# Little white tree algae..?



## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

New tank, well a used tank setup for less than a month. Cycled with a bunch of juvies in it.

I also saw this with my other tank, I gave it a wipe and it hasn't come back. Now of note I also had a wounded fish around this time in and i added salt and raised the temperature for 10 days or so.

Anyways, in the new tank on the glass are these tiny white tree like algae (or is it?) pretty much covers the glass on front and sides, though the back of the tank not so much. Its not so dense that you can't see through it, for the most part unless you look for it you wouldn't know it was there.

Just want to confirm it is just algae or at least something to not be concerned with.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If it is white, it is not algae but fungus or something else.

What is your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? I once asked a question about beige algae on the glass and was told to check my toxins. Sure enough I had a nitrite spike.

Did you remove the salt? Are you sure it is an organism or could it be mineral deposits?


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

I think its an organism, it bends to the flow in the tank as well.

The tank that I dosed with salt was my other tank, I did not remove the salt, nor am i maintaining it, I am just doing weekly water changes 30-40% and removing it that way. funny you mention nitrite spike, I did have a nitrite spike in this tank at one point but i don't recall if the algae/fungus appeared then or not .

The current tank with the white stuff, hasn't been dosed with salt at all, here are my readings, Ammo 0, Nitri 0, Nitrate 10-20 range.


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## Catfish Dan (Apr 12, 2011)

Sounds like hydra to me. Think of them as freshwater anemones. They look like tiny white threads on the glass with little wavy arms. I've had two outbreaks, one in my Frontosa tank and one in my Oscar tank. Both times I meticulously wiped all of the walls with paper towels for a few days in a row, coupled with daily water changes. Seemed to do the trick. Good luck!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My fungus waved with the water. I'd wipe it off. If your readings are good now and it doesn't come back, you are good.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

I recall these things from when we had an aquarium when I was a kid, but could not recall in what context.

Thanks all, wipe down with tomorrow's water change.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

Update:...

Well the hydra won't go away, in fact my java moss is just full of it now. I have wiped all the glass down twice and the stuff comes back. I know I have been over feeding, and as of this weekend I have put a stop to that. I can also see the stuff on the rocks as well.. its getting bad.

This weekend also the tank is being blacked out, lights off and a sheet over it.

Has anyone tried the drop a 'clean penny' in trick to get rid of hydra?

One wipe of the other tank and it all went away, but then the mbuna don't let any food reach the substrate.


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## Catfish Dan (Apr 12, 2011)

Ah, sorry. The little buggers can be pretty difficult to get rid of. What kind of substrate/plants do you have in your tank? Realize that they just aren't on your glass but also on any surface in your tank. It's a pain, but you could take all of your substrate out and give it a good scrubbing in hot water. Hydra are killed at 104 degrees F I believe. Cutting back on feeding should also help. Good luck!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you stop feeding, the hydra will die off.

Meanwhile, do a good cleaning to remove as many organisms physically as possible. You could remove and soak plants in an alum mixture to remove organisms. Remove and scrub rocks. I like to soak those in a hydrogen peroxide solution.

A blackout (probably take more than 2 days) will help with algae, but not hydra?

Maybe don't feed for a week?


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

Well I have aragonite sand, a pile of river rock, a small anubias and the java moss in the tank. The java moss is harboring a ton of the things so I may just remove it entirely. Yes the hydra is on everything.

I have a slimline background to go in the tank maaaybe this weekend, so I will do a good scrub when I do that and yes I will stop the feeding for a bit.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I have slimline backgrounds too. Usually I am trying to get rid of algae, but you can dribble 1 tablespoon (I use a hamster syringe) hydrogen peroxide over the background during a water change and let it sit while I scrape glass/clean other things. You can just refill...the hydrogen peroxide turns to water and oxygen and does not hurt the fish as long as it does not touch them without dilution.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

I went to the lfs and was suggested to try copper sulfate, so I have added a dose of that (coppersafe by Mardel). Tomorrow I will do a 50% water change and scrub the glass. I think the background is on hold until I get this under control as I don't want these things flourishing behind the background...

Not concerned if the copper disagrees with the plants, so long as the fish are ok, so far so good anyways.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

Update:

Well I couldn't let the fish go foodless for a week. They went the weekend but that was as long as I could go. The worst part is that I have 2 tanks that can see each other. Well the tang tank (with the hydra) has one end towards my malawi corner unit with around 4ft between them. I always feed the malawi first and sure enough when I do alot of the tangs come to that end of the tank in anticipation..

Anyways I did cut the tang tank feedings to a sparse feeding once a day. I also added Coppersafe per directions, 1 tsp/4 gal and I gave the tank a decent wipe down and it has made a big improvement. I did miss the odd spot when wiping the glass and I have been using those spots as a way to see how it is going and the number of hydra in these spots appears to have decreased! Even my java moss which is still pretty white is better than it was, its actually looking like perhaps it isn't liking the copper, but my anubias seems oblivious to it and a new shoot has appeared this week.

So for now I am going to maintain the copper level, only adding when I do water changes, and this tank is going to stay with the current feeding regime indefinitely I think. They certainly are more hungry now and nothing reaches the sand unlike before.


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