Green Lake, New York - Building a Freshwater Microbialite Reef

[rhizotron]

I am east of there, just below Utica. There is a lot of smaller lakes and ponds that we kayak and fish along with the Erie Canal. Big lakes near me are Otsego Lake, Canadarago Lake, and Goodyear Lake.

I might try to get out there this summer.

I really need a boat. I prefer canoes, but car-topping on our little compact hatchback can be pretty harrowing, especially for interstate driving. It's probably not much good for anything but ponds or the margins of quiet lakes, but I have my eye on this silly thing:

 

[Johnd651]

I might try to get out there this summer.

I really need a boat. I prefer canoes, but car-topping on our little compact hatchback can be pretty harrowing, especially for interstate driving. It's probably not much good for anything but ponds or the margins of quiet lakes, but I have my eye on this silly thing:

Feel free to reach out. If we are available I have a canoe as well.

 

[rhizotron]

Update.

Good development of the epilithon—I have learned this term as more correct in comparison with periphyton—with at least four different things growing in a nice patchwork mosaic.

1. The filamentous green Cyanobacterium in microscopy images above. This kind of looks like a hair algae Green Alga, but I think it's Cyanobateria.
2. Brown Cyanobacteria also observed with microscope. This thing along with #1 really had a lot of apparent calcite crystals among their filaments.
3. A new green Cyanobacterium that grows as more of a gelatinous mat like the the ones that appear like pests in aquariums. It has a distinct blue-green color and seersucker sheen.
4. These bare patches have been present all along. It think there must be something with an inhibitory, allelopathic effect here, maybe a Fungus or a Myxobacterium. I should investigate with the microscope.

 

[rhizotron]

I've been doing some tank reshuffling and opted to change this one over to the desert vernal pool concept I've been working on. No livestock in it yet, but I added some leaf litter botanicals and also got the ripple generator running better.

Here's a quick Instagram reel.