Signs of life?

[JackGulley]

I’m starting to notice some visible “biological phenomena” in my SA tank.

Heater suction cups and filter air line have a thick layer of biofilm…

Can see some tiny filaments of some sort of hair algae on the substrate

Leaves and wood have these weird equidistant dust spots that seem too weird to be inorganic

And most notably, I’ve spotted critters in the water column! These little things confuse me. They’re white and a little smaller than an eyelash. I thought they were just hairs until I saw them wriggling. They don’t seem to move around very intentionally but they occasionally wriggle in a way that’s definitely alive. They seem to have a barely-distinguishable head on one end. I haven’t seen them eating or anything, but they’re really plentiful in the water column, visible in various sizes. Once I saw one seem to burrow away into the substrate. What are these things?

*Just once* I also spotted some sort of seed shrimp. It just looked like a speck of dust, but it was clearly swimming in a jerky manner around the tank.

 

[CassCats]

The tiny "worms" are likely ciliates.

It's neat watching the microfauna "appear out of nowhere" isn't it?

 

[JackGulley]

Overnight hydra party

Film on these suction cups looking very weird

Water is obviously tannin-stained, but is it just me or is it also a little milky/cloudy? Especially visible in the part nearest to the light. Should I be concerned?

 

[gwand]

Yes, the water looks cloudy to me.

 

[JackGulley]

What is there for me to do about it?

 

[Uberhoust]

In my limited experience cloudy water usually goes away if you give it time. The one picture seems to have a lot of hydra on the glass. With my shrimp tank I took hydra as an indicator that the biofilms are starting to improve. In my opinion a healthy biofilm tends to clean the water of cloudiness.

 

[Sparx]

Is there anything else in the tank?

I find frequent water changes and filter cleaning helps clear cloudy water.