Unidentified organisms observed in my favorite tank

[FishHobby99]

deleted

 

[Rocky998]

Yesterday, 12//7/21, I wiped down the glass interior on my 90 G. About ~60% of the water was exchanged 12/6/21. 3-4 hours after the glass was cleaned with a new white foam sponge, what appeared to be green organisms were observed randomly adhering to ~ 8 square inches of the tank front glass.
They were swaying & I can not be certain if it was due to water movement or otherwise. They did move in unison which suggests water currents were a factor, idk.

I googled my fingers raw & did a search on hydras at TFF because it most closely resembled them, but not really. They are up to ~3mm in length & the same shade of green as common tank algae. I saw many TFF members who posted pics of various tank organisms & none looked like what I observed. They appear to have jellyfish like tentacles. They were not observed anywhere than in the section described.

I wiped them off. Today, 12/8/21, a few were seen on the front tank interior. I vacuumed the sand & did another 60% water change. I may be seeing white particles in the water, but it could be white sand stirred up by the fish or air bubbles from the sump. Today I saw perhaps 5 in the tank sump. I put a Fluval Aquaclear 110 filter in the sump in order to cycle it for a new tank. I can’t risk introducing this organism to the new tank. Can it be salvaged by dunking in salt water etc?

Several Java ferns were introduced to this tank 1-2 months ago, purchased from a vendor I’ve been very pleased with. Nothing else new. The system came from the previous owner in 8/21. He had it running for 5 years. Parameters good.

The photos I took are useless. Right now I see 5 on the glass.

I am at my wits’ end & am hoping you guys can help.

Could we see a picture of these "organisms"

 

[Uberhoust]

First thing I would do is nothing drastic till you find out what you are dealing with. Do the fish seem ok. By your description they do sound like hydra, but they might be something else as well.

I know from your description that you tried to take photos. Perhaps you can take a picture through a magnifying glass to get closer, its a pain but it can be done. With a picture we stand a chance of id'ing it. Perhaps even a drawing if you cannot photograph it. This is assuming you can see the individuals clearly.

There are many types of organisms that can establish in an aquarium, lots of protozoan colonies can look green.

Finally if you cannot make out the individuals well, there are some string/hair algae that can grow on the windows of an aquarium that sway with the current. It doesn't hurt anything but on my tank I have scraped it off with a razer. Typically develops if I have overfeed, or have too many fish in the tank, ie too many nutrients.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

I think the key thing here is that the fish are undisturbed. If the fish aren't acting strange then it should be ok. What I would do is clean the filter maybe clean the filter matter and do consistent water change. Also watch for any changes in the fish.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

OK. So turns out the awful pics Matt sent to this ipad were the ones he took through a handheld magnifying lens. These were taken without it, much better. Yay!
All the long whitish lines are NOT part of the creature. Caused by motion & whatever. I’ve seen exactly the same thing when photographing bubbles from a new filter & kicked up sand.View attachment 149693View attachment 149694View attachment 149695

Ok I have this, and I have always treated it as algae. At least thats what it looks like to me. I just scrape and drain the tank.

 

[wgoldfarb]

It does sound like some type of algae. How quickly do they grow? Maybe try turning off the filter for a moment and see if their movement continues?

Some newer phones have a "macro" setting in the camera for pictures as close as 1" from the lens. If yours does, that might help take a good close up picture.

But other than this I'm afraid I'm as much at a loss as you are.

 

[Colin_T]

not hydra

they look like the other things popping up in people's tanks. some sort of organisms that is relatively harmless but where they are coming from is unknown.

 

[Uberhoust]

They almost look like black beard algae except green.

 

[Colin_T]

It's not a type of algae.

It's a bryozoan or ciliate or something like that. They are kind of interesting. Post some pictures to a high school biology department or department of agriculture, or the museum. They should be able to identify it.

Hydra are only an issue to baby fish. Adult fish are too big to be affected by hydra.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Take a video and post it here...may be able to get some focused footage

 

[Slaphppy7]

Great idea, but too late! They are gone! Even the 5 in the sump. I cleaned the filters again yesterday before scraping the 5 off the sump glass & 5 in the tank above. I don‘t know if all dislodged critters got to the filter & how many were picked up by the white eraser sponge.

I was trying yesterday to select the best photo & the husband said to put up several due to different focuses. So yes a video world have been better. We are not into doing videos. Never tried it on the cell phone & did a few of my cats & dogs playing on the iPad.
But wish we had thought to try one on the tank creatures. They did not move from the glass until I sponged them off, so there would have been time to experiment with our limited video capabilities.

I am greatly intrigued by @wgoldfarb’s remark that some phones do macro. I am trying to determine if mine does. I don’t do phone pics & don‘t know. It is a new inexpensive Motorola.

The best I can tell, they looked like BB algae,a @Uberhoust suggested above...but who knows

As long as the fish are fine, and params are good, I wouldn't fret over it much

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

If they come again you can put some of them in a little amount of alkohol and if they are the BB algae (what seems to be the most probable) they will become red, for me these are algae and not some polyps, there are no such polyps in fresh water aquariums except the hydra and the bryozoans which in your case cannot be at all (Collin T is perhaps fooling you).

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

But I was speaking of the "brush" algae and not of the BB or black beard algae you know, it's not the same, and now that I'm seeing you live for the first time it whets the appetite for more, please I would like to have the recipe for my next original japanese soup with algae.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

That is Some kind of brush algae. I am 75% sure. It looks to be the same as brush algae, but I think you will not be able to get the exact ID

 

[Byron]

The info in post #27 is in my view accurate. The clearer recent photos are algae to me.