What is this strange bacteria on my PX 125?

[2F/2F]

well, all my chemicals except for my Kodak Photoflo were tempered.

How cold was the Photo Flo?

It's very strange because it is definitely a classic case of reticulation, but I find that with modern films it takes a lot of work to get them to do this even when I am trying. I go from very hot tap water (usually around 130 F - too hot to touch for more than a second or two) straight into a bucket of ice to do it, and even then the effect has only been about as severe as what you got. (I use Efke/Adox for such purposes now.)

 

[frobozz]

I would vote reticulation as well, however ...

Sometimes the scanning process adds artefacts that resemble other phenomena.

Can you examine your film under a strong magnifier or, even better, print one of the apparently affected negatives to see if the "bacteria" can be seen?

I'm going to second this line of thought, given that your process doesn't seem to lend itself to the more obvious answer of reticulation.

By any chance did you have "Digital ICE" (or whatever the IR scan process to eliminate dust is called with your scanner software) turned on? That doesn't work with B&W negs, and can cause really bizarre results when used with them.

Duncan

 

[Hell-on-a-stick]

I would say that my photoflo was probably 60f....but the water i used was tempered. I've been developing my own films for about 2 years now, and I haven't noticed this effect on any films until now...

 

[Hell-on-a-stick]

No, Duncan, thankfully, I turned the Digital ICE and color correction and all the other useless garbage off on my scanner.