High Tide Aquatics

Anyone know what this tar-ball is?

rygh

BOD
BOD
So I have had these tar like clumps in my sand from time to time.
One was large, about 4" around, and half inch thick.
Consistency is very much like the tar balls you see at the beach. Firm, but not hard.
But a bit more brownish. They grow very slowly.

I suspect some sort of bacterial mat.

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Hmm, never seen one of those before.

Is it pliable? I'd be interested in seeing what it looks like under a microscope.
 
What does it taste like, Mark? jk It looks like Cyano. I had this happen to me when I overdosed my vinegar for carbon dosing.
You have had a solid clump like that?
I have had Cyano, but it is usually a soft fuzzy reddish layer on the sand and rock. Never solid, and never a clump.
But it certainly could be. I carbon dose.
 
I don’t know what it is, but I’m following along since you’ve got me curious now.


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When I still has sand in my sump the top layer would occasionally get a 4” clump from coralline, it would resemble someone pouring a puddle of concrete on top of the sand. But it wasn’t pliable so not sure about your tarball.


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Yes, I know what you mean by that.
This is pretty different.
After it dried out, I cut it open. The black part shrank way down.
So it really seems to be a bacterial biofilm that was holding the sand together. Strange.

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