Brown Specks?

Castor1011

I have a 5 gallon Eclipse tank. I have used the one inch of tropical fish per gallon of water rule. My tank water has been tested and its ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, alkalinity, hardness, and pH is great. I have had this tank setup for about a month.

Today I went over to my tank to feed my fish and saw hundreds of brown oval specks floating freely in the water. hundreds! They were NOT there yesterday. I did a 25% water change to try to manually remove some. I changed my filter cause it was full of brown specks too. I treated with the only parasite medication I have just in case it turns out to be a parasite.

they almost look like eggs....but this many?!
I have a snail in my tank that was in breeding season for a couple of months now. The snail and she had layed a couple of pods. I know their reproduction is sexual...she wouldnt be laying eggs all over?
All of my other fish cannot breed together either.

I dont think these are eggs though they remind me off eggs. anyone have any clue?

thanks!

Jay

Can you post a picture?

Regards,
Jay

Tommy Gun

Some snails are asexual, I believe, but I think you would know if they were eggs, because you'd have a million and a half babies right now!

I know that Jay wants a picture, and I am not posting so that you dont put any on here, but thought I could address some other issues that I think you are going to or already have.

The good ole inch per gallon rule is really so much more of a guideline rather than a rule. It only applies to very small fish (one to three inches), which you most likely do have in your tank. The other criteria is that the fish have to be community fish and have a body similar to a neon tetra. For example, it would not apply really to a Tiger Barb since they get to be about 3 inches long, but are very round. The other factor is really how 'messy' a fish is and that means how much waste it will produce. For example, a clown plecostomus only gets to be 4 or so inches long at maturity, but it will add much much much more waste than a three inch tiger barb ever will (or any fish really).

In fact, gallonage is really not the best factor to use in the first place. The size of the tank is better to base decisions on. For example, your 5 gallon tank can hold 5 neon tetras, if using the inch per gallon rule, but neon tetras are fish that really like to swim around and are pretty active in a school. That being said, they should be kept in a larger tank with more area rather than with more water (although one goes hand in hand with the other, I realize). Another good example would be keeping a very long fish in a 55 gallon tank. Normally, and according to the inch per gallon rule as most people apply it, one would say 'go ahead', 55 gallons is plenty. However, if the 55 gallon tank is a hex tank or a tall tank rather than wide, the fish suffers because it may not be able to turn around very well. There is a formula for determining tank size for fish that is more accurate and I will find it and get back to you with that.

I really feel in my bones, that your issue is going to be one of too many nutrients in the water and the best way to lower them are to do more water changes and/or reduce the amount of fish in a tank. Of course, the picture is going to help out Jay and I would post it if you could, but from my observations, people with really small tanks like a 5 gallon or less, are very apt to overstock it.

Castor1011

thanks tommy and Jay for the help. I'm gonna post some pictures of these little dudes when i get a chance. I took some pictures but I gotta go out in a little. I'm actually a professional zookeeper. I work at a reputable large pet store chain on the side. I've been keeping small fish for about 15 years now. The one inch per gallon does refer to small fishes like neons. But in all my line of work ive never seen these guys nor could i find info in any of our aquatics books or on internet. i found one fish forum that dealt with small brown specks and they were called seed shrimp. However, the man in the post mentioned that seed shrimp have to come from another source such as pond water or plants. I have store bought gravel, and ornaments. I'm using treated tap water. The only thing I can think of is the plants. I do have live plants. However, these were Top Fin live plants in a container and were promised to have "no snails!" right on the label.

On another note, i love the idea of an eclipse with the bio wheel and all. But its seems to be TOO biologically stable. My other tanks NEVER had problems with algae or pests and my fishes lived for years. My mom bought an eclipse and she had hard green algae and very odd water. Now, I've got stuff growing in mine. Today I'm noticing black hair line strands...which are a type of algae yes?...actually called black algae?

Jay

I tend to agree with you on the too sterile tank, especially fresh water, but that is not causing algae. Sounds like it could be thread or a staghorn algae.
A picture will help identify it.

Black Algae aka Black Beard Algae is a killer which needs to be jumped on soon.

Do you use CO2 or Seachem Excel for your plants?

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Regards,
Jay

Castor1011

its been more than a week and my fish are still acting normal and healthy. no i dont use anything for my plants at all. I just have live white ribbon plants and wysteria. I cant really submit a pic right now my camera isnt working but even if i could youd only see little brown circles free swimming around in my tank. I lot of them. Their are no identifying features...just little dots. even up close i had some on a napkin and thats all you can with the naked eye. a brown sphere. It's like they showed up in one day hundreds. my aquarist coworkers have no clue. ive done manual water changes and try to suck most of them up. I put parasite killer in there cause thats what i had and it didnt affect them. I will say this though, they like the light. When i leave the light off the brown dots cluster somewhere. So i keep it off and try to surpise vaccum them. what are these things??