# little white dots? (pics added)



## justme

I'm getting little white dots around the edges and tips of the leaves on some of my anubias. I do have some minor green dust/dot (never been good at telling which is which) on the anubias as well, but these white dots are something completely new that I've never seen before. They don't rub off with gentle pressure.

is this some weird kind of algae? if so, what is it and how do I get rid of it and prevent it from happening again.


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## spypet

nerite snail eggs which probably will never hatch.
that's why i replaced my nerites with ramshorns.
those 2 white 1mm dots leaf left are nerite eggs.










if they are hard dome calcium dots they are definitely
nerite eggs. you probably got a hitchhiker on your last
batch of plants. just find her and remove, no big deal.


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## justme

I don't think they're snail eggs, I wasn't aware I had nerites.

if they're nerite eggs, how do I remove them? if they're not nerite eggs, what else could they be?


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## frozenbarb

is it encased in jelly, maybe a picture could help


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## justme

nope, not encased in jelly.


This petite anubias is probably the worse one of the bunch.


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## justme

bump..

any ideas?


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## justme

It's not dandruff, as I ensure my fish thoroughly scrubbed with head&shoulders.

ok, maybe not, but I'm still clueless about what those white dots could be. 

Last bump, then I guess I'll give up and let this thread die.


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## Color Me Blue

It almost looks like calcium deposits or salts..... What are your water parameters? Do you dose ferts? If so, which ones. Are you using tap water, RO, DI, etc???


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## justme

I have 2 tanks running that are treated fairly similar just slightly different light levels and a few dosing differences. Tank 1 has no issues (aside from a bit of minor dot/dust algae) while tank 2, does. so it's not my tap water, it's gotta be something I added, or didn't add correctly, etc....
here's my general dosing scheme and setups
tank 1:
10gal. Endlers & cherry shrimp w/ ludwigia, HC, xmas moss, wendtii crypt
30watts 10hr/day
10% weekly water change w/ tap water

tank 2: 
29gal. (most fish removed 2months ago) 3 mollies w/ rotala indica, HC, microsword, blyxa, anubias, sunset hygro, kleiner bar sword
65watts 10hr/day
10% weekly water change w/ tap water

dosing:
Excel:
tank 1: 1ml daily
tank 2: 3ml daily

Flourish:
tank 1: 1ml wed/sun
tank 2: 3ml wed/sun

flourish iron:
tank 1: 1ml mon/tues/thus/fri
tank 2: 3ml mon/tues/thus/fri

flourish trace:
tank 1: none
tank 2: 5ml tues/sat

I have potassium supplements that I'll add occasionally when I remember. I recently was unable to do water changes on tank 2 (29gal) for about 3 to 4 weeks and only added water as it evaporated. I was however still able to do water changes on the 10gal. Additionally I recently downgraded my light last month from 130watts to 65 because I had to stop additional co2 for a couple of months. Prior to that, I had a hair/thread algae outbreak and attempted to kill it via an excel overdose, which seemed to work. 
I have noticed an increase in green spot algae since I lowered the light but I assume that's due to lower phosphates (no longer any fish in the tank really) rather than anything serious. 
Could excessive Excel becausing these dots? Or do you still think it could be calcium deposits? 
thanks for the help & advice.
-josh


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## Gonzo8

Yesterday I bought some Ludwigia and it had some similar white stuff on it. Before I planted it in my tank I ran it under the tap water and gently wiped the suff off of the leaves that were affected. I thought it may be some kind of dry ferts that were added to the tank that may have accumulated on the leaves. Can you wipe the stuff off?


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## justme

nope, can't really wipe it off the plant leaves.
However, I think I've found some white dots on the intake pipe of my filter, which I could sort of rub off. Both these dots do feel rough, which leads me to believe that it is calcium deposits. Does that sound right?

I've never had this happen before so I guess I've got a lot of research to do to find out how to get rid of it, how and why it happened, etc...


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## Color Me Blue

This is weird though because you should then have it in both tanks. Quite the mystery! 

Are your Seachem products new?


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## justme

I too assumed that the problems would have been present in both tanks. The only thing I can say is that the 29gal is an open tank and the 10gal is covered. So the 29gal loses significantly more water to evaporation. Which could explain the calcium deposits as those are just adding up in the tank. My current plan is to step up water changes on the 29gal and hope that'll reduce the amount of calcium buildup. But will that reduce the effectiveness of my diy co2? I will probably add a second bottle to increase my co2 levels.

Well, the seachem products I'm using are relatively new to me. I have no idea how long they were sitting in stores/warehouses/etc...

I still haven't found a great source of info on calcium deposits. So if you, or anyone knows any, I'd appreciate a link.
thanks.


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## Color Me Blue

Here's a "simple" artice on Calcium/lime deposits. http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Remove-Lime-Deposits-From-Fish-Tank-Aquarium&id=537411

I have an idea that maybe you want to try. Snip off one of those infected anubias leaves (just one). Then try vinegar or lime juice to wipe the white spots off. If it works, then it may be a good indicator that it is calcium deposits. 

What type of substrate are you using? Same in both tanks? Do you know your pH? 

Here's another idea.... You said you were going thru some GSA correct? It was/is on those plants? Maybe the excel is killing the GSA on your plants, etc...making it look like white dots now? Maybe squirt some excel directly on one leaf of the infected plant that has GSA and then watch to see if it changes to that white coloring???


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## ritesh_akh

If you come to know about it then do let us know...Even i am facing the same problem...On all the anubias,few of crypts...especially on those plants whose leaves resemble to those of anubias, i mean the leathery thing..


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## Naja002

White streaking is what I am familiar with (Ca deficiency)....and leaves growing in completey white (Fe dificiency). However, that Fe deificiency could be caused by a number of different things: K excess, Ca deficiency, Mg deficiency, Boron deficiency (I believe) and the list probably goes on. Also, the Ca deficiency can be cause by other things: Mg, K, etc. 

Try adding Fe...if that doesn't help--try more micros...if that doesn't help--start looking for other issues/deficiencies that may be the root cause of the problem. Start looking for Ca/Mg deficiencies.


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