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Could be. My memory from years ago is a tad off.

But, if it broke off your biofilter and was reintroduced into the culture tank in bite size pieces, would that be the same?

What I remember from an engineering book is the biofloc sloughs off the biofilter...

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You guys are just getting me to wondering about more and more stuff confused

In my very simple system(s) that I have been experimenting with, I "think" I might be experiencing the benefits of what Phil has found in that link. Most of what is in that link is over my head, but the jist seems to be that what they call biofloc is beneficial(?). When my system builds up with what I will call "mulm" by Cecil's description, the water seems to stabilize, tilapia are happy. Then it eventually builds up so much it starts plugging lines, etc, and I clean it. However, I try to just clean sparingly because if it's done to much, the whole water stability goes crazy for a while and takes some time to settle back in. When Cecil says he cleans his off daily, that caught my attention and wonder what I am doing wrong.

When cleaning sparingly, I have always thought I was getting rid of "good bacteria" and this was the problem. Could it be that this substance(mulm or biofloc?.. one and the same?) may be what is really helping things stabilize for me?

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I think you're confusing uneaten feed and faeces with mulm and bacteral film. The uneaten feed and feces is detrimental as it can go anoxic and produces competing heterotrophic bacteria. The bacteria you want is an autotroph and is aerobic. Unfortunately the heterotrophic bacteria multiplies much faster so you don't want to produce condusive conditions for it like a build up of uneaten feed and feces.

The mulm is neutral (except when it clogs pipes and filters), and the biofilm is produced by the bacteria to adhere to surfaces and protect the bacterial colony.

Over cleaning of an aquarium can elimnate the good bacteria but some cleaning is in order,

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 02/10/16 10:21 AM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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From what I understand, it's the same stuff.

A bunch of crap you don't want in your tanks or clogging up your filters or pipes, but if the fish in the instance enjoy it... Why not?

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Nope not the same stuff. The feces and uneaten decomposing feed use oxygen and stink. They can also harbor pathogens. The mulm has an earthy more benign odor as does the bacteria.


Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 02/12/16 11:05 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
Nope not the same stuff. The feces and uneaten decomposing feed use oxygen and stink. They can also harbor pathogens. The mulm has an earthy more benign odor as does the bacteria.



Maybe so...


Last edited by JKB; 02/13/16 08:26 AM.
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I was just going to let this go, because it might be steering the thread in a direction that it was not intended(?).

I think the stuff that I am experiencing is NOT unused feed or fecal. That stuff will not latch onto pipes, walls, etc... am I correct? I imagine unused feed/fecal material as to mixing/floating around the water or laying on the bottom. The stuff I have is attached. Sure it can break off and then float around, but for the most part it is attached and looks moss like, or hairy. I then assume this is mulm(?). You mention that the feed/fecal material can create a "producing heterotrophic bacteria". Does that stuff attach to objects, particularly attach itself to the good bacteria? Or is it distributed thoughtout all the water?

If I understand this correctly, you can physically see a good bacterial colony much the same as you can see mulm?.... Can you also see biofilm in any way?

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The stuff I'm talking about looks like nasty snot. Like a Camel with a cold. It was collecting in the solids filter, but I had filtration before the biofilter, so it never got that far. A biofilter "in tank" would collect the same stuff.


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Yes the biofilm is slimy and usually clear and somewhat snotty looking. It's the bacteria's way to adhere to surfaces and for short time keep it from drying out if it's exposed to air.

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 02/19/16 08:07 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Yucky stuff was in the solids filter with uneaten feed and fish poo.

That's where it should get captured before it moves on to infect... and cycle thru the rig again, only to break down further.

Gotta clean them on a regular basis tho.

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