"Spores"(?) in my tank?

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supermazz9

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Mar 25, 2006
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Vancouver, Canada
Just started at this (2 weeks old), a 29 gallon tank, 4 tetras (2 emperors, 2 serpae), 1 pleco, 2 dwarf frogs (and a couple of snails I've noticed). I've also got some plants in there, but I've forgotten their names.


Anyway, I notice over the last couple of days the inside of the glass has been covered with what appears to be little dandielion spores. If anyone can venture a guess at what these are, and should I be worried, it would be much appreciated!
 
well... maybe they are some kind of plant spores that have managed to get in your tank by accident... have you tried to remove some to take a closer look? also it could be snail eggs.. but they don't look like dandelion spores
 
Does it look round with hairs sticking out all around it? Could be a piece of food with fungus around it. I've had it before when I didn't completely clean up some shrimp I was feeding the fish. Grew hair-like structures around it and started floating.
 
No, these things are small (sorry, shoulda mentioned that). From 2 steps back they're damn well invisible, maybe a millimeter from base to end. I figured they were just a plant spore, but I spose I'll wait and see what happens...
 
Is this what they look like? I have a bunch of these in my tank. They seem to be cyclical - sometimes I see a lot and then sometimes I don't. They stick to the glass and the plant leaves. They really don't appear to hurt anything, except get in the way of a picture! I tried to research online as to what they are. I think they are a type of freshwater amphipod. I looked in the tank at the lfs where I got the plants and saw a lot of them too. My fish eat them once in a while. Sometimes if one is particuarly big and unsightly, I'll pick it off the leaf or the glass. Other than being unsightly at times, I don't think they do any harm.
 
here's a representation of what it looks like...sorry, I can't seem to find my camera (damn kids...) but I don't think I'd get anything worthwhile anyway.
 
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