R.I.P. Biofilm

A sad, sad day for Column C (Thames Mud + Tap Water). The beautiful biofilm layer on the surface is no more.

Due to an emergency with my indoor compost bin (which is henceforth to be converted into an outdoor planter), I had to move all of the columns so I could open the door to my balcony. Knowing how precariously balanced the biofilm was a result of the last move (half resting on the surface of the water, half suspended perpendicular in the water (sort of like the Titanic, once it broke in half) see the entries "Oops" and "Phew!"), I tried to be very careful when moving Column C. However, my efforts were for naught. The small jostling was enough to displace the remaining portion at the surface and the entire biofilm sank to the bottom of the water layer (fig. 1). There is still lots of new formation on the surface (fig. 2), but now it looks more like Column D (Thames Mud + Thames Water), lightly dotted with film. I'm very upset with myself, I would have liked to see what would've eventually happened had the biofilm been given the entire time frame in which to grow. May you rest in peace in your watery grave.

Fig. 1 You can see the biofilm resting at the bottom of the water layer. In the photo it is on the left hand side, and is sort of circular. If you look at the black ring at the surface of the mud, it's right on top of the ring.

Fig. 2 In this photo you can clearly see the new growth, as well as new bubbles. Hopefully the survivors on the surface form a new layer to rival the old biofilm! (Also, while I had the cling film pulled back to get a good photo, I took a whiff of Column C. It smelled like decomposing, (actually, it smelled like the compost bin that had to be put outside), fairly earthy. I had been avoiding smelling them because I was afraid it would cause discomfort to the house guests we had staying over... I guess I was just being chicken.)

As a side note, this does show a disadvantage to the biofilm, increased mass/density makes it more susceptible to disturbances. I observed that the little pools of film at the surface rode the disturbances on the water's surface easily, however the larger structure was brought under. It was very impressive though how long the biofilm stayed at the surface, with half of it submerged (see "Oops!" and "Phew!")