We analysed the 16S rRNA gene diversity within the bacterioplankton community in the water column of the ornamental fish Pterophyllum scalare and Archocentrus nigrofasciatus aquaria during a 60-day growth experiment in order to detect any dominant bacterial species and their possible association with the rearing organisms. The basic physical and chemical parameters remained stable but the bacterial community at 0, 30 and 60 days showed marked differences in bacterial cell abundance and diversity. We found high species richness but no dominant phylotypes were detected. Only few of the phylotypes were found in more than one time point per treatment and always with low relative abundance. The majority of the common phylotypes belonged to the Proteobacteria phylum and were closely related to Acinetobacter junii, Pseudomonas sp., Nevskia ramosa, Vogesella perlucida, Chitinomonas taiwanensis, Acidovorax sp., Pelomonas saccharophila and the rest belonged to the α-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, candidate division OP11 and one unaffiliated group. Several of these phylotypes were closely related to known taxa including Sphingopyxis chilensis, Flexibacter aurantiacus subsp. excathedrus and Mycobacterium sp. Despite the high phylogenetic diversity most of the inferred ecophysiological roles of the found phylotypes are related to nitrogen metabolism, a key process for fish aquaria.
Keywords: 16S rRNA gene; Aquaria; Bacteria; Diversity; Fish; Ornamental; Water column.