tiny black dots - eggs?

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#1
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#1
Sorry all - I know I have asked about something similar but I can't seem to find the thread to pick it up again, and I don't know if there was ever a conclusive answer. Anyway, overnight a bunch of tiny black dots appeared on a piece of my hardwood. They are very tiny, and I can easily scrape them off. I know before it was suggested I might have ramshorn snails, and these are the eggs, but I have searched high and low and can't see any snails in my tank other than my three nerites - and their eggs are like sesame seeds, though I haven't seen any for a while :)
Any clue what these 'dots' are?
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#3
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#3
If they are eggs, they were laid pretty precisely on the driftwood, so I'm thinking not from a tetra (given my understanding that tetras 'scatter' eggs?), and haven't seen any von rios looking egg-ful. I have, however, noticed a couple of my yoyo loaches looking a bit fuller in the belly . . . .
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#5
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#5
Hey Lotus, thanks for your reply - I had some other black spots that I asked about in a previous thread but couldn't find (see my first post ;) ) and these don't seem to be the ramshorn eggs that were then suggested as possible culprits. Reasoning is A) I can't find a single ramshorn snail in my tank, and B) what I am seeing is not a 'patch' of eggs, but rather a thin spread-out layer on one piece of driftwood.
They don't seem to be hatching, my pleco is cruising over them with his sucker and not noticeably eating them; they seem pretty innocuous at the moment so I'm not terribly concerned. Just curious - WTF are they???
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#7
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#7
Sigh, that would have been the sensible approach at first, OC - I just didn't think I could capture it on camera. But lo! I tried, and did it - well, kinda. Those little black dots on the driftwood, that's what I'm wondering about. This is the best shot I could get.
 

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Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#15
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#15
there are other types of black algae. I think I've seen black algae that started as dots...but I do not quite remember. personally I still think its algae of some sort. But Doom might be right about the fungus too.
 

I

ItSeemsALittleFishy

New Fish
#17
Apr 1, 2013
5
0
0
#17
Hi, I have a similar problem, but I only have a weed plant, and there seems to be a strong of black dots, as I am fairly new with fish, I thought it was a bit odd, a few weeks ago I found a small black slug in my tank, could this be related? My fish are one golden minnow and a platy (I did have a few others but they died so it is just these two left)
 

exhumed07

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
#18
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#18
i've got an algae in my tanks as well. it is like a black velvety algae. it's a pain to scrape off the glass and deco except my driftwood. it comes off the driftwood realy easy. it has totally covered the rocks in my cichlid tank which i like how that looks cause at different angles it goes from a black to a redish purple color. I've had it in planted tanks as well but florush excel kills it.
 

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