The Anammox Bacteria

[Aquarist007]

Is there evidence that these bacteria exist and operate in our marine aquariums?

"Bacterial anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) in the marine nitrogen cycle. This is a relatively newly discovered bacteria(2003) that can both oxidize and reduce.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) is a microbial oxidation process of ammonium, with nitrite as the electron acceptor and dinitrogen gas as the main product, and is performed by a clade of deeply branched Planctomycetes, which possess an intracytoplasmic membrane-bounded organelle, the anammoxosome, for the Anammox process.

The wide distribution of Anammox bacteria in different natural environments has been greatly modified the traditional view of biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen, in which microbial denitrifier is considered as the only organism to respire nitrate and nitrite to produce nitric and nitrous oxides, and eventually nitrogen gas.

More evidences indicate that Anammox is responsible for the production of more than 50% of oceanic N2 and plays an important role in global nitrogen cycling. Moreover, due to the close relationship between nitrogen and carbon cycling, it is anticipated that Anammox process might also affect the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, and influence the global climate change. In addition, the simultaneous transformation of nitrite and ammonium in wastewater treatment by Anammox would allow a 90% reduction in operational costs and provide a much more effective biotechnological process for wastewater treatment."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19623949

[HighlandReefer]

Bacterial biofilms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm)develop on rock, in sand beds and attach to other surfaces in reef tanks. A bacterial biofilm that is visible will contain anammox bacteria. Used GAC surfaces are great for growing biofilms with anammox bacteria in them.


See this article:


In Situ Activity and Spatial Organization of Anaerobic Ammonium-Oxidizing (Anammox) Bacteria in Biofilms▿

Tomonori Kindaichi1,
Ikuo Tsushima2,
Yuji Ogasawara2,
Masaki Shimokawa2,
Noriatsu Ozaki1,
Hisashi Satoh2 and
Satoshi Okabe2,*

+ Author Affiliations

1Department of Social and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima 739-8527, Japan


2Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan



ABSTRACT

We investigated autotrophic anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) biofilms for their spatial organization, community composition, and in situ activities by using molecular biological techniques combined with microelectrodes. Results of phylogenetic analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) revealed that “Brocadia”-like anammox bacteria that hybridized with the Amx820 probe dominated, with 60 to 92% of total bacteria in the upper part (<1,000 μm) of the biofilm, where high anammox activity was mainly detected with microelectrodes. The relative abundance of anammox bacteria decreased along the flow direction of the reactor. FISH results also indicated that Nitrosomonas-, Nitrosospira-, and Nitrosococcus-like aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and Nitrospira-like nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) coexisted with anammox bacteria and accounted for 13 to 21% of total bacteria in the biofilms. Microelectrode measurements at three points along the anammox reactor revealed that the NH4+ and NO2− consumption rates decreased from 0.68 and 0.64 μmol cm−2 h−1 at P2 (the second port, 170 mm from the inlet port) to 0.30 and 0.35 μmol cm−2 h−1 at P3 (the third port, 205 mm from the inlet port), respectively. No anammox activity was detected at P4 (the fourth port, 240 mm from the inlet port), even though sufficient amounts of NH4+ and NO2− and a high abundance of anammox bacteria were still present. This result could be explained by the inhibitory effect of organic compounds derived from biomass decay and/or produced by anammox and coexisting bacteria in the upper parts of the biofilm and in the upstream part of the reactor. The anammox activities in the biofilm determined by microelectrodes reflected the overall reactor performance. The several groups of aerobic AOB lineages, Nitrospira-like NOB, and Betaproteobacteria coexisting in the anammox biofilm might consume a trace amount of O2 or organic compounds, which consequently established suitable microenvironments for anammox bacteria.

[HighlandReefer]

FWIW, many hobbyists think of bacteria in a reef tank as free floating single organisms, which is far from the truth. Bacteria reproduce so quickly that they form biomasses in hours from a single cell and surround themselves with the plastic like material. At that point you not only have one specie of bacteria, but many species of bacteria and biomasses include other micro-organisms as well. The biomass is like a city of humans all interacting with one another as well as other species. A single biomass is quite a complex micro-ecosystem which takes on a character of its own as a whole.

What do you think happens to the bacteria you decide to add to your tank? The bacterial world is a survival of the fit world, where bacterial mutate rather quickly. Given this information, the few bacteria you add as a supplement in comparison to the extreme numbers of bacteria that already exist in your reef tank, have little chance of surviving long in your tank. As biofilms grow in size, they begin to sluff off and form other colonies either free floating in the water or later attach to a surface. Skimming removes these biofilms free floating in your water, but these are constantly replenished. Surfaces that are completely clean will quickly become colonized by bacteria and other micro-organisms in biofilms, where survival of the fit determines which ones take over these new clean surfaces.

[Aquarist007]

Thanks Cliff.
When we carbon dose (pellets in a reactor) are we encouraging the growth of anerobic bacteria(denitrifiers) or simply encourging the growth of aerobic bacteria(those invovled in ammonification and oxidizing) which are plentyful to begin with.
Thus not really doing much to reduce nitrates but relying on these anammox bacteria that can perform denitrification and exist in an anerobic enviromennt

I've been doing some personal research into bacteria and have some information I would love to get your opinion on. It is on a site that is strickly a library site--only open to writers.
Am I allowed to post the link to it here?
Thanking you in advance
Scott

[HighlandReefer]

Scott, I would love to read any articles you can post the links for so go ahead. ;)

Using biopellets is interesting since the plastic type of polymer used is naturally produced by bacteria, cyanobacteria and a few other micro-organsisms for storing carbon as an energy source when the supply is low. One reason whay cyanobacteria are hard to fight as a pest since it is very difficult if not impossible to starve them out without killing your coral. So not only bacteria can untilize the biopellets as a carbon source. All your bacteria including the anammox can utilize the biopellets as well as other commonly used carbon sources as long as it can reach into the biofilms to where they are at. Usually the exterior bacteria (aerobic) in the biofilm utilize the biopellets first, then the bi-products of these aerobic bacteria are utilized as a food source by the anammox as this cycle carries through the bioflim. Some of the biopellets enter through channels deeper into the biofilms as well, which allows the bioflims to get larger and larger in size. The areas where biofilms sluff off are likely at these water channels that develop deeper into the bioflim which form weak areas not cemented solidly by the plastic polymers that the bacteria produce to completely sourround individual and colony cells.

[Aquarist007]

Thanks I would be honoured if you took a look
http://www.aquarist.info/SMF/index.php?board=15.0

I still have a hard time understanding why we have to have the flow so intense through the reactor with the chance of destroying the biofilm and the anerob dentrifiers with it.
There are some very experienced reefers in our area who have switched to running the pellets in a bag in the sump and claim good results that way

[HighlandReefer]

Scott, you did a wonderful job with all those articles. Well done. :thumbsup:

I agree, I believe that the best results with the biopellets would be when you allow the biofilms to grow abundantly and than skim out the effluent from the reactor you keep them in. The reactor container may need to be larger in size compared to the common ones sold. Flow should be slower. ;)

[Aquarist007]

Scott, you did a wonderful job with all those articles. Well done. :thumbsup:

I agree, I believe that the best results with the biopellets would be when you allow the biofilms to grow abundantly and than skim out the effluent from the reactor you keep them in. The reactor container may need to be larger in size compared to the common ones sold. Flow should be slower. ;)

Wow coming from such an experienced and knowlegeable reefer--I am very pleased with your kudo.
You are welcome to contribute and comment on the site if you have the time and it doesn't conflict with RC in anyway.
Thanks again
Scott

What do you feel would be the best way to skim out the mulm from the reactors without disturbing the biofilms. I usually rinse them out with tank water but I realize now I could be destroying the biofilms via agitation

[HighlandReefer]

Perhaps using filter bags may be the easiest, followed by a skimmer.

[Aquarist007]

Perhaps using filter bags may be the easiest, followed by a skimmer.

Cliff, I am inferring here that we might be in a spirial here using the reactor the way we do:
increase the agitation of the pellets
disturb the biofilm
kill of anerobic bacteria that do not like oxygen
create a mulm
clean the mulm and then start up the agitation again
the cycle repeats itself??

We might prevent this by keeping the flow through the reactor very mimimal right from the beginning?

[HighlandReefer]

You need to either have enough flow to break off the bioblims and skim them out or with slow flow, you need to clean the reactor out periodically and leave enough biofilm to keep everything going.

Which is more efficient, I have no clue. ;)

[bertoni]

I don't think that letting the reactor becoming anoxic is going to be a good idea. You'd end up having to treat it as a coil or sulfate reactor for nitrate. In that case, I'm not sure what the pellets would be accomplishing.

The reactor should hit a steady state with a given flow rate. I don't know how we could determine what flow rate is the most efficient other than measuring the tank levels regularly for a while.

[Aquarist007]

I don't think that letting the reactor becoming anoxic is going to be a good idea. You'd end up having to treat it as a coil or sulfate reactor for nitrate. In that case, I'm not sure what the pellets would be accomplishing.

The reactor should hit a steady state with a given flow rate. I don't know how we could determine what flow rate is the most efficient other than measuring the tank levels regularly for a while.

Good points.

What do you feel is being accomplished by running the pellets in a bag in the sump. The reefers that are doing it claim they are getting good nitrate reduction that way.
I believe that the bag creates an anerobic condition--please correct me if I am wrong
Thanks
Scott

[bertoni]

I doubt that the bag becomes anoxic. If it does, I doubt that the pellets are all that important to the process. They might be functioning mostly as a surface for microbes to grow, for example. The smell when a bag is opened should tell the tale. :)