Our Research

Currently, Decamicron Labs is pursuing several lines of research.

An ecological system should really be thought of as a web of loops as opposed to the traditional food chain we think of. For example, some species form very simple loops of aerobic and anaerobic pairs that convert hydrogen sulfide into sulfate and vice versa. On the other hand, some species use light to fix carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, or recycle ammonia into amino acids. Other species graze on these organisms, which are in turn eaten by others. Their waste is once again expelled as carbon dioxide and ammonia, completing what we traditionally think of as a "food chain" into a holistic cycle.

All ecological systems we think of as natural can be viewed as steady states of such a process. In this framework, it is a corollary that it should be possible to engineer one that is stable. Our aquariums are an unconscious proof that this is possible. The ecological loops in them are not only supported or substituted by water changes and filtration, but very likely also formed by a mosaic of species from different biotopes and geographies.

Decamicron Labs aims to understand how to create these systems with more precision and rigor. We wish to characterize all of the loops and understand how to make them more resilient. Many of these loops and cycles are very well known to oceanographers and wastewater researchers, but we lack a theory for in-vivo systems. Oceanography studies a vastly larger spatial scale, while wastewater operates with a nutrient concentration that differs by orders of magnitude. A central question in oceanography is how coral reefs can be so productive despite constant dilution by nutrient-poor oligotrophic water. This is the exact opposite problem people have in aquariums. Meanwhile, the levels and distribution of organic carbon we see in reef tanks are often too low or different to reap the same level of efficacy when borrowing ideas from wastewater treatment. While we certainly can be inspired by ideas in these tangential fields, the systems are different enough that their assumptions do not translate well.

Decamicron Labs aims to develop the framework for in-vivo closed systems. This way, once one has different goals in mind, for example maximizing fish biomass with a specific omega-3 fatty acid profile, they can much more easily perform precise interventions to shape the ecosystem to their needs.

One may easily seed an aquarium with some live rock. However, folk wisdom tells us aquariums mature best if you continuously add new things as well, which suggests an initial seed alone is not sufficient. We hypothesize that beyond the nitrogen cycle, there are several other uncharacterized cycles that take time to establish.

Some of these cycles may be purely biological. Many tanks often go through a dinoflagellate outbreak phase. Indeed, this is likely immediately caused by some abiotic factor such as excess silicate addition, but many people see this problem resolved over time without changing their workflow. It is Decamicron Labs' theory that some new competitor or predator species is either being unknowingly introduced with new fish and coral additions, or existing species require a few generations to establish. This makes sense, as many microorganisms are obligate specialists that die very quickly without their food source, so the tank may be devoid of any predators until some appear.

Other cycles may be abiotic. As an example, in our experience newer tanks are much more prone to crashes due to hydrogen sulfide buildup, but older tanks of the same volume are much more resilient. This cycle is well studied by the wastewater treatment scientific community, but serves as another example of a cycle in an aquarium that is important but poorly characterized. The order of magnitude reduction required for wastewater and an aquarium is also different.

These examples tell us there are many open questions to be asked and answered. Decamicron Labs aims to ask and answer the right ones for space travel. Being a fish and coral importer, Decamicron Labs is in a unique position to answer these questions compared to traditional academic groups at universities. We will naturally get access to a steady stream of exposure to new species and genetics.

Currently, we have a research program to combine genomics and chemical analysis.

On the genomic side, we mainly utilize shotgun NGS, which sequences all DNA present in a sample. Traditional eDNA services geared towards the reef keeping hobby only target specific genes such as 16S or 18S. These genes tell you the rough taxonomic breakdown of what is in your tank, but not what those organisms can do. While the shotgun NGS we are using is more expensive, it includes genes involved in metabolism and processing of specific chemicals, which will allow us to better understand what capabilities are present. This way we gain an estimate of both taxonomy and ecology.

On the chemical side, we are planning on using LC-MS to quantify the chemical profiles of the organic carbon present. Previously, we tried UV-Vis, but this only provides a proxy of organic carbon. While this tool is widely used to study organic carbon, it really just reports how strongly chromophores present react to a specific wavelength (254 nm). If a chemical does not have a chromophore, it would remain undetectable. You are inherently compressing a multidimensional dataset into a single scalar, so much information is lost. Even if you use more wavelengths, it is likely your signal would be drowned out by nitrate ions.

By combining these two approaches, we can gain a better picture of the processes that are and are not occurring.

Besides this, we are also actively investing in automation. A significant amount of our resources is currently spent on designing, 3D printing, and manufacturing things that will speed up our workflow.

We plan to start a program aimed at understanding genomics in general. The results from this will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Our current goal is to have a whole genome of the Neptune grouper (Cephalopholis igarashiensis) sequenced and assembled by the end of 2026, and published in 2027.