# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Very Strange White Cloud Above Substrate



## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

I've been watching javalee's thread "Bacterial cloud or mild green water?" closely because I'm also having some cloudiness "issues" at the moment. I don't want to hijack your very interesting thread, javalee, so I've started another cloudiness thread!

A while ago I wrote about doing a large water change in my 68 litre tank because of reduced plant growth and encroaching algae. I also mentioned a travelling bacteria cloud, which disappeared soon after the water change.

Well, soon after that, a new phenomenon appeared. This time it was a greyish-white cloudiness just above the surface of the substrate on the right side of the tank. It has been lurking there ever since. It is about three inches high and doesn't move around, so I'm guessing it's not the same as the travelling cloud even though it did start in the same spot, and every now and then there are what appear to be "columns" of "white smoke" rising out of the substrate! What the...? I just can't work out what's going on. The cloud does not seem to be harming anything; the fish swims around in it and some of the feathery worms have permanent houses right in the middle of it, and when I siphoned out a little of it and smelled the water, it only smelled like growing plants. The right hand side of the tank (where the cloud is) is inhabited by stem plants, many of which are growing emergent, and which completely shade the substrate except in the mornings when the sun shines through the window, and this area of the tank is the only part of the tank floor that is not covered in Hairgrass. This area is also home to a giant emergent Narrow-leaf Hygrophila which is twice the height of the tank and which, I would imagine, has a pretty large root system.

I'm not really worried by the cloud (because it's only three inches high above the substrate it doesn't spoil the appearence of the tank, and all the plants and animals are thriving) so I haven't done anything to try and get rid of it but I would like to know what is going on! What is it? Why is it only in one spot? Why did it appear? Will it ever go away?

Anyone have any ideas?

From Alex.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Miss Fishy,

You have such interesting things in your tanks!

When I had blackworms in my tank with no gravel layer, they did cause some turbidity in the water.

It could be a ecosystem of algae, bacteria, and protozoa instigated by worms releasing clay particles or nutrients into the water. A little substrate bubbling might set up a similar ecosystem. If I remember you don't use mechanical pumps to circulate water, so the cloud just stays put. Does that sound reasonable?

It would be fun to look at this under a microscope.


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

A few posts from the end of this thread got lost in the move to APC, so I have copied them from the All Wet Thumb Forums and pasted them here for anyone who is interested: 

On the 28th April 2006 javalee wrote: 

"Certainly interesting! I can't speculate since my filtered tanks don't have such a wonderful spectrum of invertebrate wildlife. Keep us posted on what it does. I agree with Diana, sometimes I wish I had lab equipment in my home to better understand my tank!" 

On the 29th April 2006 Miss Fishy wrote: 

"Thanks for the replies! 

Diana, your theory fits perfectly. The feathery worms congregate in this area of the tank because they are too large to sit in amongst the Hairgrass. The "hairs" on the feathery worms constantly pulse up and down the length of the worms, and as some of the worms are very large (about three inches long!), the pulsing action must certainly create turbidity. This would also explain why the cloud is about the same height as the tallest feathery worms. There are blackworms and Tubifex worms in other parts of the tank, but they are much smaller and don't move the water anywhere near as much as the feathery worms. 

Well, if this turns out to be what is going on, I can't see that the cloud will be disappearing any time soon; those feathery worms are multiplying fast! Someday I will get around to catching one so I can try to identify it. A microscope would be very useful too; I'd love to see exactly what the cloud is made up of. 

From Alex." 

From Alex.


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