Very interesting phenomenon, really... looks like wisps of white smoke floating about two inches above the gravel substrate. Any idea what it could be? It appeared about 24 hours after I turned off the airstone. It is really pretty, actually. Just... weird.
About the tank... 29 gallon, heated to 78 degrees farenheit, lit by a 60 watt grow light (800 lumens, 18,000 K) 12 hours per day augmented by 2-4 hours (depending on the time of year) of really bright indirect sunlight in the late afternoon. Known occupants include several vascular plants (crypts, hybrid aponogetons, ludwigia, banana plants), both sessile and free-floating filament algae, a dozen or so glass shrimp, gammarus sp. ("sideswimmers", a type of amphipod crustacean), daphnia magnae, copepods, planaria, and an as-yet unidentifeid species of detrivorous annelid or nematode (they are not tubifex or blackworms- trust me). There are no fish in the aquarium. Water chemistry... pH 8.2 and kH 11.77. I feed my little creatures twice per month with one teaspoon each of dry parsley, dry barley, and beanflour. Otherwise they subsist entirely on the algae and detritus in the tank. All the tank's occupants, save for the vascular plants and the glass shrimp, were cultured in from local water natural water sources (creeks, ponds, and bogs). This is not intended to be a "traditional" fish aquarium.
My hypothesis is that it is a swarm of planktonic rotifers from the pond out back. Whatever it is, I believe it is benign. My shrimp and snails aren't dying off, anyway, and the water has no peculiar odor. Funny thing... it disappears within two hours when I turn on the airstone, but reappears about 24 hours later if I turn the airstone off.
I started keeping the airstone off because when it is on, my worms and amphipods retreat to the benthic region (i.e. the substate) but when it is on they venture out into the pelagic region (open waters), and I like to see my amphipods and worms. But then this stuff showed up...
Any ideas?
Cheers,
Puddin'
About the tank... 29 gallon, heated to 78 degrees farenheit, lit by a 60 watt grow light (800 lumens, 18,000 K) 12 hours per day augmented by 2-4 hours (depending on the time of year) of really bright indirect sunlight in the late afternoon. Known occupants include several vascular plants (crypts, hybrid aponogetons, ludwigia, banana plants), both sessile and free-floating filament algae, a dozen or so glass shrimp, gammarus sp. ("sideswimmers", a type of amphipod crustacean), daphnia magnae, copepods, planaria, and an as-yet unidentifeid species of detrivorous annelid or nematode (they are not tubifex or blackworms- trust me). There are no fish in the aquarium. Water chemistry... pH 8.2 and kH 11.77. I feed my little creatures twice per month with one teaspoon each of dry parsley, dry barley, and beanflour. Otherwise they subsist entirely on the algae and detritus in the tank. All the tank's occupants, save for the vascular plants and the glass shrimp, were cultured in from local water natural water sources (creeks, ponds, and bogs). This is not intended to be a "traditional" fish aquarium.
My hypothesis is that it is a swarm of planktonic rotifers from the pond out back. Whatever it is, I believe it is benign. My shrimp and snails aren't dying off, anyway, and the water has no peculiar odor. Funny thing... it disappears within two hours when I turn on the airstone, but reappears about 24 hours later if I turn the airstone off.
I started keeping the airstone off because when it is on, my worms and amphipods retreat to the benthic region (i.e. the substate) but when it is on they venture out into the pelagic region (open waters), and I like to see my amphipods and worms. But then this stuff showed up...
Any ideas?
Cheers,
Puddin'
