# Etch-a-Sketch on glass?



## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

So my viv is well into it's mold cycle (no frogs or bugs added yet) and I've got all different colors and shapes of fungus, including some white spotty stuff on the glass (or so I thought). Today, for a change of pace, I thought I'd wipe the condensation and white moldy stuff off the front glass so I could clearly see how things are "progressing". After about two hours I went back over to peak into the viv and I noticed little trails in the light condensation reforming on the glass. At first I thought that it might be from running droplets or small particles sliding down the wet glass but upon closer inspection the source of the trails are small white specs that are climbing sideways and vertically across the glass. They're not terribly fast because of how small they are but you can see them moving. They just look like white specs though with no distinguishing features or shape (about the size of the dot under the exclamation point on my keyboard). So naturally I have a few questions: Does anyone know what these could be or if they're potentially harmful to future vivarium inhabitants (flora or fauna)? I'm also unsure of where they would have come from since everything in my vivarium was baked at 300F for at least an hour. Except for the plants of course which were rinsed in a bleach mix briefly. I did use deciduous leaf litter from a clean natural source but those would have to be some super tough little buggers to survive my oven. I understand that once it gets rolling the viv will have LOADS of creepy crawlies that all contribute to the mini "eco-system" but I guess I'm just not used to finding unaccounted for colonies of organisms in there yet.... And I'd rather know that they're "good bugs" instead of assuming .

Anyway here are the best pics I could take:
Here you can see some of the white stuff near the bottom.


----------



## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I get those as well. Only seem to come out at night for me. Always find the trails in the am when the lights go on


----------



## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

I have those as well, mostly get them from worms, but those little white dots are there as well sometimes.


----------



## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

snails will leave tracks like that too


----------



## jackxc925 (Dec 22, 2007)

fruit flies can make that pattern as well


----------



## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Those little white dots look like mites


----------



## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

frogparty said:


> I get those as well. Only seem to come out at night for me. Always find the trails in the am when the lights go on


Every mroning there are trails. I found its a combo between worms whcih I don't mind and snails and slugs which I do mind. If I am lucky I can usually find the culprits that did it and I pull them out (snails and slugs that is)


----------



## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

Ok so I found my 30x loupe and it does look like they may be mites (I _think_ I can see tiny little legs). And while peering through the looking glass I spotted teeny little, squiggly, white worms on the glass too! *blech* They're even smaller than the "mites" but maybe 2x as long. Sorry I have no camera capable of taking pictures of this . Anyway... I take it that these are not harmful critters?


----------



## michaelslenahan (Mar 10, 2009)

I wouldn't think so... I found these same patterns, and after looking closer, I found that they were FF larvae--so they were just hatching in the tank.


----------



## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

I get these "lines" in most of my tanks, and they are definetily more prominent in the morning/late at night. I suspect they are from grindal worms or soil nematodes (neither are harmful).


----------



## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

Well as long as they won't invade the frogs of my bodies and turn them into ravenous insectivores.... oh wait.

But seriously, I'm glad they won't cause problems. I know for sure that they aren't in any way related to fruit flies because I don't have any yet (and the viv hasn't been set up for the "fruit fly season" in the summer). Thanks for the help all! I appreciate you tolerating my paranoia .


----------



## atlfrog (Dec 31, 2006)

I get mine from Neema-toads. I am not sure what the spelling of that is. They are small clear, but white tinge colored worms that come and go on the glass. BUT they can be from fruit flies and other insects as well.


----------



## SamsonsFrogs (Mar 4, 2009)

I also think they are mites. I have a thought, i used to grow indoor plants(veggies, house plants, tropicals) and i used lady bugs to keep the mite prob down if it got outta control. Has anyone ever had bugs and used them? I know lady bugs love aphids, mites,mealy bug, and whitefly. Just curious. One more idea, they could be benificial(decomposers). i dunno just thinkin form a reef tank point of view, heh.


Sam


----------



## Fyre (Oct 4, 2008)

I have those in my tank as well and found them to be springtails. If you got those naturally, count yourself lucky 

--

tj


----------



## cyberbrat (Jul 14, 2008)

I just got an outbreak of those in two of my tanks. I did a search on the forum and the 'etch a sketch' photo is exactly what it looks like. I am worried they are bad for the frogs and very irritated. I have no idea where they came from or what they are. Disgusted.


----------



## nish07 (Mar 16, 2008)

The snail trails are usually larger and less of an erratic pattern. I think the smaller ones are mites tbh as I have the same thing in a planted tub with glass top for jewel orchids and they were there even right after CO2 bombing (mites will live through this pretty well).

-Nish


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

no concern!! these are definitely caused by nematodes. if you look carefully you can usually follow the trail and find the little culprits, in my case almost 100% of the time it is a grindal worm or other harmless nematode.

hope this helps

james


----------



## nish07 (Mar 16, 2008)

I have in fact followed the very erratic trails to white dots (mites) in my plant tank. It could be anything, I guess. I'd pick mites if you can't see anything (or can see little white dots).

-Nish


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

just got pics of both grindal worms and a mite making these marks. i'll post the when i get the cable later tonight.


----------



## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

Ya mine are definitely mites (or whatever the "white spot" culprit might be). Little legs near the front of the bodies of the little white spots.... blech. Anyway they haven't hurt anything that I've noticed. I have super tiny white worms too (I think I mentioned them earlier in this thread) that also seem to be harmless. I think they both survived over an hour of 300 degrees in my oven and hopefully they're aiding my cycling process now. I took the advice of the other posters and stopped worrying about them.


----------



## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

Marinarawr said:


> Ya mine are definitely mites (or whatever the "white spot" culprit might be). Little legs near the front of the bodies of the little white spots.... blech. Anyway they haven't hurt anything that I've noticed. I have super tiny white worms too (I think I mentioned them earlier in this thread) that also seem to be harmless. I think they both survived over an hour of 300 degrees in my oven and hopefully they're aiding my cycling process now. I took the advice of the other posters and stopped worrying about them.


About the mites, almost every time I set up a new tank I get tiny little white ones. They mostly chill on the lid of the tank, but I've never noticed any unexplained damage to the plants or frogs. I have seen the frogs eat them though, so the populations have never gotten too large.


----------



## cyberbrat (Jul 14, 2008)

Thanks Marinarawr for posting this thread and the pictures. I found all the replies very helpful for my situation too (thanks everyone). I see a teeny tiny white dot at the end of those erratic trails so I think they are mites. I am so careful with mite paper and cycling my cultures I do not know where they came from. If that is all they are though...and the frogs like to eat them...I will try to just let it go.


----------



## atlfrog (Dec 31, 2006)

cyberbrat said:


> Thanks Marinarawr for posting this thread and the pictures. I found all the replies very helpful for my situation too (thanks everyone). I see a teeny tiny white dot at the end of those erratic trails so I think they are mites. I am so careful with mite paper and cycling my cultures I do not know where they came from. If that is all they are though...and the frogs like to eat them...I will try to just let it go.


I am not sure of the coloration and what not or even a lot of info in this area, but houses do have dust mites that are projected from vents into the air. It is near impossible from what I have been told to get rid of them, and I also have been told that you can't. Just some thoughts.


----------



## cyberbrat (Jul 14, 2008)

atlfrog said:


> I am not sure of the coloration and what not or even a lot of info in this area, but houses do have dust mites that are projected from vents into the air. It is near impossible from what I have been told to get rid of them, and I also have been told that you can't. Just some thoughts.


I would not be able to get a good picture with my camera but they are a small round white dot. Maybe the size of a mark a super sharp pencil tip would leave if you touched it to paper. Thanks for the info...I do not want them to hurt my frogs but it looks like they are not a risk. Just really disgusting. : (


----------



## atlfrog (Dec 31, 2006)

All my frogs are ok, I am sure that I have dust mites.  But I have seen what you are talkinga bout, just never really identified them yet.


----------

