visible bacteria? (picture added)

[Kyliegirl]

I questioned my lfs about this fine whitish film growing over the rocks where there was dead stuff, they told me it was bacteria.

I now have a few rocks covered in this white film, mostly over dead stuff again, but two rocks are almost completely covered in this bacterial film.

I am curious, can bacteria reproduce to such a level that it becomes visible? is this really bacteria?

 

[Anonymous]

Sound like just dead stuff collecting everywhere. No you can't see the bacteria.

Make sure you have enough flow in your tank so that stuff doesn't settle out like that. You can also use a turkey baster to blast your rocks once in a while to get all the stuff back in the water column where it can be exported by your skimmer or filter.

 

[Kyliegirl]

no its not dead stuff, as its growing on the dead stuff, and there is enough flow as i can see the flow in the water, this white film looks like hair or something, it blows in the flow and just seems to keep growing. In the last two days it has covered two rocks and partial areas on the other rocks.

if it helps

my ammonia is at 8.0 (tanks in cycling process)

 

[SnowManSnow]

eeww

grap a pic of this stuff?

Not a sponge is it?

at 8.0 I'd be running a 1/2 water change. No real reason to keep it that long for very long IMO.

B

 

[ChrisRD]

my ammonia is at 8.0 (tanks in cycling process)

Wow - that's extremely toxic - I wouldn't expect much to survive that level. You should do several large water changes ASAP to get that under control...

 

[fyrefysh]

I know what Kyliegirl is talking about and YES, it is a bacteria, and YES, some forms of bacteria are very visible (ie cyanobacteria). Just make sure that you do a couple of good sized water changes and get some heavy flow going to those areas and things should clear up. Be sure to adjust your skimmer to pull up some wet stuff, this should help as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Cyanobacteria is blue-green algae. Not that it is blue or green in color (common is reddish), but just that it is closer to algae than bacteria.

 

[MartinE]

I totally agree with Chris and SnowMan do some pretty good size water changes to get the ammonia down. Maybe even pretty often water changes like one every half a week, or weekly until it is 0.

 

[Kyliegirl]

i did do dailys until a few days ago when the smell finally dissapeared, so i decided to just finally let it be to cycle, I did a 97% water change today, the ammonia went from 8.0 down between 1.0-2.0

the white film, or bacteria, is still growing on the dead parts on the rocks. So long as its bacteria eating the dead stuff and lowering ammonia its good isnt it?

 

[Meloco14]

Hi Kylie, there are some strains of bacteria that will be visible to the naked eye when it is a large enough culture. From the description it sounds like this may be the case, but it is hard to know for sure. In my opinion, you can leave it for now, but towards the end of your cycle you will want to be cleaning the rocks of anything that is not good life, as in corals, sponges, macro algae, or other invertebrates. When your tank has completed the cycle, and in any established tank, there should be no visible cultures of bacteria anywhere. HTH

 

[MartinE]

If it were me I would clean the rocks off and syphon any stuff out that is looking dead and the white stuff as well, bacteria you can see, or not and continue with the water changes until my lab test read 0 Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate.

 

[Kyliegirl]

heres a picture

i circled two areas of concern.

the yellow circle is one rock which was already covered in the cobwebbing bacteria, it has recently gotten alot thicker and more white.

the orange spot is a new area which last night, wasnt that dense or big. It has spread on that rock...