mathas

I've noticed over the past week or so that I seem to have a large quantity of translucent... somethings... growing on the interior glass surfaces of my tank. I could probably just use my algae scrub brush and remove whatever it is, but if it's something problematic, I'd rather treat the source than the symptoms.

As you can tell from this picture, it's starting to interfere with my budding photography hobby by making it look like there are particles of something floating in the water:


Here's a close-up:


Thanks in advance for any help!

clinton1621

I have the same thing on mine occasionally and I always just scrape it off with the magnet cleaner, there is a type of planaria (not harmful) thats clear like this and likes to stick to glass, but I'm not sure if its that or algae or bacteria??

Alessa

Hello and welcome to my world!

I have the exact same thing in my tanks, and if i am not confused, they are hydras. Hydras are a type of freshwater anemone... as a matter of fact, they are the ONLY type of freshwater annemone that exists. Or so I was told when I asked here and doing research online.

I just scrape them off the glass, and they seem to be harmless. The only warning I found online was to tiny little fry... but thats for the biggest species...

I hope thats what they are! at least the closest description of it online!

peacemaker92

Hydras would be easier to identify. They don't really look like hydras. If they were, you might want to avoid having baby fish or fry in the tank.

J J Indy

I have had this on my glass as well then I notice some algae growth in the next couple of days I bought a pleco and my glass has never been cleaner and they have not returned. I think it is some form of algae but I am no expert by far.

sjlchgo

Those look like snail eggs....that's how they look starting out. Do you have any snails in the tank? If so that is what that is.

clinton1621

Those are definitely not snail eggs... snail egg sacs are much larger and have tiny white specs inside of a clear jelly looking blob (kind of like frogs eggs but not as big)

mathas

That's the problem I've run into. They don't exactly look like hydra, but they also don't exactly look like planaria. It could be either one, or some strange type of algae (that my bn plecos don't eat), or something else entirely.

I did find an article about planaria here, and found this quote especially interesting:
I find it interesting because just today, one of my corydoras started darting all over (even more than normal) and rubbing the right side of its tail against the sand. None of the other fish are doing this, and there are no white spots on any of the fish, so I'm hoping it isn't displaying preliminary signs of ICH. I'll cut down on how much I'm feeding, and see what happens over the next few days.

Oh, and if it would help anyone make a positive ID, I can upload the full-size (2816x2112px) version of the second picture above.

Thanks for all the help so far!

Devon

It's really hard to tell from the photo what it could be... it actually looks green to me, but you say white? The only thing I can think of besides the abovementioned, is that it could somehow be deposits from your water source. What kind of water are you using (city tap, well?) and what is your water hardness? Otherwise, I'm stumped. Definitely not snail eggs, I unfortunately am an expert on those ...

mathas

While I appreciate the input, hard water deposits are one thing I can definitively rule out I do have very hard water and I've dealt with deposits before, but these are something else entirely. If I put my face right up to the glass, they almost seem to sway with the current, which is why I'm leaning towards something alive like a planarian worm or hydra.

And I said they were translucent.... the only time I think I said the word white was to say the fish aren't displaying any of the white spots I would associate with ich, so I'm hoping the one cory's tail-rubbing behavior was due to planarian irritation as mentioned in the article I linked to.

I went ahead and uploaded the full-size version of the second picture above, just in case it helps make a diagnosis. For anyone on dialup, be warned that the file is almost 1MB in size: click here.

Shawnie

Not that I have an idea what it is, but I looked at the pic and I can say one thing, I surely dont miss dialup!! I hope someone comes along to help

clinton1621

I think they are planaria.... if you look them up on wikipedia 'planaria' actually is a group of several different species so they all dont look like worms necessarily.... also as I mentioned above I have the same thing on my glass and have noticed on occasion one of my fish spazzing out for no apparent reason and then acting like nothing happened, I guess the planarians dont actually attach to the gills like a parasite but rather just get stuck in them??

mathas

That's what I'm leaning towards, as well. I'm even wondering if the planaria don't actually get stuck to the fish, as well as stuck in their gills... I can't understand why else the one affected cory would rub the same side of its tail against the sand that frequently if it was a gill issue, but who knows.

If my toned-down feeding regimen reduces the presence of the mystery inhabitants over the next few days, I'll be confident with that diagnosis.

Thanks for the help!

Alessa

I didnt think they were hydras at the begining either... but there are also different types of planaria and the description of a specific type matches these weird things... all I know is that they arent snail eggs, algae or deposits... it is a living thing I even see them pulse!

clinton1621

Oh boy... I found a possibility that is not good....

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/columnaris.html

I seriously hope this is not what this is.... but given that the fish seem to be flashing and acting erratic it is possible that it is

mathas

I hope you're wrong!

After seeing your post, I started to do some preliminary research on columnaris, and I can't find any other articles or forum posts that mention growth on the glass. Everything I've found mentions a whitish opaque fungal-appearing growth on the fish themselves, which none of my fish have exhibited.

Here's some of what I've looked at:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/di...columnaris.htm
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/prof...olumnaris.html
http://www.fishvet.com/columnaris.htm
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...is_disease.php
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdcolumn.htm
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/columnaris.php

However, I did lose another cory this morning. Of all the fish in my tank, the only three I've lost have all been corydoras. I don't know if they're getting outcompeted for food and starving, or what, but each time one has died, its always been the smallest/thinnest of the group.

The one that I found this morning did have a red stomach, which it did not last night. I don't know if that's a symptom of whatever it died from, or a sign that another fish had started to graze on the corpse before I fished it out.

Alessa

OMG I seriously hope youre wrong!

any more experienced fish keepers that would like to put some imput into this

rifter098

wait for allie to come by...she is dealing with the worms, and might be able to give u help...hopefully saying its not them

as for the red belly, when one of my corys died in the night, i found it with a red belly the next morning, but never had any other fish die after that one...it might just be the blood converging in one place since it isnt circulating anymore

clinton1621

From what I've read it doesnt have to show up on the outside of the fish to be able to kill it, it can be internal or in the gills bad enough to cause death without ever showing up externally... it also seems more prevalent in scaless fish, which would be the corys. The weird thing from what I read about this is some say it affects all the fish at once and others say it attacks mainly small, sick, stressed, or injured fish first and then spreads once it is established.

Oh and by the way more experienced fishkeeping doesnt mean you know everything lol, I've either been around or had tanks for over 20 years and I still dont know it all

Alessa

Allie is dealing with camallanus, not columnaris.
although I dont know if they are related at all.

camallanus are red worms that stick out of the fishes' anus and are extremely hard to get rid of. They dont look like these things at all.

when I called for more "experienced fishkeepers" I didnt mean that they know everything, I said so because they might have already run into these things and might be able to put our minds at ease, people like Dino or CWC or so many others that are here.

clinton1621

I know what you meant lol =)
Camallanus is not the same or even related to columnaris.... columnaris is a gram negative bacteria .... camallanus is a parasitic worm

Dino

Those are NOT planaria.
Without being there, or an insanely close up picture, I have no idea what it is.

mathas

This is the best closeup I can do. That's with my camera in supermacro mode with the lens flush against the glass of the tank.

I'm acting on the assumption at this point that clinton is right about it being columnaris... I'd rather spend a few dollars on a Maracyn-Two regimen and be safe, than not do it and have all my fish suddenly die.

rifter098

haha sorry guys...i mis-read