Nutrient management by Old School Reefer (1 Viewer)

[Subsea]

In September of 1971, I entered the Texas Maritime Academy on Pelican Island next to the Galveston ship channel. It was educational/amusing to see the 18 year olds in the Cadet Core marching around campus. I had just discharged from 4 years active duty with four 90 day tours of duty in Cambodia. We did’t spit shine our boots in the jungles.

As a marine engineer student, the first technical elective I took that first semester was Chemical Oceanography 101 in which I was introduced to the concept of Dynamic Equilibrium where carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and calcium carbonate in limestone sediments acted to maintain alkalinity in our oceans. So with this limited knowledge, I decided to set up a 55G glass tank as a Galveston Bay theme. I used standard undergravel filter with crushed up oyster shells purchased from chicken feed store. I found a large oyster cluster in Galveston Bay with fan & tube worms for live rock center piece in tank. From the grass flats & marsh reeds, grass shrimp and green mollies were collected . Anemones from the jetties in Galveston completed stocking this 55G tank. All movement for filtration was provided by one air pump on uplift tubes. I dragged that tank around for 10 yrs. The last time I moved that tank in 1980, I showed off the tanks fish and commented about the beautiful dark burgundy carpet over the ugly crushed up oyster shell. A visitor looking at my tank asked me why I had the cynobacteria mat so thick everywhere. We have come a long way from that day.

As my fascination with the marine aquarium hobby continued and my career took me offshore into “Blue Water” as a subsea engineer whose department was underwater blowout preventers. Depending on locations in the world, work schedule was 14/14 or 28/28 on/off. So with a 150G reef tank in my new home, I plumbed a remote sump that grew into 1000G of algae refugiums and two propagation/growout troughs that were 4’ by 8’ by 12” high. With zero nutrient export, I feed heavy when home on days off but no food was added to tank when I was away. Even though I didn’t know all the details, I did know by cause & effect that my algae filter refugium was a two way street with recycling nutrients. This is the focus of the thread: Recycling Nutrients

I briefly described how CO2 as a gas can seek equilibrium with water to combine with alkalinity & photosynthesis to produce glucose which is carbon. So, let’s follow nitrogen as a gas, as it seeks solubility equilibrium to dissolve in water. Add bacteria, like Cynobacteria, to convert free nitrogen gas into available nitrogen in a process called “nitrogen fixation”.

[Nitrogen (N2) fixation is the microbially mediated conversion of relatively inert dinitrogen gas to biologically available ammonia. ... In the marine environment, N2 fixation occurs in numerous ecologically diverse nearshore, coastal and open-ocean environments.]

www.sciencedirect.com
Nitrogen fixation in the marine environment: relating genetic potential to nitrogenase activity
Nitrogen fixation can be an important source of nitrogen for biological productivity in the marine environment. Biological nitrogen fixation is cataly…
www.sciencedirect.com www.sciencedirect.com

Abstract
[Nitrogen fixation can be an important source of nitrogen for biological productivity in the marine environment. Biological nitrogen fixation is catalyzed by the enzyme nitrogenase, which is possessed by diverse microorganisms representing virtually all phylogenetic groups. Interest in nitrogen fixation in the sea has usually been focused on rates of nitrogen fixation, but information on the types of species present with the capability for nitrogen fixation can be important for predicting nitrogen fixation rates in situ. Molecular tools for detection and characterization of the nitrogenase (nif) genes and immunoassays for nitrogenase protein can provide new information on the factors regulating the distribution and activity of diverse nitrogen fixing organisms in the marine environment. Amplification and characterization of nifH sequences has made it possible to identify the type(s) of organism responsible for nitrogen fixation, such as in aggregates of the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. Differences in nitrogen fixation patterns have been linked to genetic differences between Trichodesmium strains. Further development of these approaches will provide new and powerful ways to link the genetic potential for nitrogen fixation to nitrogen fixation rates in the ocean.]


Here we are in Dec 2020. I am not sure my methods have changed much since 1971. I just know more about why the method works.

I have been practicing the Trident Method for > 45yrs but without the skimmer.

 

[Subsea]

I briefly described how CO2 as a gas can seek equilibrium with water to combine with alkalinity & photosynthesis to produce glucose which is carbon. So, let’s follow nitrogen as a gas, as it seeks solubility equilibrium to dissolve in water. Add bacteria, like Cynobacteria, to convert free nitrogen gas into available nitrogen in a process called “nitrogen fixation”.]

Let’s look at another process with N2 gas. Denitrification is the process in which bacteria in low oxygen environment scavenge oxygen from NO3 to release free nitrogen gas to be exported by gas exchange.

Air Fractionators, protein skimmers, are excellent for gas exchange, but from my point of view, skimmate is carbon for the reef, so I don’t use protein skimmer. Tumbling & cascading water as it drains to sump is very efficient gas exchange. Aggressive circulation of surface in display tank is a third excellent method of gas exchange.

 

[soymilk]

Can you elaborate more on the trident method?

 

[Subsea]

Can you elaborate more on the trident method?

My only connection to the Trident method is that I don’t do water changes. As I saw the Trident Method operated by BRS: Heavy nutrients in and heavy nutrients out. I recycle nutrients.

“The owner describes the Triton method as a three prong approach to maintaining healthy biology in a reef tank, including light, filtration and chemistry. Instead of water changes, a large, well lit refugium is used for nutrient removal and high-quality carbon is engaged to remove general contaminants.”

 

[soymilk]

how do you replenish alk, calc, etc etc

 

[Subsea]

how do you replenish alk, calc, etc etc

Passive buffering from aroggonite sandbed. I also add liquid seaweed, dose live phytoplankton and feed live mussels

 

[Subsea]

[Most reef tanks are nutrient deficient compared to the “microbial highway” on the wild reef.’
Charles Delbrick, Curator of San Francisco Aquarium]

Because I am a simple person, I admit with respect to my reef keeping methods, I did not invent “Old School”. I emulate Nature and how does nature work on a coral reef. Let’s investigate the Coral Holobiont.

Microbes in the coral holobiont: partners through evolution, development, and ecological interactions​

In the last two decades, genetic and genomic studies have revealed the astonishing diversity and ubiquity of microorganisms. Emergence and expansion of the human microbiome project has reshaped our thinking about how microbes control host health—not only as pathogens, but also as symbionts. In...
[Microbes in the coral holobiont: partners through evolution, development, and ecological interactions]

Janelle R. Thompson1*, Hanny E. Rivera1,2, Collin J. Closek3 and Mónica Medina3*
1Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
2Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA
3Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

[In the last two decades, genetic and genomic studies have revealed the astonishing diversity and ubiquity of microorganisms. Emergence and expansion of the human microbiome project has reshaped our thinking about how microbes control host health—not only as pathogens, but also as symbionts. In coral reef environments, scientists have begun to examine the role that microorganisms play in coral life history. Herein, we review the current literature on coral-microbe interactions within the context of their role in evolution, development, and ecology. We ask the following questions, first posed by McFall-Ngai et al. (2013) in their review of animal evolution, with specific attention to how coral-microbial interactions may be affected under future environmental conditions: (1) How do corals and their microbiome affect each other's genomes? (2) How does coral development depend on microbial partners? (3) How is homeostasis maintained between corals and their microbial symbionts? (4) How can ecological approaches deepen our understanding of the multiple levels of coral-microbial interactions? Elucidating the role that microorganisms play in the structure and function of the holobiont is essential for understanding how corals maintain homeostasis and acclimate to changing environmental conditions.]

So, if I read correctly, bacteria are the “microbial overlords” in the marine environment. Considering quorum sensing bacteria and crosstalk between bacteria in surface film and bacteria in body mass of algae & coral to optimize growth in each, I agree with “microbial overlords”.

PS. In the movie, War of the Worlds, the invading Martians were finally killed by Earth’s “microbial overlords”.

 

[Cody]

Well, there are certainly a lot of interesting queries going on with your posts, and I may not be suited to answer all of them, but I'll take a stab at what I feel confident in addressing.

1) Yes, the ocean can passively replenish the elements needed to allow corals to thrive, but you're not in Kansas anymore. That doesn't apply to reef tanks. The conditions in a reef tank that would allow passive dissolving of any media in your tank would require that the consumption be so low that your corals were hardly alive, let alone thriving. When dealing with a heavy level of consumption in relationship to a tiny volume of water, the replenishing of vital elements can not be passive or else you're setting yourself up for failure. You're going to have to dose if you want to keep corals, and much more emphasis if you want to keep calcifying corals.

2) What are the publishing date on these article abstracts? I have read a lot of them through my own interest and the older ones are very insightful into what happens in the oceans, but like I said, a reef tank isn't the ocean. There's no chance in hell that we can reproduce its processes in a little glass cube.

3) Not only does a protein skimmer help mechanically filter organically bound nutrients from your water, thus helping to control the amount of nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) in your water, it also does a good job in improving the ORP of your tank. This is essentially your tank's ability to digest organic compounds into inorganic compounds, which your corals can then use as fuel for photosynthesis. If you're not using a skimmer then you're going to leave a lot of organically bound nutrients to rot around low flow areas, propagate cyano, while your corals never had a shot at using those nutrients to grow themselves.

4) The triton method is nothing new. They stole the concept from the Dutch Synthetic Reef method, which was a method a Dutch reefer thought of and implemented, and Moonshiners made a more budget friendly version of the triton method. While I don't personally prefer the method, it's undeniably good at producing great growth when executed correctly.

They specifically mention nutrient export with this method because most reefers struggle to keep nutrients down, and when you eliminate water changes, you've taken one of the most powerful nutrient export options off the table. You'll need a robust refugium or chemical/mechanical export options until your corals can grow into being the refugium/exporters themselves.

5) As far as the microbes in the water, that's something that I think is still in the dark for most reefers. In the hobby, we talk about "new" versus "mature" systems. Well, what's different between the two? I can check the basic parameters of a new versus mature system all day, and they can both be spot on, but the mature systems tend to weather "storms" better and thrive more. I've always imagined that had to do with the establishment of microscopic critters that we just can't test for with home kits, which is also another reason why I don't recommend starting with dry rock. I'll take a rock that's been cooking off the coast of Florida at 30ft deep any day of the week over a dry rock that's seeded by nitrifying bacteria.

Either way, I know I typed a wall of text, but it would be nice to grab a drink and chat the next time you're in Houston. I've been reefing for 15 years now and have the memories of what it was like back in the day, plus the hindsight of how things are today. I love hearing about how things were before I entered the hobby though. Look forward to chatting!

 

[Subsea]

@Cody
Your points reflect the current philosophy of American reefers. Because I choose not to play SPS with high alkalinity demanding corals I have no need for alkalinity management. Also because of many filter feeding invertebrates, I choose not to use protein skimming to strip the water of the microbial loop that feeds sea apples & flame scallops as well as numerous sponges both ornamental & cryptic. Also, I don’t struggle to keep nutrients down, in fact I dose ammonia to booster nitrogen.

Your hypothesis that the laws of chemistry, biology & physics don’t happen in a glass tank does not agree with science. I will link some more current articles that are peer reviewed, not hobby blogs.
Cheers,
Patrick

 

[Subsea]

This link is dated ten years ago.

 

[Subsea]

This link was published in 2011

Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration

What are the bacteria populations in the water column of reef tanks, and how does that value compare with bacterial counts in authentic reef water? Does carbon dosing indeed increase water column bacteria populations (i.e., is growth carbon limited)? Does mechanical filtration (protein skimming...

reefs.com

Our earlier research on the topic of carbon nutrient levels in marine aquaria (Feldman, 2008; Feldman, 2009; Feldman, 2010) has provided experimental documentation for four conclusions that impact on TOC management in our reef tanks:

1. Reef aquaria utilizing active filtration (GAC, skimming) maintain equilibrium TOC levels within the range found on healthy tropical reefs.
2. Protein skimming (i.e., bubbles) is not very effective at removing TOC from aquarium water, depleting typical reef tank water of only ~ 20 – 35% of the post-feeding TOC present.
3. GAC filtration is quite effective at stripping reef tank water of its TOC load, removing 60 – 85% of the TOC present.
4. And, quite intriguingly, the natural biological filtration, which starts with bacteria and other microbes, is remarkable in its capacity to remediate reef tank water of TOC, easily removing 50% or more of the post-feeding TOC increase in tank water.

Conclusions (2) and (3) describe the consequences of mechanical filtration on TOC levels, but the 4th conclusion emphasizes the importance of the “hidden” part of the remediation equation, bacterial predation, for gaining an understanding of the dynamics of carbon commerce in our aquaria. In fact, this observation, coupled with the advent of Carbon Dosing strategies for nutrient export, led to a new series of questions regarding the perhaps pivotal role of bacteria, or at least skimmable water column bacteria, in successful reef aquarium husbandry.

4. Conclusions​

The preliminary studies described herein document, for the first time, the modulation of water column bacteria population in reef tank water as a consequence of either (a) carbon source addition or (b) mechanical filtration (GAC, skimming). This information bears on the Carbon Dosing hypothesis for nutrient removal in marine aquaria.

Aquaria subjected to active filtration via skimming present water column bacteria populations that are approximately 1/10 of those observed on natural reefs. The consequences of this disparity on the long-term health of the tank’s livestock are not known. How do reef tank organisms adapt to such a bacteria-deficient environment? Is the whole food web in an aquarium perturbed, or are there compensatory mechanisms that maintain an appropriate energy transduction through all of the trophic levels? Is “old tank syndrome” related to possible nutritional deficiencies stemming from this bacteria “gap”? Alternatively, could “old tank syndrome” be symptomatic of a gradual decrease of bacterial diversity as a consequence of selective skimmer-based removal of only bubble-susceptible bacteria? At present, it is not possible to go beyond speculation on these points – further research is needed.

On the other hand, our studies have shown that bacterial growth appears to be carbon limited in reef aquarium water. However, there is a demonstrable difference between reef tank water in an active reef tank, and reef tank water removed from the tank. In the latter case, bacteria consumers are largely absent, and so fueling bacteria growth via carbon addition translates to rapid and large increases in bacteria population. In an active reef tank, however, this population increase is not manifest, presumably because active predation keeps the overall level in check. Thus, the highly dynamic nature of bacteria populations in the water column of reef aquaria is highlighted by these studies. From a different perspective, the bacteria population in a reef tank seems to act as a buffer to help dissipate the otherwise potentially serious negative consequences of (inadvertent?) tank pollution via rapid carbon addition, at least perhaps up to a saturation point.

Finally, mechanical filtration in the form of skimming but not GAC does provide an effective means of bacteria export, at least up to a point. It appears likely that some types of bacteria are indeed “skimmable”, but others are not. Thus, skimming inadvertently provides severe (?) evolutionary pressure to skew the tank’s resident water column bacteria population to favor the “non-skimmable” cohort.

The bottom line with respect to the carbon dosing hypothesis is clear; the basic tenets of this theory appear to hold up to experimental scrutiny; carbon dosing does increase water column bacteria populations, and skimming does remove some bacteria with their attendant nutrient loads. Thus, the underlying science behind this approach to nutrient export appears valid.

 

[Subsea]

If you watched the Rowler presentation, DOC exudates of coral are mostly lipids & proteins and DOC exudates of algae are mostly carbohdrates/glucose/sugar.

Cryptic sponges process both coral & algae DOC exudates as well as POC (Particulate Organic Carbon) and would double in mass every 30 minutes except for sloughing off carbon rich detritus that feeds the microbial loop and DIC which feeds coral during photosynthesis. In instrumentation, we call that a positive “feedback loop”.

How does detritus feed the microbial loop? MULM: here is what PaulB says about MULM

“A sterile tank IMO is the biggest problem we have keeping certain fish healthy.”
“Sterile is good in an operating room but very bad in a tank.”

"Mulm" in a reef tank

I think one of the most important, and least understood or mentioned things in a reef tank is "mulm". That stuff that grows in the dark portions of a tank if it is set up long enough. "Mulm" is a combination of algae, sponges, bacteria, pods, worms, detritus, poop and any thing else that can be p...

wamas.org

 

[Subsea]

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257350828_Surviving_in_a_Marine_Desert_The_Sponge_Loop_Retains_Resources_Within_Coral_Reefs

Sponge Pump “Darwin's Paradox” asks how productive and diverse ecosystems like coral reefs thrive in the marine equivalent of a desert. De Goeij et al. (p. 108 ) now show that coral reef sponges are part of a highly efficient recycling pathway for dissolved organic matter (DOM), converting it, via rapid sponge-cell turnover, into cellular detritus that becomes food for reef consumers. DOM transfer through the sponge loop approaches the gross primary production rates required for the entire coral reef ecosystem.

 

[Subsea]

Passive bufferfrom aroggonite sandbed. I also add liquid seaweed, dose live phytoplankton and feed live mussels

This is how I add carbon to my systems;

Patrick says, “Laissez les bonne temps roulee”.

 

[decimal]

Following…

 

[Cody]

@Cody
Your points reflect the current philosophy of American reefers. Because I choose not to play SPS with high alkalinity demanding corals I have no need for alkalinity management. Also because of many filter feeding invertebrates, I choose not to use protein skimming to strip the water of the microbial loop that feeds sea apples & flame scallops as well as numerous sponges both ornamental & cryptic. Also, I don’t struggle to keep nutrients down, in fact I dose ammonia to booster nitrogen.

Your hypothesis that the laws of chemistry, biology & physics don’t happen in a glass tank does not agree with science. I will link some more current articles that are peer reviewed, not hobby blogs.
Cheers,
Patrick

Well, it sounds like you've got it figured out. Best of luck to you.

 

[Subsea]

Well, it sounds like you've got it figured out. Best of luck to you.

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

 

[soymilk]

see, im the opposite. I know nothing, but my degree from brstv tells people I know it all.

 

[Subsea]

see, im the opposite. I know nothing, but my degree from brstv tells people I know it all.

Viva la differrence!

 

[Subsea]

Let’s remove filtration mindset and say “biofiltration”, after John Tullock’s, “The Natural Reef Aquarium” the next most influential person to influence me with using “the little people” to move carbon up the food chain.

The Clean Up Crew​

The proper selections for your marine aquarium clean up crew.
chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net

What is a clean up crew?

[ Most often, a clean up crew is thought of as being but a few herbivores or scavengers to simply eat algae and clean up left over fish food. I feel this is an over simplified view and most often does not take into consideration that we are striving for a Reef aquarium. It is my hope that by taking the effort to put this together, it will inspire or guide others to think outside of the coral box. After all, what is a reef? Surely not a bunch of rocks with some corals parked on top of it all. I enjoy all the "little people" as much or more than I do the coral species kept plus the fact that I wish to have an actual ecosystem that through its various animal and plant members can maintain itself. Each animal has its part to play in that role and in combination, makes for an easy to keep reef aquarium with minimal equipment and effort while providing me with the joy of seeing it all in action. Being that most all of the inverts and sponges are closer to the bottom of the food chain than say the corals and fish are, I also consider these animals to make up what one could call a very extensive "clean up" crew while providing food for other species as well. Since I am discussing food chains I need to stress the fact that all food chains with one exception (deep ocean vents) start at the bottom with plants or algae. The very item that caused us to consider buying a clean up crew to begin with. Yet once an aquarium does acquire a diverse clean up crew, it will most likely need to be supplemented with phytoplankton to ensure we keep as much diversity as possible. In short, a clean up crew is a reef ! ]