# Small white hairs/fungus/algae growing on glass and rocks.



## terrapintune (Apr 24, 2010)

Hi everybody! This is my first post to the forums. I was curious about something that I have noticed growing on the glass in my tank and also on some of the upper rocks as well. It almost looks like small little trees since they have a trunk and then have at the end, a small pompom looking thing. They are only about 1-2mm total in length, and appear to be moving with the water current. They are not growing on any of the fish, and none of the fish appear to be in any distress at all. It also isn't overwhelming in growth either. There are about 2-5 of them per square centimeter. I do also notice little white dots floating around in the water, and there is also a predominance of the hairs on the upper rocks, which leads me to believe that these pompom looking ends could be spores that are then being released and landing on the rocks to make new ones similar to a fungus or mold.

My tank is a 55gallon freshwater tank with about 16 various african cichlids, 1 pleco, and 1 syno. It does have a large assortment of rocks some of which pile all the way up to the water level so as to give the haps adequate hiding places. Some of the rocks I've placed in there were not boiled, but were washed several times before being placed in the water, but I did want to mention that in case this could be the source. I do frequent (every week to 2 weeks) water changes, and change my filters about once a month. Nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels are all zero to minimum. I feed enough for all of the fish to eat for about 60 seconds once a day, so I don't think I'm overfeeding either.

I've attached a picture of the the white thingies, but it won't be available for 1-3 days. However, if anyone wants to see it, I can email it to you. Thanks for your help.

-Cliff[/img]


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## terrapintune (Apr 24, 2010)

Okay guys. Here is an image of the little hairs/tree looking things that I'm talking about. They can be seen below the yellow lab, growing on the top of the rock.










in case that didn't load the picture....the link is here:

http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac18 ... uff004.jpg[/img]


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt; (Apr 21, 2010)

Do you ever siphon your substrate :-? cause you dint mention that..


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## terrapintune (Apr 24, 2010)

Yes, I siphon my substrate most times when I do the water changes as opposed to pulling water off the top. I've been doing that for about 9-12 months now. These little white hairy things only started showing up within the past month.

As I'm reading through other posts, i'm becoming more and more confused as to whether this is bacteria, algae, or fungus.

So far it doesnt appear to be harming my fish, but I'm wondering if it becomes overwhelming, whether it will.


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt; (Apr 21, 2010)

Is your tank by a window exposed to outdoor light?


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## terrapintune (Apr 24, 2010)

Nope. Barely. I purposely placed it very far from any windows to minimize sunlight. For light, I have 2 standard fluorescent lamps that are on for about 12 hours/day...sometimes a bit more when i'm up late 8)


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/photos/othe ... hydra1.jpg

Can't see much in your photo but from your description it sounds like Hydra. If the above link doesn't work try googling Hydra with the word aquarium and see if the pictures look like what you're seeing in your tank

Robin


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## terrapintune (Apr 24, 2010)

I thought about that as a possibility, but the shape of the small white hairs doesn't really have any true tentacles like the hydra do. It looks more like a dandelion....not the yellow flower, but the one that you can blow all the little white fluffy seeds off. *** noticed now that my tank may also be a little cloudy white now too, which I'm wondering if it could be some of these things flying off the ends of the hairs similar to a dandelion or a fungus with spores?


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