This document proposes a citizen science project called Aquarium Microbial Ecology to study ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in home aquariums. AOA outnumber AOB in many natural environments like soil, freshwater, and marine systems. The project would collect samples from aquariums in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, extract DNA, and use PCR to analyze AOA and AOB communities. This could help answer unresolved questions about what factors shape aquarium microbial communities and how they develop over time. Studying aquariums for citizen science has advantages as aquarists are already organized, sampling is easy, and individual results are meaningful to hobbyists.

1. Aquarium microbial ecology:
a living room approach to citizen science
Josh D. Neufeld
University of Waterloo
@joshdneufeld

3. AOA in Natural Environments
AOA outnumber AOB
AOA are ubiquitous
soil freshwater
marine estuary

4. Ammonia oxidation
in built aquatic
environments?
Access to filters…
scistarter

8. Sample from a variety of aquaria:
freshwater, marine, fish, plants
Collect from KWAS members, extract DNA, quantitative real-time
PCR for ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-
oxidizing bacteria (AOB).
Fingerprinting and sequencing for diversity.

14. UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
What aspects of water chemistry shape
aquarium AOA (and AOB) communities?
Do AOA/AOB communities correlate?
Does AOB/AOA biofilm succession occur
when aquariums are first established?
From where do filter AOA seed populations
originate? Do they seed homes (“x”)?
Do AOA buffer aquaria from
ammonia toxicity during antibiotic
treatment?

15. ADVANTAGES OF AQUARIUMS
FOR CITIZEN SCIENCE
Aquarium hobbyists are organized by
societies, pet stores – already networked
Young people are involved and invested
(children, schools, undergrads)
Individual results matter to aquarists
Aquaria are aquatic microcosms,
“experiments” – already citizen science!
Standalone or accessory to existing
“Domestic Biome” initiatives
High biomass, easy sampling

16. AQUARI-US
PROJECT

17. University of Waterloo
*Laura Sauder(MSc)*
Jennifer Stearns (PDF)
Katja Engel (RA)
Andre Masella (RA)
Richard Pawliszyn (BSc)
Puntipar Sonthiphand (PhD)
NIOZ Roy. Netherlands
Institute for Sea Research
Francien Peterse
Stefan Schouten
Others
Kitchener Waterloo
Aquarium Society
KW Aquarium stores
Guelph Wastewater
Treatment Plant
Region of Waterloo

18. thank you
jneufeld@uwaterloo.ca
@joshdneufeld