Bacteria being used to help control Ich?

[ReefED!]

If you think Ich is a huge problem for us as hobbyists, the damage it does to commercial aquaculture dwarfs anything we experience.

As such, there is a lot of money being spent researching treatments and vaccines for Cryptocaryon Irritans - and we will certainly achieve breakthroughs there that will improve the hobby for us downstream.

For example, here's a paper regarding a specific bacteria that inhibits the ability for tomonts to become theronts

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37451523/

 

[vetteguy53081]

If you think Ich is a huge problem for us as hobbyists, the damage it does to commercial aquaculture dwarfs anything we experience.

As such, there is a lot of money being spent researching treatments and vaccines for Cryptocaryon Irritans - and we will certainly achieve breakthroughs there that will improve the hobby for us downstream.

For example, here's a paper regarding a specific bacteria that inhibits the ability for tomonts to become theronts

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37451523/

Ivee seen such experiments and yet to see them show eradication parasites.

 

[ReefED!]

Ivee seen such experiments and yet to see them show eradication parasites.

I doubt we'll see reef safe effective eradication treatments but we might see some multi-pronged management methods


What sucks about bacteria is that it might not play well with UV Sterilizers

 

[vetteguy53081]

I doubt we'll see reef safe effective eradication treatments but we might see some multi-pronged management methods


What sucks about bacteria is that it might not play well with UV Sterilizers

Yes- sterilizers and at times skimmers.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I doubt we'll see reef safe effective eradication treatments but we might see some multi-pronged management methods


What sucks about bacteria is that it might not play well with UV Sterilizers

The other issue with biological controls is that they often are out-competed by other species that don’t exhibit the tested-for control. I didn’t read the paper, but I suspect the study was done in vitro, excluding other bacteria.

 

[beesnreefs]

The other issue with biological controls is that they often are out-competed by other species that don’t exhibit the tested-for control. I didn’t read the paper, but I suspect the study was done in vitro, excluding other bacteria.

Nailed it @Jay Hemdal - looked at the paper and:

• The study was conducted in vitro with just tomonts and the bacteria
• The "dosage" of bacteria that fully inhibited hatching was MASSIVE (well beyond anything we'd ever put in a tank)
• No clue how this would work in a complex reef system, impact fish, etc....and the amount of bacteria necessary to replicate this in a tank would likely be impossibly large to dose (not to mention wreak havoc on the biome/oxygen/etc.)

Perhaps studies like this will eventually uncover biological compounds that inhibit/kill Cryptocaryon....and perhaps that will lead to some treatments down the road.

 

[MnFish1]

If you think Ich is a huge problem for us as hobbyists, the damage it does to commercial aquaculture dwarfs anything we experience.

As such, there is a lot of money being spent researching treatments and vaccines for Cryptocaryon Irritans - and we will certainly achieve breakthroughs there that will improve the hobby for us downstream.

For example, here's a paper regarding a specific bacteria that inhibits the ability for tomonts to become theronts

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37451523/

a paper such as this may very well be true - and yet doesn't help anything. What s your goal? I can probably find a paper suggesting the moon cycle affects Ich. The issue is- do any of the papers prevent flukes, velvet, etc

 

[ReefED!]

Nailed it @Jay Hemdal - looked at the paper and:

• The study was conducted in vitro with just tomonts and the bacteria
• The "dosage" of bacteria that fully inhibited hatching was MASSIVE (well beyond anything we'd ever put in a tank)
• No clue how this would work in a complex reef system, impact fish, etc....and the amount of bacteria necessary to replicate this in a tank would likely be impossibly large to dose (not to mention wreak havoc on the biome/oxygen/etc.)

Perhaps studies like this will eventually uncover biological compounds that inhibit/kill Cryptocaryon....and perhaps that will lead to some treatments down the road.

A lot of these things won't turn into anything useful in a practical application, but the commercial industry is driving a lot of research - we may get to benefit from that sometime soon, which is exciting to me.