I have a bio-sphere, a small glass orb that I purchased from Amazon. Within it, there is a bio-pellet substrate bottom, marine water, a tiny clump of macro-algae and seven tiny marine shrimp. The entire ball is totally sealed, and the minute ecosystem within is said to last a minimum of two-years. The instructions for caring for the bio-sphere are minimal. Keep it out of constant direct light, but provide enough light for algae to grow, and keep it at room temperature. It’s fascinating to me, that within the nearly 12 months I’ve owned the bio-sphere, nothing within has changed. The tiny shrimp are thriving, the patch of algae remains the same size, and day after day it’s business as usual in the tiny sphere, which rests on a shelf in my living room. I could go throw the host of complex interactions taking place within the little sphere, that allow it to remain sealed from the outside world and still flourish. Then I could write and write how these same systems apply to the health of our aquariums. In reality it boils down to one thing, the food chain. We all know the basics of a food chain. Often though, we don’t apply knowledge of marine food chains to our aquariums. These systems complete an entire cycle of waste assimilation and animal nutrition. They are vital to every ecosystem on Earth, including the one within your aquarium. The role of microbes:
Within each drop of your aquarium’s water, bacteria and plankton exists that form the base of your tank’s food chain. The oxygen and biomass they are creating are the heartbeat of your tank’s ability to sustain marine life. Algae and phytoplankton take in sunlight, carbon and other nutrients, creating oxygen and food for other organisms. Microbes at the other end of this spectrum are breaking down fish and animal waste, even decomposing dead animals, turning them into nutrients that can then be re-used by phytoplankton. It’s the very basic foundation on which your water’s quality is built. Beginning and end: Marine microbes mark the beginning and end of the food chain. They generate nutrients for all life at the beginning, and break down decomposing and decaying matter to be re-used at the end. It is estimated that the mass of all the microbes in the world’s oceans is about the weight of 240 billion African Elephants.… More:
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