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About the price increase

Why did the price go up?

If you notice this price has gone up a little, you’re right.

At this point you’ve probably noticed the price of everything from eggs to gasoline has gone up over the past few years. In our case, the cost of shipping has increasedby more than 20%, while the cost of our base material for the Live Reef Rubble has more than doubled (>100% increase!)

Throughout that whole time, we havent raised our prices by a cent. It was always a volume business with a small profit margin, but lately we’ve watched that margin get whittled away to nothing. This price increase only brings us back to our original margins.

While we don’t like raising prices, we have to remain above water in order to continue providing our services and products to the reefkeeping community. 

Thanks for your understanding!

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What’s in a Microbiome Report?

What's in a Microbiome Report?

The Microbiome Test provides a detailed picture of the microbial community in your tank, by identifying DNA from any prokaryotes in your sample. The report includes information on

  • Diversity and composition of the community in your sample
  • Beneficial microbes like the Nitrifying community
  • Harmful pathogens that contribute to fish and coral disease

To view a complete example report, click here.

Each section in the report includes a diagnosis of your sample, with a link to suggestions for correcting any deficiencies we find.
The report compares the composition of your community with the typical reef tank community.
If your sample contains any bacterial families at higher than usual levels, the report provides extensive details on the composition of these families in your sample, and across our database of reef tank samples.
The report links to our Reef Tank Microbes DB, providing detailed information on each of these families of microbes. The example shown here is from our page on the common Bacterial family Vibrionaceae.
In many cases, the report includes specific recommendations for adjusting the levels of excess or deficienct families.
The report provides detailed information on your Nitrifying Community. This is one of the most important factors in establishing a new tank, and a surprisingly large fraction of tanks struggle with deficient Nitrifying communities (especially the Nitrite Oxidizing Bacteria).
We screen your sample for dozens of different pathogens of fish and corals, and if any are detected, the report highlights these and provides links to information about each group.

The bottom line: our Microbiome Test provides an unprecedented level of detail on the microbial community in your tank, including both beneficial microbes that are crucial to the success of a reef tank, and harmful pathogens that can kill fish or corals. 

Want to learn more? Click here to view a complete example report. 

Seen enough? Click here to order your sampling kit today and find out whats growing in your tank!

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What’s in a TankDNa Report?

What's in a TankDNA Report?

The TankDNA test identifies DNA from any eukaryotes in your sample. The main goal of this test is to screen for eukaryotic parasites that contribute to fish and coral diseases in the reef tank. To view a complete example report, click here.

If your sample contains DNA from known parasites, these are highlighted in your report.
The report links to detailed resources for the most common kinds of parasites. This example shows a details from the page on the fish disease Uronema. To learn more, click here.
The TankDNA test also captures DNA from micro algae like diatoms and dinoflagellates that can become a nuisance in the aquarium. If your sample contains high levels of either group, this is flagged in the report.

Along with parasites and algae, the TankDNA test identifies DNA from the whole reef tank community. The test results typically include DNA from:

  • Livestock like fish, corals, and other invertebrates
  • Cryptic animals like sponges, worms, and copepods
  • Micro eukaryotes like ciliates, dinoflagellates, and amoeba
  • Coralline algae
  • Macro algae 
This figure shows the diversity of different DNA sources in your sample.
You can dig deeper into each of these groups in the Complete Table at the end of the report, where we list the specific types found in each group.

The bottom line: our TankDNA Test provides an unprecedented level of detail on the community in your tank, including cryptic and microscopic communities that are not visible to the naked eye.

Want to learn more? Click here to view a complete example report. 

Seen enough? Click here to order your sampling kit today and find out whats growing in your tank!

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Holiday Shipping Schedule

We do not ship any live products during the week before or after Christmas (Dec 18 – Jan 3), because shipping during the holidays is often delayed, and it’s cold out there. 

Any live products ordered during this period will ship out the first week in January. 

Sampling kits for our Microbiome, tankDNA, and Oceamo water chemistry tests will ship as usual throughout this period, since shipping delays aren’t a problem for these kits. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

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DNA testing for fish parasites is here

DNA testing for fish parasites is here!

Over the past year we’ve offered free DNA testing for parasites to all Microbiome Testing clients, as we developed the tankDNA Test. 

Today we’re happy to announce we’ve finished development and are ready to launch the tankDNA Test. Any clients who participated in the beta testing may be interested to know that we’ve improved the sampling protocol for even higher sensitivity than the version they used. 

For any Microbiome Tests purchased from this point forward, the tankDNA test will no longer be offered as a free service, since we’ve worked out the bugs and consider it ready for production. 

Instead, clients can purchase the tankDNA Test as a standalone service here

If you purchased your Microbiome Test prior to today (Aug 7, 2021) and are still holding the sampling kit, we will still honor our previous offer and provide tankDNA Testing on those samples free of charge. 

We ask any clients in that category please return your samples by Oct 31, 2021 to take advantage of this offer. 

Please feel free to contact us by email with any questions. Thanks for your continued support!

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