aquatic microbiology

Hi, I am looking into buying some bio-media for my upcoming setup and am gravitating towards Sera Siporax or Ocean Free 3DM. The problem with these 2 are that they will also house anaerobic bacteria that eats the NO3 which will take away nitrates from the plants. Are these okay to use? or can...

I am new to the idea of a wet dry filter on a planted tank. I run a 180g and am constantly fighting a protein slick. I get how the skimmer box would remove the oil, but what is going to prevent it from being sent right back into the tank? It isn’t the bio balls... is there a particular...

Hey everyone! Need a little help regarding a macro solution. I've been trying to add the following 8.27 gms of magnesium nitrate 3.55 gms of magnesium sulphate 2.87 gms of mono potassium phosphate 23.84 gms of potassium sulphate All of the above is in 500ml of water. The problem is...

Hello! I'm new to this forum. I promise I'll get around to posting an introduction one of these days;) Yesterday I spotted some (what looks to be) fungi on some of my submersed plants, and I was hoping someone here might have experience with that. (see attached image) It looks like a fungi...

Hello forum members. I don't know if this is the right subforum but It seemed the best fit. I converted my 200-gallon reef to freshwater planted. My question is for those with a large tank and sump. Which biological media are you using? Thanks ahead for your input/suggestions.

Hi all, i have question with i have been arguing with someone, now that i am all confused i need some opinions. will low pH below 6 due to CO2 enrichment lead to a cycle crash ? My understanding is it will be reduced but will not stop or inhabit the bc. would like your thoughts.

Hey all, I wasn't sure where to post this so I apologize if this is in the wrong place... I have an interesting situation. My tank water becomes cloudy during the daytime and then clears up at night. I am wondering if this could be bacteria in the water column increasing in number during the...

Hey Folks, I am planning my second planted tank and want some advice on how to deal with the bacteria that causes PopEye. My LFS keeps their plants for sale with fishes for sale. Hypothetically, you could buy plants from your LFS and unknowingly introduce Popeye as you add the new plants in...

Hey all, I am new to the forum. I actually have a thread on Oodinium but cant seem to reply since the site tells me I cant add links or URLs, therefore I need to make 2 new posts... So I figure to talk about another parasite of interest. The Gill Fluke parasite egg hatches in 4 days time at...

Hello Barr Report! I am interested in making a planted tank and populating it with small fishes like Cardinal Tetra that I have already quarantined. But before I do that, I would like to make sure the planted tank is free of parasites (the display tank). I was wondering if the Oodinium/ Velvet...

Basically, I was upgrading my 80-gallon to a 120-gallon and moved the fish into temporary housing. After the move was complete there was a mini cycle crash where I was getting readings of low, stressful but generally non-lethal amounts of ammonia and nitrites (max registered at 1ppm for each). I...

Hello, I hope it is ok to post here. I was wondering if anyone has any specific ideas on a biology topic for a research paper. I want to do something about bioremediation and microplastic pollution in a marine environment but the topic is so broad, so I am having trouble narrowing it down. Does...

Hi this is my first post. I put some swords in a tank recently. I noticed an explosion of copecods, so I was observing them with a 10x lupe. I noticed a TON of what looked like ticks or spiders the size of copecods. Without magnification they just look like brown specs. I couldn't get a very...

In lieu of bleach, do you think steam at 327 F (~164 C) would work to kill of living things, such as snail eggs in their hard casings? ESPECIALLY snail eggs in their hard casings. I am guessing unless I have some tardigrades on the equipment, the steam should get rid of any bacteria, mold...

Terrestrial plants produce toxic sap or employ biological agents to deter insect bite. Fish produce body slime that is antiseptic. Only injured, sick and dying fish invite fungal and bacterial infection. What is your explanation on why healthy plants don’t get algae.

Hello brilliant plant minds. I've been doing this for over 20 years and have never had this issue. So I'm stumped. 75 gal medium light co2 injected heavily planted tank. it's been set up for 8yrs, I do weekly 35 gal water change with remineralized r/o water. Gh 80ppm Kh 30ppm. N 20 to 30ppm P...