Is this biofilm?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Acros
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users None
Thankfully, I do not see any biofilm floating around in the tank today. Maybe siphoning it out and doing a 30% water change worked. Corals are looking relatively happier, they are still not fully open.

Thank you everyone for commenting here. I will keep you guys updated in the coming days.

I also switched on my refugium lights for the first time yesterday night. It will be on a reverse 12-hour cycle from now on.

Planning to add some activated carbon today to clear up the yellow pigment in the water.
 
That is phenomenal and weird. It seems tpo localized - originating at a point on the back of one rock to be bacterial. Like some organism is churning out mucus.
Look forward to microscope shots.
 
I didn't get to put it under the microscope. There was none in the tank after the first two days. My water has cleared up.

I lost a lot of corals. Looks like I am going to lose the euphyllia and mushrooms in the tank as well. I am doing aggressive water changes every 3-4 days and makes sure the parameters of the new water match with the old water.
 
The nasty stuff has made a reappearance, although in much smaller quanitity. Will put it under a microspoce today.

I added a new sump to the system just before this all happened. I put together the sump using a DIY kit. I rinsed the sump (24 hours after applying silicone) several times before adding it to the system.

All corals and inverts died in a course of 2 weeks. Killed 3 fish including a lawnmower blenny.

There were a light and heater outage for 5 days just before this happened. The temperature dropped to 72 before I brought it back to 78.
 
Couldn't get a good look at it, unfortunately. Does not look like dinos. Below is a stock image I found which represents the texture of the biofilm.

638938740.jpg
 
Couldn't get a good look at it, unfortunately. Does not look like dinos. Below is a stock image I found which represents the texture of the biofilm.

638938740.jpg
I had better luck visualizing the individual microorganisms in a biofilm after fixing and staining them with methylene blue. The picture of the amoeba does capture what a biofilm can look like.
 
I had better luck visualizing the individual microorganisms in a biofilm after fixing and staining them with methylene blue. The picture of the amoeba does capture what a biofilm can look like.
That is the plan for next time. I will have to work harder to convince my gf to use the fancier of microscopes they have and see if she can give us a picture. Haha.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top