Is This "Biofilm"?

[pH7, Aquarium Ninja]

At the beginning of last December I snapped this photo (see link below) looking into my aquatium and upward to the surface. At the surface I saw this rainbow coloring and a thin, milky white, translucent film-like substance. I was able to clean it out with paper towels and surface skimming with a siphon. It was slippery to the touch, and appeared to be some kind of organic matter that one over time. It was about two weeks into a fishless cycle for that aquarium. After this cycle completed, I cleaned the tank again and introduced fish. The film-like substance has not returned.

I always wondered what it was. Now that I have a bit of spare time, I wanted to share the photo and ask all of you, is this what we commonly refer to as biofilm? What does it look like to you?

PHOTO: http://s1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb402/aquariumninja/Biofilm%20Or%20Something%20Else/?action=view&current=IMAG0849.jpg

~pH7, Aquarium Ninja

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Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse any typos or mistakes

[pH7, Aquarium Ninja]

Maybe a little more explanation will help frame the photo better. You see at the top right a very bright LED strip. That is what the white area is. Below that is a distinct line. That is the water line. Below that is an area that looks like a rainbow. That area is the water line extending from the front pane of the glass to the rear of the tank. After that, at the bottom of the photo is a black area. That black area is the rear wall of the tank.

~pH7, Aquarium Ninja

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Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse any typos or mistakes

[NetMax]

A floating organic film is typically called the 'protein layer'.
There are many fish which actively consume this, ie: all livebearers.

Biofilm is what makes underwater stones in a river slippery to walk
on.... well, that and algae : ) Biofilm is mostly colorless, so a
brown coating would also have diatoms, a green coating - algae, a blue-
green coating - bacteria, and a red coating - algae and/or diatoms
though usually you have one or the other since they prosper on the
opposite light intensity extremes.

NetMax

On Feb 12, 11:45 am, "pH7, Aquarium Ninja" <p...@aquariumninja.com>
wrote:

> At the beginning of last December I snapped this photo (see link below) looking into my aquatium and upward to the surface. At the surface I saw this rainbow coloring and a thin, milky white, translucent film-like substance. I was able to clean it out with paper towels and surface skimming with a siphon. It was slippery to the touch, and appeared to be some kind of organic matter that one over time. It was about two weeks into a fishless cycle for that aquarium. After this cycle completed, I cleaned the tank again and introduced fish. The film-like substance has not returned.
>
> I always wondered what it was. Now that I have a bit of spare time, I wanted to share the photo and ask all of you, is this what we commonly refer to as biofilm? What does it look like to you?
>

> PHOTO:http://s1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb402/aquariumninja/Biofilm%20Or%...

[pH7, Aquarium Ninja]

YES! Delicious knowledge! Protein layer. Lovin' it. THANKS!! Now I
have something new to learn about...

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pH7, Aquarium Ninja