Tired of recurring problems in the aquarium?
Why are some aquariums unstable?
Many beginner aquarists throw in the towel after a series of problems, each one only preparing for the next!
"With every imbalance, the fish die, and we go see the merchant who advises a new bottle each time containing the ‘magic product’ or ‘miraculous bacteria’!"
And each problem brings another one...
This phenomenon of "bouncing", in which it seems that we are only shifting the problem, with each "solution" then creating another, is known in systems ecology and, recently, in biology.
Since we know the key role of the microbiota in our body, we better understand certain chronic conditions and some recurring digestive issues.
"Each time, it is the poverty of the microbiota (our microbial flora) that is at stake."
Hygiene has been the greatest medical advancement of all time.
But its excess, hygienism, has caused, as we are discovering more and more, other ailments.
Certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, or allergies, and even depression, are experiencing an explosion in developed countries. We even saw, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rate of allergies and asthma in the east (which was very low) align within a few decades with the very high western rate. So nothing genetic!
"We are only at the very beginning of the discoveries to come, but it is indeed the richness of the microbiota that is at stake, as it has been depleted by our lifestyle and diet."
Now, let's apply this prism of reflection to the small aquatic world that is our aquarium or our pond.
Unlike land animals, fish and other aquatic creatures literally bathe in their microbiota.
Indeed, if ours is only internal or limited at most to our skin, theirs is communicated, at the slightest droppings, to their entire liquid environment.
A large part of the aquatic microbiome is therefore common to all individuals sharing the same water source, with specificities depending on the species and the individual. And aquatic ecosystems are designed to function this way.
"Your aquarium, like any body of water, will have a microbiome, largely shared by all its inhabitants."
An aquarium is therefore even more unbalanced than we are due to the depletion of microbial wealth caused by excessive hygiene.
"I knew a lady who cleaned her aquarium completely every month (including the sand), even washing the glass with bleach. Her fish kept dying, getting sick, and the plants remained weak. The temperature was good, the water parameters perfect, the light ideal..."
But these parameters are ultimately very secondary and cannot do anything against microbial imbalances.
When the number of microbial species (bacteria, yeasts, fungi, viruses, etc.) is reduced, one exposes oneself to the risk that, in the absence of competition, one species begins to dominate at the expense of the others. It proliferates and all the cycles of the aquarium are distorted.
"Adding this or that bottle of product, or this cloned strain of bacteria purchased from a pet store will only superficially address the problem, but another will then arise, as the underlying issue remains unresolved: a true microbial richness in which no species is dominant enough to disrupt the balance."
The answer to imbalances is not to eliminate a creature that is too present, but to increase diversity to "put it back in its place"!
It is this "systemic" logic that has allowed Aquazolla to develop the starting doses that maximize the "microbial library" of aquariums and ponds just after filling with water.
For osmosis water or tap water is a true microbial desert.
Similarly, introducing a new Zollabox starter each year helps to recharge this diversity, like a reminder.
Of course, your fish will probably eat the small invertebrates contained in the provided doses very quickly (daphnia, Blackworm, various ostracods), but it doesn't matter: they will have had time to communicate all their specific microbiota to the water in the bag, which consists of thousands of species and millions of strains per individual!
For two years, Aquazolla has also been incorporating samples taken from ancient periphytons (over 10 years for some). The periphyton is this more or less hard "crust" that forms on the walls underwater (in a poubellarium, for example) and over time constitutes an incredible collection of all the species (in dormant form or not) that have lived there over time!
The principle is therefore to have the maximum microbial wealth, so that the ecosystem can necessarily find hundreds of species corresponding to its current needs to establish the hundreds of biological cycles (the nitrogen cycle is just one among hundreds of others!).
To summarize: avoiding introducing such or such algae, such or such organism into the aquarium is almost always in vain, since even the dust in the air can contain them! Aiming for controlled asepsis is a strategy with little hope!
On the other hand, the reverse strategy, which involves installing so much microbial biodiversity that no species can proliferate excessively, is effective. It's even what nature does!
Breeders know this strategy as "clean filth": it is better to accept the parade of microbes to which an animal is accustomed than to want to disinfect everything.
To return to the aquarium, it has been demonstrated on the daphnia magna (a subject of study appreciated in the laboratory) that the poverty of the microbiome causes diseases, reduced longevity, and limited or even nonexistent reproduction.
So, if even the intestine of a simple little daphnia tells you that!...
Mattier, June 12, 2023
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