AesSedai

Ok, Timesdragonfly had worms. I no more respond to her post and a few days later I wake up (today) and there's something ALL over the inside of my tank glass. Boy now that's the power of suggestion huh? Heh.

There must be hundreds of them. They are really small and thin but at the end of each of them it looks like lil wings pointed backwards. The wings look so much like a lil fly's wings in shape. It looks like their heads are attached to the inside of the glass while the rest of their bodies sway in the current (even spinning them around in circles). They aren't crawling...just attached at the head. I can see that they have lil legs, I think, w/my reading glasses on and a flashlight.

Anyone have any idea what they are?

I'm so glad I haven't gotten the Oto's yet and that Zen isn't in there.

The AP test kit arrived Saturday. Great parameters:

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20 (as usual)
pH 7.2 (came down a bit from a steady 8 )
Total Hardness 120 (came down too from a steady 250)
buffer Capacity 80 (this came down the most...from a steady 180)
Temp 79

chickadee

I really believe that you may perhaps have some type of hair algae rather than an animal of some type. With it being attached it does sound more like algae. Here is an article to start the education on some algaes, not by any means all of them.

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

Will get back on this starting tomorrow. Just stopped by to check for emergencies.

Merry Christmas.

Rose

AesSedai

TY ((Rose))

I think you're right. Didn't even think of that. Going to read...

Merry Christmas

AesSedai

Oh boy do I have troubles! Apparently, not only do I have a nasty kind of algae going on (Brush algae) but I also have a parasite....the Hydra (I'm almost positive). <shudder>

Here's Hydra with its victim, a rosy red minnow http://www.fishpondinfo.com/hydra3.jpg

What I thought were wings split to become many tentacles. Some of them are crawling on the glass and don't have the 'wings' yet. Some are really big (over an inch) and dead so it seems I have alot of stages of growth.

I also have something that looks like a skinny, green, stiff worm (not moving at all) growing straight up from the tips of a java fern. Directly beneath the stiff worm thing, like it's rooted into it through the leaf tip, is a little pile of that algae. Very strange looking.

I so wish I had a digital camera (a bigger one, the one I have is soo small and hard to use the viewfinder) so that I could share images of this stuff with you guys.

No living thing is threatened! Zen is still in the 2 gal container and I haven't gotten the Otos yet. If I hadn't run out of testing strips (got the AP one this time), Zen may be skewered with Hydra right now!!! because I probably would have put him into the 10 gal, so anxious for him to get back to his home. I couldn't do that without the ability to test the water though...thank God.

The owner of the oldest fish store in Tampa and I have become friendly. I'm bringing samples of all this to her tomorrow for a definitive check. She does autopies on fish, is a fish doctor, has a microscope, all that, so she'll be able to tell me exactly what's going on in my tank and how to treat it. I've spent all day (sheesh, it's 5:30 am and I haven't been asleep yet!) researching and looking at them in my tank. I'd bet big money it's Hydra and Brush algae. I don't know what the stiff worm thing on the java leaf tips is.

I may have to start all over, bleach everything etc etc. I'm sure I will. A couple weeks ago I replaced my 'too big for Otos' substrate with 'Bits of Walnut' pea sized gravel. I think there were actual bits of walnut in it instead of it being just the name. When I washed it, lil black bits like carbon kept coming and coming. It took me days to get the water clean (was muddy) and free of the bits.

I think somethings up with this gravel. Will be researching that too. The brand is Estes. I'll call the company tomorrow.

So there's my tale of woo.

ZENS NOT HURT. That's all I care about. I hate for him to have to stay in the 2 gal. container longer but that's the way it goes.

((Everyone))

chickadee

There are aquatics that will kill hydra and dispose of them but I am sure that your friend the fish doctor will know what they are. I believe they are a type of algae eater. You may want to get one of them instead of the otos and let them loose into the tank to take care of the problem before you tear everything down and bleach anything. This would be the "natural and ecological" way to handle the situation. Living in Tampa, the chances of finding the fish would be more likely than in a smaller town. If you can find one, they will probably have the problem cleared up in a week or three and then it would be safe for Zen to move in.

Rose

AesSedai

Wow, that'd be great. I'd much prefer that than tearing everything down. TY Rose! On my way with the yucky samples now...as soon as I change Zen's water. I've switched to AmQuel. I figured I couldn't go wrong with a product that you use.

The store markered out the original dosage directions and wrote in their own (because they charge almost $8 for 4 fl. oz and want us to need to buy it often? hmm). They wrote to use 4 teas per 10 gallons...so it'd be a capful for the 2 gal's I condition at a time. Does their measurement sound right to you Rose? What's the original, actual dosing? The marker covers it completely.

((Rose))

chickadee

They have you really dosing a lot of Amquel+ for your tank (and it is Amquel+ I use not the straight Amquel) but the directions on it say 1 teaspoon for 10 gallons or if you have a big problem with nitrates, ammonia, and nitrites then 1 ounce for 60 gallons. If your tap water down there measures high in nitrates out of the tap then you may have to use 2 teaspoons per 10 gallons but not more. You can overdose on that stuff too. I am doubting that they use that much in THEIR tanks. One more thing, please do not use Amquel when you add Bio-spira as it counteracts it. When you are cycling your tank with Bio-spira you will need StressCoat or an aloe based conditioner that says nothing about neutralizing ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Amquel and Amquel+ are excellent conditioners for AFTER a cycle is completed.

You asked for a good first aid kit for your fish earlier and I have a list if you want one.

Rose

Timesdragonfly

Ick AesSedai! I'm sorry that your tank has critters in it! Let us know what the person from the fish store says! I hope that it will be easy to take care of so that Zen can move into his home soon! ~J~