Otocinclus - Tricky Beasts

I automatically think of the green stuff when I think of algae... but doesn’t BBA also house microorganisms? It’s a mini-environment in its own right so I would imagine so.

Hi @Hampalong

I guess it's natural to think of the 'green stuff' when talking about algae but BBA, for example, is a type of red algae. For more information, this web site is pretty good:

https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping-wiki_algae_bba-black-beard-algae

All surfaces (including the water itself) can (and do) become home to a whole host of microorganisms. It's this collection of microorganisms that is known as aufwuchs or periphyton. For more information, please take a look at this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periphyton

JPC

I’m reasonably familiar with aufwuchs. I’m just wondering why you don’t consider BBA to be included in the term...

Hi Mark,

I am no expert in this branch of aquatics. I can only go by what I have read on this topic. Perhaps I should have said that earlier. My background is in the physical sciences, not the life sciences. What I have read about aufwuchs and periphyton is that they are microscopic life forms - algae spores, rotifers, tardigrades, bacteria, etc.

The statement that "All aquatic algae in a healthy natural environment is actually aufwuchs" is not my understanding. Would you refer to hair algae/filamentous algae as aufwuchs? It's just dawned on me that we may not have mentioned one of the features of aufwuchs and that is that they form a biofilm. Isn't that the key? For this reason, I don't consider BBA to be an example of aufwuchs. Phew, I got there in the end. Just didn't explain myself very well initially. My brain is not as agile as it used to be! 

JPC

Hi @Hampalong

We're going round in circles. I'll check this out with an expert that I know.

JPC