Growing on my Glass

new_reefer · #1 05-11-2002, 01:17 PM

Hi All,

I've got some stuff growing on my tank glass. One is stationary and is snowflake-like. The other is sort of like a little sled that moves around. Any ideas??

Den

Jack · #2 05-11-2002, 08:44 PM

My guess is that the snowflake thing is corraline, I have it too.

George · #3 05-11-2002, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by new_reefer:
Hi All,

The other is sort of like a little sled that moves around. Any ideas??

Den

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">sled shape eh? what color? ;)

George

new_reefer · #4 05-12-2002, 01:55 PM

The sled type thing was about .5~1 cm and brown on the outline, kinda clear in the middle.

Den

ruck'n'reefer · #5 05-12-2002, 02:12 PM

Maybe a tunicate (sp?) or sponge. Could be snail eggs. Can you get us some pics.

AJ_77 · #6 05-13-2002, 01:11 AM

The snowflake-shaped ones, are they tiny like the head of a ballpoint pen? Because I've got those by the hundreds, and no they don't seem to move.

I haven't got an ID yet either... These are very small white dots with several tiny white "legs" splayed straight out from the center. They are all over the glass. I'd scrape them all into oblivion but I'd like to know what they are first.

Thanks,

AJ

new_reefer · #7 05-14-2002, 12:52 AM

Well, the snowflake things sound the same AJ_77. If no one really has any bad experiences with them, I'll let them be.

As for the other thing it might have been a snail egg, it was near a snail when I first saw it. It did move pretty quick for a snail though.

Den

DJ88 · #8 05-14-2002, 01:09 AM

the sled thing is probably a stomatella snail.

Mak · #9 05-14-2002, 04:15 AM

I'm not sure, but it sounds like what i had in my old 20g sump. Mine where some type of Jellyfish ( looks like a snow flake on the glass ), I think I saw it somewhere on RC.

I'll try to find a pic when I get home ;)

[ 13 May 2002, 12:16: Message edited by: TRIGGER_HAPPY ]

Biogeek · #10 05-15-2002, 12:22 PM

I generally recommend the Hitchhiker FAQ for Reef Aquarists, or Ron Shimek's Odd Critters ID page as good places to look for an ID on unidentified things that show up in your tank.

It is of course very difficult to offer a reliable ID based on the scant description here, but in your case I would guess that the stationary "snowflake-like" animal is a type of hydrozoan jellyfish that have branched tentacles and actually have a small sucker on one branch of the tentacle with which to attach to the wall of the aquarium. They are capable of asexual reproduction under ideal conditions in an aquarium, and can become quite abundant for some time, but usually disappear on their own about as quickly as they appeared in the first place.

I would hazard to guess that the "little sled" animals you're seeing on the glass are flatworms. These animals can range from being essentially non-feeding (living off photosynthetic symbionts - e.g., the "red planaria" pest Convolutriloba retrogemma ) to being carnivorous and preying on other small flatworms or various 'pods in the tank (e.g., here is a nice photo of how these predatory guys actually feed in the aquarium)...

Of course these are just guesses based on my experience with what people are most often seeing in their aquarium, and these may be way off the mark, but without a picture or at least a much more detailed description, that is the best I can offer you.

Rob