I finally sent in an Aquabiomics test. I didn't really expect to get any ACTIONABLE insights but I was super curious, and I will send another in a couple of months.
My "diversity" score was very high (94th percentile) which I guess is generally a good thing:
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However the "Balance" score was low, which is a little more nebulous but it's their way of measuring the similarity in composition between my tank and other tanks. Meaning that while my tank is very diverse, it's also very different:
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The primary "difference" seems to be a lack of pelagibacteraceae, which is seen a lot on reefs in the ocean and is often associated with mature, healthy reef tanks (apparently):
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Other than cyano that comes and goes, my tank is generally very healthy and growing well. So not really worried about this, although it's interesting. Their suggestion to improve my population of this bacteria is to "stop running UV" but I haven't run UV in over a year.
I have done a ton of water changes as noted earlier, so perhaps this is a reason. Or, more likely, there's some other bacterial processes and shenanigans going on and so who knows!
What would be far more useful with these results is if you could signal basic husbandry associated with your sample - carbon dosing, water change frequency, type of food, filtration, etc etc. Then they could start associating results with certain husbandry profiles and provide more actionable recommendations.
Some of the other results they give you, my nitrifying community is strong:
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Above average cyano, as expected (specifically one type):
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Some fish pathogens, although only slightly above typical:
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No known coral pathogens:
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