Strange white things on tank??

[Beerleader]

I have a 55 gallon tank with Discus, it is an established tank and I use R.O. water. As of late we did have a small burst of algae but by blocking sunlight and keeping the tank lights off, it went away pretty quickly. However, we noticed tonight very tiny almost spider or crab looking specimens clinging to the sides of the aquarium, they are very tiny but can be seen if you look closely. I would actually classify myself as a beginner w/ aquariums, although I know I do not have beginner fish. But this is the first I've ever noticed these little white things before. It never occurred when I had African Cichlids and is not in the tank w/ my Arrowana. If anyone has a clue I definitely appreciate the advice. They remind me of Daphnia in a way but that is just something I remember studying in Biology, but they don't really look like that, at least to me, they look more crab or spider like. I hope this description helps! Thanks!!

[shev]

freshwater hydra?

[Beerleader]

Possibly, let me look those up and see a picture, then I might be able to give you an answer on that one. Although I thought Daphnia, the picture doesn't look like whats on my tank...so let me go find a pic of Hydra and see if you are correct.

[Beerleader]

Well I looked at the pictures of the hydra and all the stages of growth, but they honestly aren't that helpful, all I could find were mostly drawings I guess due to their extremely small sizes it would be difficult to have an actual photograph. But in the polyp stage they do resemble a hydra, if it is in fact Hydra is his dangerous to my Discus? and how do I rid of them?

[Beerleader]

If anyone else has any ideas or have had similar "things" in their tanks I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to get rid of them and if they are harmful to my Discus. Thanks so much to whoever can solve this problem. I do worry about these fish and take excellent care of them, and since this is the first time I've had a weird occurrence I am quite worried something might hurt my fish.

[drosera]

Hi,

I have a whole page devoted to the subject:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/drosera1/fish/fish.htm (Click on "The Worms!)

I don't have many pictures yet, but there are a few. Perhaps the verbal descriptions will help you search for pics yourself.

FWIW, I think you might be talking about Cyclops. No danger.

Take care.

Chris

[Beerleader]

That definitely fits the description better than hydra. I did a tank clean today and scraped/scrubbed the walls, and haven't noticed them ..well not yet. But I think you are right, and my fish haven't acted strange so I assumed it was nothing to harm them, but I'm a worry-wart. Thanks so much! I was hoping someone could finally answer this