorus, and light
for energy
Reproducing rapidly and potentially out-competing
slower growing organisms for nutrients.
Nutrient control does not seem to be an effective method
of preventing or eliminating explosive waves of diatoms.
Because their cell walls are made of silica,
essentially glass shells,
some reefers have attempted to limit silica.
While silica may be a contributing factor
or partial solution,
it doesn't seem to prevent or solve diatoms on its own.
There's one unique difference here.
A lot of organisms eat diatoms
and most of us are probably totally unaware
because you can't see it with the naked eye.
We already shared that some forms of chrysophytes
eat diatoms but micro crustaceans do as well.
For instance, Algae Barn shared that diatoms
are an important part of raising copepods.
Without the diatoms, the cultures fail over time.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's website
states that a single copepod may eat as much
as 11,000 to 370,000 diatoms in a 24 hour period.
And that's just one Copepod.
So beating or preventing diatoms
may be less of starving them of nutrients
and more about a balanced redundant biome where all
of these organisms live harmoniously.
Then there's a dreaded dinoflagellates.
This can look like a lot of things
but most commonly snotty, bubbly slime in the tank
that replaces itself as fast as it's removed.
There's thousands of species in saltwater.
Many are super hard to beat
and the solution for one species does not work for another.
Reefers typically beat them with a few solutions.
Mostly center around not eliminating dinos,
but promoting what competes with dinos for resources.
Dosing bacteria is in a bottle like Microbacter7,
adding rock from an established tank,
a dark period to set the dinos back,
and making sure that there's actually detectable
and phosphate for the microscopic unseen competitors
to grow and replicate.
A UV sterilizer, or UV poisoning, the free swimming types
is a very effective near instant solution
for many types of dinos as well.
The reality is dinos, diatoms and cyano slimes
are likely identified incorrectly more often than not.
However, the future might be less about
correctly identifying them
and more about avoiding them together.
Redundant layers of protection
for all three within a healthy balanced biome.
The best example of biome redundancy
is with our fifth photosynthetically ugly,
the green algae.
Hair, turf, bubble, bryopsis and film algae.
Rather than treat algae explosions with pounds of cure,
what are the five ounces of prevention?
Ounce number one,
preventing green algae starts with
limiting the introduction to the tank in the first place.
Often best done with the use of dry rock
which won't have green algae.
Or dark-cured live rock
which will have killed most of it off.
Removing coral plugs,
which have a lot of photosynthetic on them,
and peroxide dipping coral bases that tolerate it
will dramatically reduce the types of green algae
introduced to the tank.
In this experiment, you will see the effect
of doing this well and poorly.
Once of prevention number two,
a healthy biofilm on the rock.
Biofilm meaning a healthy protective bacterial population,
has been established.
It's inevitable that some algae will make its way
into the tank via coral, snail crab, and even fish editions.
Particularly in LPS tanks,
which have large hard to clean skeletal structures
and surface for the algae to settle out on.
But also droplets of water from the bag
and potentially foods, and even fish feces
may introduce forms of green algae to the tank.
So for what does make it in the tank
we rely on that unseen, critical second layer of defense
a healthy biofilm, or even competitive desirable algae
like coralline prevents the uglies from rapidly spreading
or settling out in new areas of the tank.
Which of course is what this series is all about.
For the first time we track
how well that unseen layer of biome works visually
but also with DNA testing from AquaBiomics
There is a connection.
Ounce, three micro predators.
For the green algae that does have a chance to settle
there's another nearly unseen and likely underappreciated
third layer of defense, micro crustaceans.
Copepods, amphipods, micro snails,
and other tiny little crustaceans.
These predatory organisms
that spend their entire life cycle
scouring surfaces and hunting down
the soft beginnings of algae before you can see it.
Some methods of establishing these populations
more effective than others.
It's likely common pods and micro crustaceans
will find their way into every tank eventually.
So biome cycling for this may be more about
the timing of introduction
in relation to the ugly stage
than it is about eventualities.
Once of prevention four, mesopredators.
For what makes it past those micro crustaceans
We have our snails, crabs, limpets, shrimp, urchins.
All spending their entire life cycle
scouring the surface of rock and sand
for algae and slimes to eat.
In this case, we actually see them doing their work
some urchins eating what others won't.
However, it's often easier to see what it looks like
when they're not doing their work.
Ounce five of prevention, macropredators
or utilitarian fish.
The most obvious layer of defense for green algae
because they hunt it down all day.
The best approach is a mix of mouth shapes,
teeth, and taste.
Like yellow or purple tangs,
which graze all day on filamentous algae.
Bristletooth tangs like whitetail, kole, or tomini.
Which have mouths designed to scrape the rock
for different forms of algae and slimes.
As well as some reef-safe with caution fish
like foxface, rabbits, and angel fish
which will graze on algae all day as well.
Foxface rabbit fish, sometimes having a taste
for bubble algae that others won't.
The big takeaway here is a lot of people consider these
types of utilitarian fish and cleanup crews
as the primary solution.
But in reality, they're one of the last lines of defenses.
Essentially, the fish are a very effective bandaid
for when the rest of the biome is not an ecological balance.
Those five ounces of prevention,
avoiding introduction,
healthy biofilm,
micro, meso, and macro predators.
This is the foundation
of what we're going to call biome redundancy.
A network of protection that lets almost nothing through.
Notice nutrients and starving the algae
is not the primary frontline solution either.
I believe the goal here should be
low but measurable nutrients
that are not perpetually rising week after week.
That's because the hammer solutions
of more or less nitrate and phosphate
can cause as many issues
and imbalances in the tanks as they solve.
Also notice that environmental poisons
like oxidants, UV,
algaecides and similar hammer solutions
are not the primary frontline either.
These are the treatments
for when everything else has gone wrong.
Use them when needed.
But the goal of the biome cycle
is to reduce the need to begin with.
How do we do that?
It starts with a theory, an experiment that proves it.
That's next.
The 12 experiment tanks.