# An interview with Dr. Timothy A. Hovanec - by Clint Tisher



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

This is very old thread i had on my computer but it's pretty interesting read...

http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=36

An interview with Dr. Timothy A. Hovanec - Find out the true story behind identifying, isolating and marketing the real nitrifying bacteria. The Chief Science Officer of the Aquaria Group and inventor of BioSpira, discusses this and other important topics.

Dr. Timothy A. Hovanec is the Chief Science Officer of the Aquaria Group, which includes Marineland Aquarium Products, Perfecto, and Aquarium Systems. Dr. Hovanec graduated from San Diego State University (B.S and M.S), and earned his Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has authored a number of aquarium related articles and peer-reviewed scientific papers. He holds U.S. and foreign patents for his work with nitrifying bacteria.

What follows is an interview I conducted with Dr. Hovanec on a number of aquarium related topics.

CT: Most of our members know you as the person that pioneered BioSpira, which is a cycling product that actually contains the proper bacteria for cycling a tank. It is noteworthy to mention that the product actually works as advertised! I'm interested in knowing how the product came about and the amount of effort and time that went into developing and marketing it.

Dr. Tim: BioSpira® is the result of over 10 years of research and like many scientific discoveries it was not the initial goal of my work. I joined Marineland in 1990 from the aquaculture industry and started setting up the research lab. The owner at that time had basically given me free reign to set-up a research program aimed at understanding the biological and chemical processes in aquaria. I equipped and staffed the lab and got started looking at the different filters from a biological standpoint. We quickly came out with the BioWheel® which, at first, the competition said was a gimmick. They were telling people you couldn't grow nitrifying bacteria on a small spinning wheel. But the proof was in the pudding as the saying goes and once people started using them they found that the filters were a dramatic improvement over what was on the market at that time. So my group was studying many different aspects of aquarium chemistry and biology and I got the notion that it was crazy not to be able to see and directly count the nitrifying bacteria. I was trained as a fish and zooplankton ecologist and we could count the different species of fish and plankton and it was frustrating to not be able to do that for the nitrifying bacteria.

So I did a very rough research project outline and knew it was going to be a lot of work and I was going to need to get some special equipment, which I didn't have at Aquaria. So I came up with a plan to turn my project into a Ph.D. dissertation, which the owner of Aquaria agreed to let me do. I met with a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara who was a colleague of the chair of my Master thesis committee and he agreed to accept me into his lab as a Ph.D. student and he would be the chair of my Ph.D. committee. So in January 1993 I was not only a full-time employee at Aquaria, but now a new Ph.D. student at UCSB! Needless to say the next five years were very, very busy!

At about this same time I went to a conference on cichlids that was sponsored by the Columbus Zoo and was listening to some of the talks about how these researchers were studying phylogenetics of cichlids using gene sequence data. I talked to some of them and they said the technique was also used on bacteria. When I got to UCSB, I was discussing this with my committee Chair and he told me that a new professor had just started at UCSB the year before who was an expert at the techniques I would need to learn to do the phylogenetic work.

So Professor Edward DeLong agreed to meet with me and discuss my new project! Professor DeLong took a chance and let a fish biologist into his microbial ecology lab and to my everlasting thanks taught me the many techniques that microbial ecologists use to study bacteria in their native habitats. The trials and tribulations of much of my research leading to my Ph.D. are published in a couple of peer-reviewed scientific papers that I wrote on my research, and these can be downloaded at the lab's web site www.marinelandlabs.com.

Briefly, I began with the assumption, because all the books and papers said it was so, that Nitrosomonas europaea was the ammonia-oxidizer and Nitrobacter winogradskyi was the nitrite-oxidizer in aquaria whether freshwater or saltwater. I developed what are called molecular probes for these bugs (bacteria) based on the sequence of the 16S rRNA gene. These probes, which are short sequences of DNA bases, can be tailored to be very specific targets detecting only the bacteria you design them for. Of course, you have to have the gene sequence and have to make sure the probe does not match other bacteria that are not your target. In any case, I had my probes and they worked great on pure cultures of these bacteria. So I collected samples from aquaria to start my studies and the results were blank - meaning the bacteria (N. europaea and Nb. winogradskyi) were not in the samples from aquaria. No signal, nothing, complete failure. Well that happens in science, a lot more than people want to admit so you just repeat the testing. Which I did again and again and again and every time the results were blank. This, of course, didn't make sense because these bacteria had to be there. The aquaria were nitrifying and that meant that these bacteria had to be there. This work resulted in the first paper, which was basically a paper on negative results!

After over a year of not getting positive results, I was basically forced to change the direction of my research from how many nitrifiers to who are the nitrifiers. This was a lot of work making clone libraries and sequencing gels. But it resulted in the discovery that Nitrobacter species were not present in aquaria samples but there were lots of bacteria that were most closely related to Nitrospira. At that time, Nitrospira were considered a strange bacterium that was not important. My research changed that. The first paper was published in January 1998 and later in that same year three other research groups (one in Australia, two in Germany) also published papers showing that Nitrospira-like bacteria not Nitrobacter were the bacteria responsible for nitrification in many different types of aquatic systems.

I earned my Ph.D. that year and continued the research at Marineland. At that time, I hired another recently graduated Ph.D. microbiologist from Australia who had worked on nitrifying bacteria in sewage treatment plants and a few more microbiologists. We started the search for the other nitrifiers such as the ammonia-oxidizers in freshwater and the nitrifiers in saltwater. It took us another 4 years to find and confirm the rest of the nitrifiers. We published a paper about the ammonia-oxidizer in freshwater systems in 2001 and this year will publish details on the saltwater ammonia and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria.

All told the research took over 10 years and is still continuing today. The marketing effort started in 2001. We started beta-testing the freshwater BioSpira® in public aquaria and aquaculture facilities to get data on large scale usage. BioSpira® for the pet trade was released in October 2002. In some ways the marketing is harder than the research because nitrifying start-up products that don't work have burned so many people. Secondly, it is so ingrained that the nitrifying bacteria are Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi that many people are not willing to even consider much less accept the notion that the books and literature of the past are wrong.

Dr. Timothy Hovanec Slideshow

CT: I know it's no surprise to you that BioSpira works as advertised, but is there potential also for it to contain or boost other forms of bacteria as well? Of prime concern are Flex and other ubiquitous but problematic organisms.

Dr. Tim: It is hard to say. There is always potential, but the bacteria you mention are such different organisms physiologically from nitrifiers that it might be a stretch to make any claims. There are some bacterial products that claim wonderful things through a process called competitive exclusion. However, no one ever provides any data. We have no data either way that the use of BioSpira® provides any added benefits besides establishing nitrification much faster in newly set-up aquaria and boosting nitrification in perturbed systems.

CT: Is it possible to fishless cycle a tank using BioSpira?

Dr. Tim: Sure, the bacteria don't care if the ammonia comes from fish or an inorganic source. As long as it's ammonia they'll use it. So use BioSpira® as directed and add ammonia but do not let the ammonia concentration get too high, say above 5 to 10 mg/L. Best to start with about 1 to 2 mg/L and as that is oxidized slowly increase the amount of ammonia added. You'll see that in a very short time the system can oxidize all the ammonia to nitrate overnight. Now you can add fish to the system.

However I must point out, there is no real need to do a fishless cycle if one uses BioSpira®. If you use it as directed and maintain a fish density of six Rosy Barb sized fish per 10 gallons you will find the ammonia and nitrite does not get above 2 to 3 mg/L and then only for a day or two at most. And don't overfeed!

CT: Are there any plans to develop a saltwater version of BioSpira?

Dr. Tim: The saltwater version called BioSpira® Marine is finished and was released November 1, 2003! It is a mixture of completely different species of ammonia and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. I have read reports on the Web that people have had success with freshwater BioSpira® in saltwater tanks but our research does not support that. We have certain QC criteria and while using freshwater BioSpira® in saltwater aquaria may help, our QC criteria performance levels are not met so I cannot recommend it. The nitrifying bacteria in freshwater aquaria are different than the nitrifying bacteria in saltwater aquaria. Since we have both, it is best to use the one that is made for your type of system.

CT: Since your research has identified the bacteria responsible for nitrification, how is it that we still have bottled cycling products on the market that claim to contain nitrifying bacteria, even though they contain a different type of bacteria? Shouldn't products that contain the wrong type of bacteria be taken off the market?

Dr. Tim: First, there are some (only a few) cycling products on the market that are based on the best research at the time they were developed and sometimes people would say they worked but no solid research has ever supported their claims. In fact, all published peer-reviewed scientific research has shown that they don't. However, there are many more products out there that are worthless. They do not contain any nitrifiers. Both these types of product have a long history in the marketplace and many stores swear by them. But when you really look at the product and directions for use you have to ask yourself does this make sense. For instance, does it make sense to add the product every week until one sees an ammonia and nitrite reduction? You're going to see that in 10 to 14 days for ammonia and 25 to 35 days for nitrite if you do nothing! Why should you have to wait weeks to months? You're wasting your money!

However, the fact is the bacteria that comprise BioSpira® are patented or patent pending. One of the patents is specifically for use in aquaria environments for accelerating the establishment of nitrification so no one can grow and sell these bacteria without violating our patents unless they get a license from us first. This puts our competition in a tough spot. They can admit their product isn't right and withdraw the product or they can say that my research is bogus.

So far the major companies have taken the route that my research is bogus. Even though we are the only company that has published peer-reviewed research showing that we are on solid ground and my research has been confirmed by several other laboratories that are not in the tropical fish industry.

Eventually, however, the market will make the choice and decide that BioSpira® is the only product and the others will probably fade away. Unfortunately, at the present time there are no bacteria police and companies are free to sell and state whatever they want even when it is wrong. But that happens for many products besides BioSpira®.

CT: What are the chances that we may actually see some kind of working denitrification unit or process for the aquarium hobby in the near future?

Dr. Tim: I think the chances are good and I hope that Marineland is the company that makes them. However, your definition of near future may be different than mine! First, the problem is not the process. That is well known. The problem is technological. How can we make a piece of equipment that works, is relatively foolproof and is easy to use? Those are the stumbling blocks to a denitrification unit for the masses.

CT: One of the great innovations in the hobby has been the bio-wheel technology. Do bio-wheels drive off CO2? If so, does it make sense to remove the bio-wheel in planted tanks using CO2 injection?

Dr. Tim: This is one of the better myths in the hobby. It's a myth because it is easy to test and no one who spouts this line has actually published any data. They just think it's the truth. The problem is that while this makes intuitive sense, as in if the oxygen is going into the water the carbon dioxide most be going out. However, it is not that simple. Carbon dioxide is several orders of magnitude more soluble in water than oxygen. Thus it takes a lot more work to get the carbon dioxide out of the water.

CT: If bio-wheels promote the helpful nitrifying bacteria, does it stand to reason that they may also harbor disease-causing bacteria as well? If so, should bio-wheels not be used in Q/T (quarantine/treatment) tanks?

Dr. Tim: Actually no. The nitrifying bacteria on the BioWheel® form what you could call colonies which cover themselves with a material called EPS or exopolymer substance. This protects the nitrifiers from less than ideal environment conditions and can cover all of the BioWheel® surface. Thus, the disease causing bacteria cannot get a place to hold on to. There is no evidence that BioWheels have a higher incidence of disease causing bacteria on them than what is in the aquarium water. In fact, I would argue the exact opposite.

CT: You have written extensively on the subject of water quality. The average aquarist has a small battery of test kits at their disposal to help monitor their aquarium conditions. Do these hobby level test kits really allow us to sufficiently monitor water quality?

Dr. Tim: Only very few test kit brands accurately measure water quality parameters. If you want to get good data then use test kits from Kordon or Aquarium Systems. Other than those, I would say use the liquid products over the tablets. The tablets are the worst. Most test kits give false positive readings (meaning they indicate that ammonia, for example, is present when it is not). In general, pH and nitrite kits are the most accurate while ammonia and nitrate are the least accurate. And keep the reagents fresh! But for most kits they give only a general indication.

CT: Along the same lines as adequate hobbyist test kits, are there other water parameters that should be monitored that typically aren't?

Dr. Tim: Most people don't monitor their tank's nitrite concentration. I think that is more important than ammonia for an established aquarium. This is because the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria are more sensitive than the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria to environment conditions. If something is wrong nitrite will show up before ammonia. I recommend nitrite and pH. pH will tell you when you need to change the water, nitrite will tell you when to clean the filter.

CT: As a member of the Marineland speakers program, what types of questions are you asked most often?

Dr. Tim: The most common question may be, "Why my fish died." Of course, impossible for me to answer since I have no water quality data or fish to examine! Since I talk a lot on filtration I get asked what the best filters are. My answer is "the one you'll maintain!"

CT: You've written many excellent articles and papers on various subjects related to the hobby, do you have any favorites, or ones that you highly recommend for the aquarist looking to advance in the hobby?

Dr. Tim: Well, my pet peeve is the misuse of the meaning of pH. So I recommend those articles a lot. Of course, the die-hard chemists get after me. I think it's fine line between being too technical and having no one understand you and being interesting enough that the reader gets the answer. I prefer the latter.

Of course, my articles and papers on BioSpira® and types of filtration are also fun because they tweak the establishment! I still get people wanting to argue about things like bacteria and different filters. Which would be fine if they had any data but they don't!

CT: What do you see as the dividing line between the average aquarist and the advanced aquarist?

Dr. Tim: The advanced aquarist is more dangerous!! Just kidding. The advanced aquarist is one who gets to a point where they have to have a fish room, they plan their vacation around a fish club convention, or they are always planning their next field trip. This is the advanced aquarist to me.

The average aquarist has a little better balance in life and while they maybe can't live without their fish, they can go awhile without thinking about them.

Just for the record, I suppose I went past the advanced aquarist stage years ago, since all I ever do is think and study fish and look for ways to put another pond in the backyard!

CT: Acclimation of new arrivals is one of those things that many hobbyists do with very little thought. Taking into account the toxic substances inside a shipping bag and the changes that occur once the bag is opened, do you feel that float and/or drip methods of acclimation are ideal? Why or why not?

Dr. Tim: Well this might get me in trouble but for most fish neither! I guess I should explain. For nearly 8 years or so, I have been in charge of the fish at the Marineland booth at the many industry trade shows we do each year (I just passed it along to another person I trained). There are about 6 or so shows a year where we set up aquaria. The largest shows involve 60 to 70 aquaria and/or commercial display units and are a mix of freshwater, saltwater and koi.

We have never used either method. We prep the water, getting rid of the chlorine, set the water temperature and add a pre-cultured BioWheel® to each system. The next day when the fish arrive from the airport we rip open the bags and carefully net the fish from the bags directly into the tanks. We virtually never lose fish from this and we always have the best displays. Most of the fish are right from the fish farm or the marine distributor so these are not conditioned fish.

If I had to choose one of the methods you mention I would go with floating. Seldom have I ever used the drip method. The problem with the drip method is that you are adding water with a high pH to the bag water, which has a high ammonia level. This causes the bag water pH to rise and makes more of the ammonia toxic. The vast majority of fish are tougher than we give them credit for and I would much rather give them a little temperature shock than soak them in ammonia.

CT: What do you believe to be the biggest need currently in the aquarium hobby today?

Dr. Tim: I think the biggest need is for better training of storeowners and employees. I am not just talking about the employees at the big boxes such as PETCO and PETsMART. I mean the guy who has had a store for 20 years and "knows everything." More than just a few seem stuck in a time warp. They are recommending the same feed, the same filter, and teaching the same incorrect myths while wondering why their business never grows. They don't have many repeat customers just new ones.

Also I think the hobby needs a better way to treat fish. Most people don't know what disease their fish have so how can they truly treat the fish? The incorrect use of antibiotics is a problem. Plus, the fish don't get cured so what is the purpose? We (manufacturers - scientists) need to make it easy and more effective to treat fish.

CT: How many tanks do you have at home and which is your favorite, and why?

Dr. Tim: Right now I have two not so great looking reef-tank set-ups at home. I have been ignoring them and gotten more interested in koi. This has resulted in me constructing three koi ponds in my backyard. It gives me a chance to get outside and building things on a large-scale. I'll go back to aquaria, I always do, but right now my main hobby interest is with koi and water gardens. However, some fish will always be my favorites such as rainbow fishes and cichlids (I am the past president and current treasurer of the American Cichlid Association), which are two groups that will always hold my interest.

CT: How long have you been in the hobby and what got you hooked to the point of becoming a biologist?

Dr. Tim: I have been a hobbyist since I was 6 years old, so just over 40 years. I got into the hobby by winning two goldfish at a school fair. I took them home and found an old bowl under the sink. It was pretty dirty so I washed it really well with lots of soap and water. Then filled-up the shiny clean bowl with new water and put in my new goldfish. Needless to say, they were dead in the morning and I was devastated! My mom called my uncle who had fish tanks in his waiting room (he's an orthodontist) and asked him to help. He came over with a complete aquarium set-up that he wasn't using anymore. The stand, tanks, light hood - everything. He showed me how to set-up it up which involved putting gravel over these orange filter plates with a little tube in one corner. He also told me I had to take the gravel out every other month and rinse it really well and then reassemble the tank, decorations etc. Well, of course, nowadays we know this was not the best advice but it was the start. The first fish he gave me were swordtails and after awhile there were baby fish in the tank and I was hooked for life on tropical fish.

That first aquarium started it all, and in fact, I still have that tank with the slate bottom and hard black tar-like sealant. More aquaria were added over the years. At the age of 13 my mom took me to Scripps Institution of Oceanography and she would burst into some professor's offices, asking that they talk to her son about being a marine biologist and they were great about it. By the end of the day there was no question I was going to study fish and become a marine biologist!

CT: As an inventor, biologist and long time aquarist, what are your thoughts concerning the new wave of genetically altered day-glow fish that are about to come on the market?

Dr. Tim: Speaking personally, I am against the introduction of these fish just like I have always been against the introduction of hybrids into the hobby. There are plenty of naturally colorful, beautiful fish. Plus the idea, or at least my idea, has always been to bring a little nature into one's home with tropical fish so why create an unnatural fish? We don't need more "Hollywood" in our life, we need more nature.

Now with transgenics where does someone draw the line? Does the hobby really need coldwater tolerant African cichlids which can be made by insertion of a coldwater tolerant gene? Does the hobby need tiger barbs that are a foot long which could be made with growth genes? My answer is that we don't and these animals would also represent possible environment problems should they get in the wild.

CT: What books, magazines or other aquarium publications are you currently reading, or read on a consistent basis (we're just looking for your reading recommendations)?

Dr. Tim: I browse all the magazines: they are generally ok. I just wouldn't believe everything you read in them! For freshwater I still prefer The Manual of Fish Health by Dr Chris Andrews. For saltwater Martin Moe's books are always great to read and re-read. The difference between Martin's books and those of many others is that Martin has been doing what he writes about for years. He is sharing his personal experience with us and he has done many things first, such as spawning several species of marine fish. And Martin gives you ways to do things that don't rely on tons of technology and cost lots of money.

I also enjoy reading older books such as Exotic Aquarium Fishes by William Innis. There are a lot of good ideas and observations in much of the old aquarium literature. These days we tend to think we have invented many new things but if one digs enough chances are you'll find that we just re-invented the wheel. Everyone can benefit from reading a little history.

CT: What exciting and innovative projects (that you can talk about) are you currently working on?

Dr. Tim: Well, of course, I can't really go into details of the projects my lab is working on. But suffice to say that we feel we are blazing the trail for others to follow. We are the only manufacturer's laboratory to publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals as far as I know. We have the latest in equipment, a dedicated staff and a company history of coming out with innovative products. And most important of all, we're still passionate about tropical fish. Like I mentioned, I've had fish for over 40 years and I have never tired of studying and working with them. There is still much work to be done with filtration, fish feeds, other ways besides antibiotics to fight diseases and simpler systems.

I've read on the Internet that my work or writings are somehow tainted because I work for a large aquarium company. While it does upset me, I can understand that thought to a certain degree. All I ask is that the reader be open-minded and consider everything. That's why you can see my lab on the web, why we publish in scientific literature, and why I speak at many scientific conferences. If someone has a problem with my work fine, let's have a rational, professional discussion of the facts and make a decision.

CT: What is the next level for the aquarium hobby, and what needs to happen to take the aquarium hobby to that next level?

Dr. Tim: I think that the next level is getting the percentage of households that have and keep aquaria up from 10 to 12 percent to 20 - 25 percent. In reality keeping fish is not hard, so one has to ask themselves why do so many people fail and get rid of their aquarium?

Of course, this is my job or my task - making it easier for everyone to be more successful. One shouldn't have to be a chemist or biologist to be able to successfully maintain tropical fish. Thus, the next level will be increasing the technology of the product but at the same time making it simpler. Computers are a good example. When personal computers first came out only the brave (or foolish) would spend the money and more importantly the time to understand them and be successful. Nowadays, just about everyone has a computer yet only a very small percent of users understand them or are able to configure them. Which is fine, as most people don't what to be programmers or engineers, they just want the computer to do certain things for them.

Aquaria are the same. Many years ago only a real hobbyist would have aquaria; they were hard to set-up and maintain. It is easier these days and many families have aquaria but don't consider themselves to be tropical fish hobbyists. We need to increase the level of participation and give everyone a chance of success. This will happen with better and simpler to understand technology.

CT: Are your research facilities open to the public?

Dr. Tim: My laboratories are not open to the public but with enough notice we do give tours of some parts of the facilities to university classes in microbial ecology, microbiology and aquatic biology. We also give tours to high school, junior high school and elementary school classes that have an oceanography/science interest. Depending, of course, on the age and interests of the students we concentrate on different areas of the lab. We have three major areas: analytical analysis, fish culture and microbial ecology plus the BioSpira® production areas. In all of these tours we stress the way my lab has been able to combine chemistry, biology and microbiology to perform leading research into the organisms responsible for nitrification in aquatic systems. Plus, it is interesting to show students how a product can go from the research stage all the way through to production.

BioSpira® is a good example of this. 10 years ago it was a research idea in my head. Now after years of research that have resulted in several scientific publications and numerous patents we are producing the true nitrifying bacteria that were discovered in my laboratories.


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## shiver905 (May 27, 2009)

If you wanna read it to me i'll listen..
Heres noodle with another book









:rasp:


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

i finialy fgot arund to reading it and it was farily interesting.

I like what he said about hybrids and genetically altered fish:
"We don't need more "Hollywood" in our life, we need more nature."


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

haha thanks i didnt write that article though! it's been a stored web page on my computer for over 2 years i think! i just copied and pasted it, i figured it was good read and fairly interesting for people to read!


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

I just finished reading this article and it is actually quite interesting. Def worth the 10-15 mins of time to read. Nice post, noodles!


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