White stuff on the glass

[sidious666]

I have a 55 gal. FW tank, with a Fluval 305 canister filter that I just installed the other day. The following morning I noticed little white flecks on the glass (it almost looks like the glass was etched), which has gotten worse over the last couple of days. Any idea what this is, and how to remedy the situation? I am new to having an aquarium, and any info would be appreciated.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

THe hagen fluval 305 comes with the ceramic bio-media. If not washed down before installation, the flakes and dust from teh bio media end up in the tank.

Its probably too late to try and remove the dust from the filter you installed, so your best bet would be to try and vacuum the substrate to remove the ceramic dust. It won't hurt anything, just unsightly.

As far as etching the glass. If you wiped it down on the inside after it was stuck to the glass, I suppose its possible you might have scratched the glass, but I doubt it.

Welcome to AA!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Is it like sheets of white? We have extremely hard water with a lot of calcium deposits. Occasionally we'll have sheets of white on the back glass, heater, and filter. It creeps up fast too.

The cermic dust is another possibility too.

 

[sidious666]

I rinsed the media, and canister thoroughly before installing, so I don't know if thats the problem. The white mystery material wipes off the glass with minimal effort, but re-appears minutes later. It's maddening

 

[jcarlilesiu]

How long has the tank been set up?

Diatoms and small bacterial blooms including white dust on the glass can be a "new tank" problem and will go away over time naturally.

 

[timwag2001]

look closely and see if the white flecks move around.

 

[sidious666]

The tank has been set up for 8 months, we ran it for quite a while (months) before introducing fish. The little white hairs, as my girlfriend calls them DO MOVE. (I'm guessing this is bad, and I should remove my fish) Help!

 

[krap101]

Is it possible to take pictures? Are they moving by themselves or is it from the current?

 

[timwag2001]

i had the same problem at one point. freaked me out! it's not a big deal though. cut back on the feeding (you're prob overfeeding) and do some gravel vacuums. basicly if you get rid of the food they disappear. i didnt feed my fish for like 2 days and stepped up my maintanance.

 

[sidious666]

They are moving by themselves. I saw one turn to avoid another that was stationary(going against the current). I will be doing a partial water change today, and vacuuming the gravel. Hopefully this will help, as I'd hate to tear down the tank, and start over. I'll also cut back on how much I feed them. Thanks everybody.

 

[krap101]

If you've added anything from outside hydra is another possibility i think..

 

[gzeiger]

I've had these too. They're weird, but they went away on their own (in several different tanks with and without plants), and I've not seen any evidence that they're harmful to anything aside from looking weird. Snails eat them if that helps.