Bioume - BRS 360 on Bacteria DNA

[GuppyHJD]

After watching the BRS 360 on the Bioume DNA test, and hear Ryan say that many "insta-tanks" perform well because the tank is loaded with alot of corals in a hurry that increases the bio-diversity instantly, it has me wondering.

My tank was started in November 2020 with dry rock and two bottles of bacteria in a bottle. I am now wondering if there is any benefit to adding a few pieces of true ocean farmed live rock OR just getting a few pounds of tank rock from several different LFS near me. I am thinking each LFS must have a different collection of bacteria in their tanks, and if I add them together in my tank, it would raise the diversity compared to what I have now.

Am I over thinking this?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

After watching the BRS 360 on the Bioume DNA test, and hear Ryan say that many "insta-tanks" perform well because the tank is loaded with alot of corals in a hurry that increases the bio-diversity instantly, it has me wondering.

My tank was started in November 2020 with dry rock and two bottles of bacteria in a bottle. I am now wondering if there is any benefit to adding a few pieces of true ocean farmed live rock OR just getting a few pounds of tank rock from several different LFS near me. I am thinking each LFS must have a different collection of bacteria in their tanks, and if I add them together in my tank, it would raise the diversity compared to what I have now.

Am I over thinking this?

Not sure about over thinking but yes definitly over posting you made 3 of the same threads

 

[TheDragonsReef]

If the tanks already running with live stock I wouldn't introduce live rock unless you want to setup a small system to cure and monitor it for awhile to watch for pests. I would add more bacteria to diversify your ecosystem either way. I would add some Dr Tim's eco balance and waste away since they're both readily available.

 

[Courtney Aldrich]

After watching the BRS 360 on the Bioume DNA test, and hear Ryan say that many "insta-tanks" perform well because the tank is loaded with alot of corals in a hurry that increases the bio-diversity instantly, it has me wondering.

My tank was started in November 2020 with dry rock and two bottles of bacteria in a bottle. I am now wondering if there is any benefit to adding a few pieces of true ocean farmed live rock OR just getting a few pounds of tank rock from several different LFS near me. I am thinking each LFS must have a different collection of bacteria in their tanks, and if I add them together in my tank, it would raise the diversity compared to what I have now.

Am I over thinking this?

Yes, this is a good idea, but I would get rock from one well established tank rather than mixing samples from multiple stores. I would QT the rock for 42 days and suggest performing a microbiome analysis to make sure you are not introducing any unwanted pests or disease-causing microorganisms. Aquabiomics sells 'tested rock rubble' but they are out of stock (https://aquabiomics.com/product/live-reef-rubble).

 

[GuppyHJD]

Not sure about over thinking but yes definitly over posting you made 3 of the same threads

Opps...not sure how I got that out there 3 times

 

[Azedenkae]

After watching the BRS 360 on the Bioume DNA test, and hear Ryan say that many "insta-tanks" perform well because the tank is loaded with alot of corals in a hurry that increases the bio-diversity instantly, it has me wondering.

My tank was started in November 2020 with dry rock and two bottles of bacteria in a bottle. I am now wondering if there is any benefit to adding a few pieces of true ocean farmed live rock OR just getting a few pounds of tank rock from several different LFS near me. I am thinking each LFS must have a different collection of bacteria in their tanks, and if I add them together in my tank, it would raise the diversity compared to what I have now.

Am I over thinking this?

Thanks so much for posting this up, I had no idea BRS has such a video. This is something that is especially interest to me, the microbiome testing. Curious how they do it for such a low pricing, but probably just 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing. I originally thought it was on a lower cost sequencer that has lower accuracy, but if they can identify individual species, that seems less likely. Perhaps more like sequencing the V4 region or something. Anyways, I digress. Just curious how their sequencing is done.

Re: adding rocks from different places, yeah that could definitely have significant benefits. This applies more broadly in ecology, essentially the higher the diversity, the more 'resilience' there is. The only issue I might see is, pathogens can exist in the environment, dormant. The more places you source your rocks from, the higher the probability of finally picking up a pathogenic species that could harm your live stock. It is kind of a complicated issue, because there's also probiotics that you might also have a higher chance of picking up that could benefit your live stock too.

If you want to know what I would do, then personally if I am setting up a tank I would be more than happy to put all different rocks in. I am a proponent of stability from chaos, i.e. adding whatever I could then letting it settle down as it needs. I am a lot more hesitant though, to change anything once an aquarium is set up with live stock in it as I am liking it though.

 

[reddogf5]

I am not sure what bacteria you would get by adding live rock from several LFS, but I would put money on you getting aiptasia, ich, and bubble algae.
And I do not think "diversity" in and of itself is useful or desirable, but getting more varieties of beneficial bacteria that thrive in different conditions would seem to be a good idea to crowd out non-desirable stuff.
I am curious what something like Microbacter7 adds, and if it is worthwhile.
PNS probio seems like it would be a useful addition, as does the previously mentioned Aquabiomics live rubble.
Something else that would seem good is Anammox bacteria, which converts ammonium and nitrite directly to N2 gas, but I have no idea where one would get some, or if it is already in our tanks.