Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Periphyton

I did a search & now understand what it is, what grows in it, it takes nutrients out of the water column & it is part of the very bottom of the food chain, supposed to be a good thing to have. I have plenty of it & in some places where I don't want it. I have some white barrel bottoms that I put in the pond near the bank so that I can more easily observe the small fish, visibility <24", hoping to see YOY LMB or some big Anderson GSH. I must sweep them off every ten days, the periphyton grows so quickly.

Who or what benefits from Periphyton? Is it all at the microscopic level that I don't, see the wonderful things going on? I have never seen any fish grassing on it. MF seem to get a little excited when I sweep it off the disks. I have seen a few snails eating it, that is about it. I threw in some hardwood tree branches & it is 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick on them. It is there, never changes much nor does it seem there is a water creature that really cares that it is there. I do not quite understand its value, but I sanded my PVC anyway.

Please share your knowledge.

Thanks

That would be an excellent question to get a Bill Cody answer!

In case he doesn't reply, I will give you my amateur two cents worth.

You are correct that the periphyton is at the bottom of the food chain. However, the base of the food chain is vital in every single ecosystem on the planet.

The ultimate base of any food chain is usually the autotrophs - organisms that can create their own food from inorganic sources. (This usually means photosynthesizing organisms.)

Once the fish fry in your pond deplete their yolk sacs, they immediately turn to tiny food sources in the water column. Some fry can eat the periphyton directly. Other fry eat the zooplankton and tiny invertebrates in the pond that are feeding on the nearby periphyton.

I believe even larger fish may benefit from the periphyton. The last time I was at Lake Texoma, there were small schools of threadfin shad around all of the dock barrels. They did not appear to be hiding to me, but rather feeding in the water column. (They filter feed to eat plankton.) I suspect they were eating plankton by the docks where the plankton was being fed by the periphyton.

Hopefully, someone with more knowledge will drop into your thread.

P.S. I think fighting periphyton on your white barrels in a fertile pond that gets lots of sunlight will be a difficult long-term battle. Perhaps find a stiff clean sheet of some white plastic material that you can float in the pond with the large dimension facing your viewing angle. Drop the white sheet beside the barrels first thing in the morning when you want to observe the small fish. Hopefully the fish will return to their normal behavior in a short time so you can properly observe them. Then subsequently remove the sheet before the periphyton starts colonizing that sweet surface area that they so greatly desire.

I have done lots of various workings with periphyton, mostly identification of the algae and organisms present. Books have been written about periphyton. One book about periphyton is focused on enhanced aquacultural use of periphyton to increae productivity: Periphyton Ecology, Exploitation, and Management. Edited by Azim et al. 1970.

The periphyton community is very complex.
Periphyton is very often a large food buffet for many types of tiny critters unknown to most all casual observers. There are various special technical terms for periphyton depending on what substate where it grows. For example on rock its epilithon, on wood - epixylon. on sand - epipsammon, etc. It can grow well on underwater plants - epiphyton. There is even an epizooic periphyton example what grows on the backs of turtles. The periphyton layer or community often has heights or layers similar to wooded habitats that consist of a microbial basis, a leaf litter community, an understory and a taller mature canopy.

Water quality and fertility determines who and how much grows on the surface/s. As a group it is very diverse and the total microfloral variety of organisms comprising the community is enormous. The community or assemblage harbors many forms of bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoans, rotifers, and many types of larger invertebrates that live in and among this biofilm also termed 'aufwuchs'. Results of the community do provide lots of a variety of foods for fish the sizes that can utilize the plant and animal part of the periphyton. Lots of small and larger invertebrates feed on various parts of the periphyton buffet community. A lot of this activity is micro and macroscopic usually not observable when viewed from a distance esp when above the water surface.

I learn something new every day. I thought ‘awfwuchs’ was what you say when you hit your thumb with a hammer.