White stuff on glass?

[PerenGee]

So I had a smallish algae bloom last week and I wasn't sure why, so I went ahead and bought an Oto since I had previously taken out one of my barbs. Anyway, he (maybe she?) cleared out nearly all of the brown algae in one night but when I looked closer I saw this...

Now I'm not sure what this is, but he doesn't really seem to be eating it. I sort of recall someone else talking about these white things on their glass. They kind of flow and wave along with the flow of the water while staying attached to the glass. Can anyone either point me to that thread or, if you know, tell me what this stuff is and what I should do with it?

 

[Kalavek]

Planaria? Hydra?

 

[unwritten law]

planaria is more worm like... i don't know what that is.

 

[PerenGee]

um...should I be worried about any of these things?...should I be worried that no one knows what it is?

 

[Kalavek]

Bump.

It is a little odd that nobody has solved this one. Perhaps it slipped between the cracks and someone didn't see it, I miss threads altogether now and then.

Say - you don't happen to have a microscope with a camera attachment handy, do you? Can you describe this stuff in more detail? You can't make out the tiny details in the photo.

You might also try googling for lists of diseases found in aquariums, I recall seeing at least a couple that included photos of the various organisms.

 

[Chris_A]

It kinda looks like "bleached" spot algae. To be honest I really don't even know the proper terms but maybe that might jog someone who does.

At first glance I thought they were just water spots on the outside of the glass. Really had to look hard to see they were on the inside (... I think lol).

Chris

 

[PerenGee]

Hey, thanks for bringing this back up again.

You know, I'm kicking myself right now because I left my microscope with a camera attached in my other pants, and I'm not wearing those. Haha, sorry I couldn't resist. Anyway, to be honest the little spots are so small I have a hard time looking at them with my own eyes. Also, I'm starting to get some green spot algae and that's mixing in with the white stuff, making it hard to see. I'll give it my best shot though.

There doesn't seem to be any particular shape or pattern to the white spots, only that they cover all of the glass on the inside. They started at the bottom and have now traveled to the top completely covering everything. They are not entirely stuck to the glass, nor are they flat because they tend to wave along in the flow of the water. I wouldn't call them hairy, although some of the bigger spots do have tiny strands coming off of them. Also, I was able to wipe a few of them off with my finger.

Hmm, it's actually quite difficult to put my finger on what it looks like. Honestly, that picture is just about as clear as my vision is, if not better. The spots in the image are like 3 to 4 times larger than they are in real life. I know my description isn't too helpful but I hope someone can recognize it. Also, I think I'm just going to go to town with it and scrub it all off tonight, but I have a feeling that it might come back. I haven't checked my levels in a week but last time I did everything was normal. I'll update again later tonight...

 

[Kalavek]

I'm at a loss - being white I would think it isn't a plant, but if it is growing and spreading I would expect it to be biological. I picked this image up in a thread on another forum, labelled as an enlarged pic of something called Hydra - same description as you are giving:

http://www-biol.paisley.ac.uk/biomedia/graphics/jpegs/Hydra.jpg

Here is the thread I found it in:

White spots on aquarium glass [Archive] - Aquaria Central

 

[PerenGee]

Well, I looked up hydra after the first time you brought it up but all of the pictures I've seen make them look a whole lot larger than the spots in my tank. Maybe they just haven't grown to the size of the ones in the pictures, but I'm not too convinced that it's actually what the spots are.

Anyway, I scrubbed the majority of them off last night so we'll have to wait and see if they grow back and if so I'll try that 105degree heat treatment that thread mentioned. Thanks for the help, time will tell if your suspicions are correct.

 

[Kalavek]

Best of luck, let us know what happens.

Also, what tank is this? Is your signature out of date?

 

[PerenGee]

It's the 10 gallon in my sig. It's pretty much up to date...except I haven't seen the shrimp in over a week...I hope it's alright. It's also the same as this one here. Granted, there have been a few changes and extra growth in the plants.

 

[PerenGee]

So a quick and very over due update (sorry, finals and work = no time at all)

I scrubbed the white stuff off some time ago and nothing has returned. Also as soon as I wiped the stuff off, my fish were more inclined to venture out towards the front of the tank. I don't know if that had anything to do with it or if they're just becoming more accustomed to the tank but yeah things are better now, so to speak.

 

[Helena21]

Ive had those before. Theres a thread i started a long time ago asking what it was. cant remember what exactly it is but i know its harmless and it does go away

 

[iapetus]

Ive had those before. Theres a thread i started a long time ago asking what it was. cant remember what exactly it is but i know its harmless and it does go away

I thought that sounded familiar!!!

 

[tadakubo]

Have u got an answer for this yet? From your description I believe I have the same thing in my tank? I'm kinda new, what does algea growing on the glass look like when it first starts to grow? Is this white stuff immature algea?