white scale

Question
I have a 55 gallon aquarium with 5 Cichlids. Lately I've noticed these little white places that look like some sort of scale on the glass around the top of the aquarium. I wipe it off, but it keeps coming back and I have trouble with the water being cloud.

Answer
Hi Peggy,
Perhaps the best thing to do is test your water just as a precaution first just so you'll know all is well with that.

The white patches, are they like little smooth patches? If so, I've seen this before in my aquariums on occasion. I wasn't ever sure what it was or what it was caused by but it didn't seem to be anything bad and usually went away with time. If the patches have a little texture to them they could be a common aquarium fungus that occurs in tanks with a high waste load/overfeeding.

You mentioned the water being cloudy? That may be a bacterial bloom, due to an overabundance of nutrients. This may clear on its own but you can further help it along with water changes of around 50% every to every other day. Make sure you aren't overfeeding and you are keeping up with a suitable water change schedule so these kind of water quality problems do not keep occurring.

If your tank is a recent setup bacterial blooms are quite common until the tank gets established.

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~