Weird growth on glass

1549 Views 24 Replies 12 Participants Last post by YSR50, Feb 4, 2008

dzwags

Discussion Starter · Jun 2, 2007

Hi all,

Does anyone know what this is? It's yellowish, I cleaned it off last week and now it's back. I've had this tank established for a year and a half and this has never happened before. I put it one of those vitamin pyramids about a month ago, I've used them before without this weird growth, so I don't know where it came from. Any advice is welcomed.

Thanks

http://simsfan3.spaces.live.com/Per...lderID=cns!15C51F3693E2296B!110&_c=PhotoAlbum

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

RachPreach

· #2 · Jun 3, 2007

thats is weird looking...wish i could help

retoid

· #3 · Jun 3, 2007

wow! what is that I wonder.

What are your tank specs?

RoseHawke

· #4 · Jun 3, 2007

That's a new one. I thought I'd seen pictures of just about every type of growth possible come across the boards in the few years I've been a member here, but I must say I've never seen anything quite like that before. Looks like it oughta be in a reef tank.

dzwags

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 3, 2007

Well, these posts are real encouraging, lol. I thought I'd seen it all in my tank too, I've had egg babies, seed shrimp, algae, but this is new. Hmm, I guess I'll scrub some marbles and rock, rinse the bio-filters and do a better cleaning, even though the levels are all good. Maybe I should find a lab to look at this. I'm concerned it will spread to my other tank.

Thanks for the posts!

46 Gal. Euro, plant light
Flourite substrate
Undergravel filter, 3 cartridges
Hanging aqua tech filter
assorted tetras, 1 frog, 1 red-tailed cat, platies, swordtail
assorted plants

rain-

· #6 · Jun 3, 2007

Interesting, looks like fungus. I have only seen that type of growth on moist terrarium glass (I googled and found this photo).

JFouts

· #7 · Jun 3, 2007

It looked up a couple of terms and found that it looks like Physarum polycephalum which is also known as a "slime mold" and is said to be harmless. If you look it up on google or google images you will find quite a bit of info on it... Seems quite interesting, but I don't know about in a fish tank

dzwags

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 3, 2007

Thanks for that find rain, it does look like the same thing. I don't think it's "cool" like the person who posted that pic though, I want it gone. Mine seems to stay in one place, it just keeps growing, yuck. I wonder what kills it. Hopefully a major cleaning will get rid of it.

Thanks again

I agree with you about having this in a fish tank JFout, it makes me nervous.

retoid

· #9 · Jun 3, 2007

Oooh, look at these!

dzwags

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jun 3, 2007

Yeah, gross huh? I saw another with it growing on the glass of an aquarium like mine. It also sounds like anything that will kill it would be toxic for the fish, of course. I thought I could take things apart a bit and bleach treat them, but it says that won't kill it on most sites, so I guess I'm up a creek now. I read that after it's done feeding, it goes into reproduction stage, geez what to do now? Sounds like a total tank breakdown, new filters, decor, everything. I wonder if heavy salt would work instead of chlorine. Soak for a few days, rinse for a few days, lol. Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks

JenThePlantGeek

· #11 · Jun 3, 2007

RoseHawke said:
That's a new one. I thought I'd seen pictures of just about every type of growth possible come across the boards in the few years I've been a member here, but I must say I've never seen anything quite like that before. Looks like it oughta be in a reef tank.

Ditto - I'm amazed, never seen anything like that before. Please be sure to keep us updated on how you get rid of it.

Seriously, I'm amazed...

I love this hobby. Once you think you've seen it all... :hihi:

Good luck!!

dzwags

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jun 3, 2007

Thanks Jen.

mistergreen

· #13 · Jun 3, 2007

looks pretty darn cool..
I'd say it's slime mold too.. They're unicellular animals that live in colonies..
I guess they're a type of fungus like yeast.

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fungi/plasmodium-slime-mould.html

dzwags

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jun 3, 2007

I thought I'd give an update, this morning the mold is decreased in size considerably. I've been reading that this mold thrives in cold, dark places and waits for the right conditions to thrive. So, that tells me that I have too much water sprite blocking the light, and I forgot that I turned the heater down when we had a hot spell of weather a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if the photos I took yesterday exposed the mold to enough light from the flash to make it slow down. I found a Harvard doctor online who wrote a whole website about these wierd molds, so I dropped him a line, I'll post his reply if he makes one. I'm going to clean the tank now, turn up the heat and get rid of some sprite to change the conditions that allows it to live. I'm also considering exposing the tank to a black light or some other light for awhile, any thoughts?

mistergreen

· #15 · Jun 3, 2007

get a uv sterilizer. I wouldn't expose the whole tank to uv.
You'll kill fish that way.

Betowess

· #16 · Jun 3, 2007

I had the exact same "fungus" grow on my 90 gallon about a month ago. Almost exactly like the second picture you posted. Mine only lasted about 3 days and never came back. I remember my surprise seeing it the first time, as I had never seen anything like it. At the time I guessed it was one of those weird fungus that pop up from time to time in a tank. I never noticed it moving however, but it might have. Anyhow, I'm glad you posted this discussion. :thumbsup:

dzwags

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jun 3, 2007

Thanks Mistergreen, I wouldn't have thought of that, I'll go look for one.

Thanks Betowess, at least yours didn't come back, but I guess you have it lying dormant anyway. Don't let the tank get too cold or dark, lol.

Betowess

· #18 · Jun 3, 2007

dzwags said:
Thanks Betowess, at least yours didn't come back, but I guess you have it lying dormant anyway. Don't let the tank get too cold or dark, lol.

You know it might have followed a two day blackout, can't remember. But the temp never drops much with my auto water change setup.

YSR50

· #19 · Feb 3, 2008

Sorry to bring back an old post but I'm having the same problem. Just wondering if anything new came out of this. The difference with mine though is that light triggered the growth. Here's my story:

I decided to add a few plants about a month ago. I never had live plants in the tank so about the same time I replaced the standard lights with 2 coralife bulbs. I bought one 10,000k and when I went back for one more they were out, so I bought a 20,000k. Since then I've noticed patches of this stuff on the glass and later on my bogwood. It doesn't keep getting larger, but every day it's in a new place, like it's moving. It's only on the side of the tank that has the 20,000k bulb.

Today I replaced the coralife 20,000k bulb with the standard dull yellowish looking bulb. Ever since my Eheim canister sprung a leak about 5 months ago I've kind of let my tank get away from me. I'm also in the process of cleaning and removing my ugf. I've been taking it slow so as not to freak anything out but I think this all started at about the same time.

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jaidexl

· #20 · Feb 3, 2008

That 20000k was far from ideal for plants, stick to kelvins under 10000k, ideally around 6700k but you can play with combos for better color effect.

Not sure how much that had to do with your fungi, I wouldn't doubt it. But what I personally find good for most fungus problems is more frequent water changes and some better circulation. Although I've never experienced the type in this thread. Considering it's not too common and some have even watched it go after a few days, it's likely to have specific requirements that aren't common with normal aquarium husbandry, you're "time off" from the tank could've assisted it, and everything you're doing now to get the tank back in check will probably kill it, or if what you're doing now is assisting it then it'll probably suffer once the tank settles back in. Just be ready for a mini cycle (ammonia and nitrite spikes) if you're removing or cleaning out a UGF, those spikes not only kill fish, but could cause an algae explosion that would make you forget all about fungus for a while.

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