Alien Lifeforms On My Glass, What Could They Be?

[Katty]

I've been plagued by these weird things for a few months now and they've finally bothered me enough to try and find out what they are. Of course, first a picture.

To the left an out of focus photo, and on the right my "zoomed in" artistic interpretation of what they look like up close.

Using a magnifying glass they look a little bit like they are made out of the same stuff jellyfish are. It will start out with one of these little things on the glass, then more and more appear and the old ones slowly increase in size. They look like dandruff flakes all over my front glass. I can clean them off with an algae scrubber but they will start to reappear a day or two afterwards.

I also see tiny white copepods hopping around the glass sometimes too, if those have anything to do with it.

If anyone knows what these are or has them too, I'd love to hear. I have no clue where to start looking to figure out what these things are, as I've never seen any creature like them before.

 

[Verminator89]

I believe they are the result of some small critter in your tank spawning. They look somewhat like snail eggs, but they could be any number of things. You say you have small copepods hopping about, well its a possibility this is them reproducing.

I'm not sure if fish will eat the eggs, but they'll certain feast upon the copepods themselves as they hop around the surface and dart about the tank depending what they are.

 

[Katty]

Hmm, copepod eggs could be a possibility. They are quite a bit smaller than the blobs but who knows. The only fish in there is a big betta, he tends to ignore the copepods to the point they will land on his head and jump off without him batting an eye. They are really tiny.

Maybe I will let this "batch" progress and see if I notice more copepods about or something.

 

[-Craig-]

I believe they are the result of some small critter in your tank spawning. They look somewhat like snail eggs, but they could be any number of things. You say you have small copepods hopping about, well its a possibility this is them reproducing.

I'm not sure if fish will eat the eggs, but they'll certain feast upon the copepods themselves as they hop around the surface and dart about the tank depending what they are.

MY fish eat any Eggs, except the Angel fish Eggs, they don't stand a chance of getting to them, I'm amazed on how good Parents my Angels are, normally they are attacking African Knifefish.

They look like snail eggs to me.

 

[Katty]

I have snails in other tanks but I am sure these are not snail eggs. The tank is pretty bare atm and I've never seen a snail in here, let alone crawling all over the front glass infront of the light to lay these things. I used to see these blobs in the "snailed" tank but I never see blobs anymore since the arrival of the snails, but that might just be a coincidence.

 

[loraxchick]

if they appear to be soft bodied (like jellyfish as you mention) they are probably freshwater hydra (have a google and see what you think...*sort of* look like your drawing only a slight difference). copepods zooming around and hydra are very common in mature set ups and nothing to really worry about (other than aesthetics of course). actually a sign of a healthy, mature tank! some fish will eat these guys.
cheers

 

[Katty]

I don't see any arms on the blobs like the pictures of hydra have, but its hard to tell without a microscope... Hmm, school is coming up soon so maybe I could borrow a microscope to take a look at these things. That brings up a problem of how do I get one off the glass without destroying it or losing it...