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Low Tech - Surface Scum

Surface scam is a type of bio floc, a mixture of all different bacteria, protozoa and other organisms .Diana Walstad has a paper on the preference of mycobacterium hanging in the surface scam...a bit scary...

The colonies can indeed be influenced by what you feed and other factors. Too much protein, more pathogens. Less protein and in food, more friendly type of bacteria that compete with pathogens, in fact they put sugars.... That's generally how bio floc technology in fish farms is managed to swing the fauna in the right direction and they've found out the friendly organisms control the pathogens so it works good for the fish too. Then again those tanks are not water changed but aquariums are close enough to those conditions so I think the science applies too. Just one more factor to mention in bio floc technology they rely on good flow which apparently leads to better environment as anaerobic decomposition is minimized. Good flow also means less surface scam, if any....My pond is generally not prone to surface scam at all. I've seen it, but it's a day event the most...My smaller tanks are way more prone to surface scam....
 
Hi everyone,
Personally I prefer a more natural approach, I have over 200 outdoor ponds of one sort or another. It occurred to me one day that despite being basically standing water, none had a surface film. So I decided to investigate a little. The answer was actually very simple, the bladder snails were simply surfing the meniscus and keeping it spotless. I know adding snails is a bit of a contentious point to some, but in this case I find them really useful.

Cheers.
 
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