I have recently noticed tiny (1mm) length organisms on my glass and some on the driftwood. They are tan in colour and seem to be moving very slowing but occasionally will "jump" very fast. My tank has been running for 4 months with all parameters ok. Only a pair of Gourami in the tank for now. Anyone know what they are?
Unknown Organisms on Glass
- Thread starter MQ1
- Start date
could they be gourami fry? i've never seen gourami fry so i'm not sure... but do you have a male and female at breeding age? could be your problem 
otherwise i'm not sure
good luck!
hayley
otherwise i'm not sure
good luck!hayley
No their not fry guaranteed. Far too many of them and too small. Seems more like germs due to overfeeding maybe. I have been trying to feed less but I want to know exactly what they are and if they can be harmful to the fish. Best way to describe them is 1mm in length, not worm like, tan or yellow in colour and can move very fast occasionally.
Are they circular, oval, bean-shaped, elongated (probably not since you say they're not like worms), or...? Any chance of a drawing (a picture likely wouldn't show up (though if you have a good digital set at the highest quality, it may))? When they "jump", is this a twitch, a short jump from one spot on the glass to another (<3x its own length, maybe), a long jump (how many times its size?), or...? Just some thoughts that may help you narrow it down.
Has anything changed in regards to the tank or the area it's in, anything new in the tank, etc.?
There are little things called ostracods that you could look for on the internet to compare. Also mites (apparently these stay just above the water line), flatworms (but these get to 1cm long), daphnia?, baby snails (but I doubt these jump), juvenile stage of various parasites, copepods - there are so many to choose from... Maybe you can start doing searches on some of these to see if you can find photos and behavioral descriptions that match the jumping you saw.
FWIW,
Liz
Has anything changed in regards to the tank or the area it's in, anything new in the tank, etc.?
There are little things called ostracods that you could look for on the internet to compare. Also mites (apparently these stay just above the water line), flatworms (but these get to 1cm long), daphnia?, baby snails (but I doubt these jump), juvenile stage of various parasites, copepods - there are so many to choose from... Maybe you can start doing searches on some of these to see if you can find photos and behavioral descriptions that match the jumping you saw.
FWIW,
Liz
Their oval shaped and they can jump up to 20X their own length, but I doubt I can get a clear picture of them since they are soo small. All I can make out is their shape, colour, and nothing else like limbs or antennae due to their size. Nothing new added to the tank since its been running with fish for over 2 months. The only difference I have noticed is a decrease in algae on my rocks and glass (not a lot of algae in the first place).
I looked into the parasites you mentioned liz but they didnt match and I have done a lot of searching with no results.
I looked into the parasites you mentioned liz but they didnt match and I have done a lot of searching with no results.
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