tiny feather duster looking things on glass

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mjime714

mjime714

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 2, 2005
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Los Angeles
I am currently in the 3rd week of cycling my tank and noticed a bunch of whitish, clear, very tiny feather duster looking things on the glass of my tank. They stick there waving in the current of the water. I used my algae magnet brush thing to take them off. Stubborn little suckers.

I am cycling a freshwater african tank in a 60 gal acrylic aquarium. I am running a wet/dry sump and a fluval canister.

Ammonia is low, almost at 0. Nitrite is a little above .8. (im in the nitrite portion of the cycle). PH is good for Africans (I dont have my notes with me. Ill can give you a measurment when I get home), and the hardness is right where it should be.

I have 4 fish (cobalts zebras) in there and they are eating well and acting very healthy. I also have plants (Anubias, vals, javas) which are also doing well and growing.

What are these little things and are they bad?

Thanks.

Mike
 
Perfect.. thanks!! Funny how similar posts tend to come in waves.

The ones on my tank look very much like hydra and less like flatworms, but when I get home, ill take a closer look.
 
Like this? This is one of the many hydras, unless you have fry in the tank they are harmless, I sort of like them. I had some come in on a plant once that were big enough to eat small brineshrimp, eventually an angel fish ate them.

greenhydra2.jpg
 
guppy said:
Like this? This is one of the many hydras, unless you have fry in the tank they are harmless, I sort of like them. I had some come in on a plant once that were big enough to eat small brineshrimp, eventually an angel fish ate them.
Click to expand...


Yeah.. looks a lot like those, but very tiny and white. Some are larger than others. When I say tiny I mean you would not notice them on the glass if you were not looking for them.

Thanks for the replies!

MJ
 
I have read that they come in colors from clear, white, red, brown, and green, with the green and brown ones sometimes getting more than a quarter inch long, those are the ones I had. Some are barely bigger than protozoa.
 
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