# is this algae or a parasite??? never seen anything like it..



## spitefulpixi (Jun 3, 2011)

What is this woke up to lower part of the glass covered with these... looks kinda like a dandelion seed blown off the stem- its anchored to the glass and floats. here are some pics-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... otostream/

upping temp in tank to prepare for ick treatment- any tips on what that is and best way to treat ick is greatly appreciated! Also *** been doing 75% water changes- but still have nitrates and nitrites going out the roof. aside from water changes what else can i do to lower that.... the filters are still building up from cycle- just dont wanna lose any of my guys bc im dumb or didnt do something simple... 
Have a fishy day!!

55gal-marineland 350 and fluval3 filters-


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

The only time i've seen anything like this was in a friends tank that hadn't had the filter cleaned or the water changed in a long time. He also had these little tapioca looking balls on the substrate. I helped clean out his filter and did a large water change. Eventually went away. Not sure if this was what you are dealing with or not.

Why are you preparing for ick?


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## mccluggen (Jul 5, 2008)

The pictures are not clear, it looks like it could be "stuff" like I have seen on my glass before, but a few of the pics look like they could be hydra.

Do you see anything that looks like this?










If not I would suggest just wiping it off the glass and letting the filter take care of it.


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## spitefulpixi (Jun 3, 2011)

no havnt seen anything like that- right now its just on the glass of the tank err wall- i will be doing a major water change tonight along with running the filters under the sink to clean them.
thanks for the info.


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## Aulonocara_Freak (May 19, 2011)

Do u have an algae magnet?

If u do SCRUB the WHOLE tank.


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

No. Don't run the filters under the sink. The Chloramine, which is in most tap water, could kill the beneficial bacteria in the filter and then you wuoild be facing a problem with Ammonia and Nitrite. I recommend rinsing out the filter and filter media in some tank water that you remove during the large water change that you plan on doing.


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## Aulonocara_Freak (May 19, 2011)

Pizzle said:


> No. Don't run the filters under the sink. The Chloramine, which is in most tap water, could kill the beneficial bacteria in the filter and then you wuoild be facing a problem with Ammonia and Nitrite. I recommend rinsing out the filter and filter media in some tank water that you remove during the large water change that you plan on doing.


+1


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## spitefulpixi (Jun 3, 2011)

oh ok good to know.. ill diff make sure to just rinse it in some water i remove from the tank... thats good to know thanks!


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## gatorbaiter (Feb 12, 2011)

Very interesting. I have never seen this before although compared to alot of people on here, I am not very experienced. I will be following this thread as I am very curious what this is. Hope your fish are doing ok and wish you the best of luck. opcorn:


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## spitefulpixi (Jun 3, 2011)

here is an update on this... *** done alot of research along with asking other sites about what they are... 
freshwater anemones called hydra~~~
they start off looking like mini dandelion seeds blown off the stem, and start to mature to look like itty bity trees~ the trunk/roots latched to glass of tank. 
~~they are not a threat to adult fish and mine seem to like snacking on them!~ HOWEVER~~ they will consume fries... so if you have these and a mom to be best to eliminate them asap. 
*** been looking at the best way to eraticate them and I did seem something about using a clean copper penny , toss it in the tank for 2-3 days and it will wipe them out. something about it leaks small amount of copper into tank and it kills the hydra will raise amonia small amount prob from them dying would be my guess~ ill post a link to that below. Hope this helps anyone else who gets these lil critters!!! So they are harmless unless your breeding! And prove to be a great snack for my guys they are just going to town on them lol!!

http://freshwateraquariums.tribe.net/th ... d48106b7c5

Have a fishy day :fish:


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## mccluggen (Jul 5, 2008)

If you want to trade a hydra problem for a possible snail problem try common ramshorns. They eat hydra along with detritus, extra fish food, and decaying plants.

I personally like them and have kept them in most my tanks since I found out my oscar loved snacking on them, but they will breed and their population will get as big as the food supply allows. They are easy to cull though and a lot of cichlids will snack on snails.


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## spitefulpixi (Jun 3, 2011)

snails~ i thought my cichlids would eat them so never bothered with getting any.... if they dont eat them i think i may get a few then!!i wanted lil frogs too but was told theyd eat them as well  they are very intresting to me! ill keep that in mind next time im out at the lfs =) thanks!


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## sidharthbanyal (Jun 26, 2011)

Cichlids will themselves clean them.


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