help w/white spots diagnosis?

[tizzy]

Not really a "fish disease", but I couldn't think where else to post it. I have a 28g hqi nano, 3 months old with no detectable problems except for tiny white spots/lumps coating the rear wall.

Characteristics:
1. small (pinhead size)
2. hard lumps (like little sesame seeds)
3. they don't grow any larger than their tiny size
4. they don't move (at least I can't tell if they do)
5. each one is uniform in appearance (no discernable "head" or "tail"
6. I don't notice them anywhere else in the tank (rocks, coral, etc.)

photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37131934@N00/?saved=1

I thought they were flatworms, but they don't meet criteria other than the size. Any help is appreciated.

ral

 

[speedo2wet]

do u have snails???
if not are you feeding the tank.. say reef bugs??
could be copopods or along that line. looks like a grain of rice?

 

[tizzy]

I did have problems for the 1st month with some parasitic Cirolanid isopods that were coming out at night and attaching to my fish, but after I caught a dozen or so I haven't seen any since. I do have turbo and astria snails as part of the housekeeping crew though.

 

[mgtesting]

I have them also, and I noticed them about 6 months ago, have not been a problem and I beleive they are some sort of worm. Since when I look at the ones on my glass I can see a small spiral.

The item i have are about 1mm in diameter, and they look just like your picture

 

[rydr119]

They look like barnacles.

 

[speedo2wet]

Are the spots hard? I do have the spirals on the glass and a group of white spots from my snails. Which I believe are from them yet never hurt the fish. In my reef I feed reef bugs and always have a nice growth of copopods and what not on the back glass, over my skimmer, pumps ets. I was told if you are growing small organisms you myst be doing something right. If it is not hurting anything I would just let it be and keep watch over it. I can try and post a pic later tomorrow when I am home.

 

[tizzy]

They are hard and they are a pain to scrape off...almost like grains of sand that have been glued on. Also, they only appear on the back plastic wall off the tank...not on the glass, pumpheads, rocks, etc.

There are probably twice as many now as when I started this thread.

I'd be happy to scrape some off and send them to whomever has the means to ID them.

 

[Percula9]

They look like calcium carbonate precipitate. Scrape some off and put in some vinegar. If they fizz then it is calcium carbonate. Nothing to worry about. Your calcium levels or your alk is to high. This is what is causing it to precipitate out and form on your glass. I my self have had this happen. I'm 99.9% sure this is calcium carbonate precipitate.

 

[tizzy]

no fizz, but I am noticing a curling shape, which may be feather dusters or some other worms