dust on tank glass

Question
QUESTION: I have a 55 gallon tank. It has an in tank fluval and whisper filter. The fluval is for a 60 and the whisper is for a 45. It has been cycled now for about 2 1/2 months. There is a 12 inch pleco,6 1/2 parrot fish,and 4 inch parrot fish. The water is nice and clear but the only problem is there is dust like particals stuck to the side of glass.  I have a 30 and a 10 gallon tank too. None of these have this. It literally looks like dust particals attached to the glass scatter evenly on every wall. Could this be from water i had sitting out in a bucket. Or is this a fungus of some sort. I cleaned the front glass and a small section on the back glass to see if it will come back. Its hard to see. If i wouldnt tell anyone you wouldnt see it but im worried about the fish. The ph is 7.1,0 ammonia,0 nitrite,and 25ppm nitrate. The parrots also seem to fade when the lights on after an hour or two. If you have any clue what this is, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks kyle

ANSWER: Hi Kyle,

I apologize for the late response, we have been hit twice with severe snow storms and it's interferred with our satellite/internet systems.

Your 'dust like' particles could be from a couple of things.  If they are white and worm like they are planaria.  If they are round like they may be copepods.  Both are harmless scavengers that come out when there is excess waste or food in your tank.  I would give it a good gravel cleaning and 25% water change.  A fungus or mold would be white and furry like and can be cleaned off with a scrubbing aquarium magnet.

If you're confident it's not any of those it could just be free floating debris from the bucket or some of the tank decos that's spilling out from the filtration system.  You can again try the magnet to clean the walls and buy a polishing pad for your filters.  Fluval makes a nice one that traps micro-particles from re-entering the tank.  You can use these in your Fluval and in your whisper filter too.

As far as the parrot is concerned it may just be the type of lights that you have.  Most fish fade when the light is out but if you don't have full spectrum lighting and have a basic florescent this might be causing the fading.  I would try to upgrade the lighting but as long as your ammonia and nitrites are 0 then your water is okay and that's not the cause of the color fade.  You can also try feeding him some color enhancing foods.

Good luck : ) April M.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I did do a 25% water change. I also wiped the front glass and a small section on the back to watch and see if it would come back. Its been about a week and it has not come back. Is it safe to say it wont or it is harmless? Also do perfecto tanks come with full spectrum lights? thanks kyle

Answer
Hi Kyle,

If it hasn't come back then it's just micro particles, which is harmless.  It would be worse to have fungus, copepods or planaria.  I would just be careful what you use when you are doing water changes and maintenance.  Only use clean, new items that are especially for your tank so that you don't cross contaminate anything.

Most tanks don't automatically come with full spectrum lighting.  Most come with a basic florescent strip light.  You can easily buy new full spectrum lights at any local petstore.  This might be the cause though, sometimes it's stress or even food related.  You can try the lights but trying new foods first might be a little cheaper.  You can color enhancing high quality flake and pellet for cichlids, live or frozen bloodworms, tubifex, or ocean plankton.

Good luck : ) April M.