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Little White Things on My tank.

22 16:47:16

Question
I came home tonight and noticed that there were white things all over my turtles walls of the tank and on everything, the rocks and plants, everything! so i tried to research ASAP because I dont know if they are harmful. I found this site and a person having the same problems but with his fish posted this : : : : :
Question
Hi, I have these little white parasites stuck to the walls of my tank and they are multiplying very fast. They can be no bigger then a grain of sand or get a around 5 mm when stretching out while moving. They seem to be fixed on the walls of the tank and not swimming freely. I have a 44 gal tank that I've had setup for over a year withone oscar and one cichlid. The fish are around 3 years old. My little brother overfed them Wardley floating cichlid pellets while I was away. I came back and cleaned the tank and after noticed what I thought to be a cloudy mark by the fliter on the glass which I thought was just pour cleaning until the cloud also appeared on the side of the tank right by the back wall cloud. I took a close look and focused on a spec and I noticed it moving. It was gross. They move and looklike slugs. They are everywhere now in the tank after 3 days. They do not seem to bother my fish but I am worried and don't want to lose my oscar. What are these? Where did they come from? How do I treat the tank and get rid of them? Are they any harm to me cause I had my arm in the tank while cleaning? The only things I can think of was they were in the water I put in the tank which was from my shower, in the filter I put in the tank because I did not rinse it(but I never have) or leaving all the extra pellets in the tank. Thanks for your time to read my question and I hope you have an answer. Cheers.
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so after reading that i wanted to ask a turtle expert liek yourself if the same thing applied and i should just thouroughly clean his tank...or if I shoudl get the water checked and get him to a Vet.
PLease reply ASAP. i am worried about my turtle of 4 years!

Thank you!
Erica

Answer
Hi Erica,

My best suggestion is to take a sample and bring it to a veterinarian for analysis. If it is a parasite a vet can determine that through microscopic evaluation. There are numerous possibilities, some are harmless, but others are not.

I wouldn't suggest adding anything to the water or treating them, since there is no way to know what is present here.   The only recommendation, after its determined what the white things are, is to do a complete water change and disinfect the aquarium with a bleech solution of 9 parts water to 1 part bleech. I would spray down the aquarium thoroughly, let it sit for about 20 minutes and then rinse throughly.