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My new 20 gal. has been up and running since Dec 28, 2004. Today as I was looking into my aquarium, I noticed what looked like to be dried water spots on the OUTSIDE glass. So I grabed a couple of damp pieces of paper towel and wiped the surface, wouldn't come off!... this stuff whatever it is, is growing on the inside more so on the bottom half.

My lighting times do vary from one day to another, more so within the last 3 days (14 - 16 hrs). Could this be the start of algae growth? It's not green (at least not yet) as it's just starting to show up.

Thanks for reading.

Bala,

Are you sure you aren't overfeeding the fish in the tank? This may be part of the problem.

Is the tank getting direct sunlight? Direct sunlight will encourage growth of certain organisms and some forms of algae.

What is the temp of the water in the tank?

Having the tank lights on for 14 to 16 hours a day could also be contributing to the problem as you suspect. You could cut that amount of time in half and then some.

Hi Tammy!

I'm quite sure that I'm not overfeeding. It takes my fish about 3 mins to eat all of what I put in. Both the 2 Bala's and 2 Gourami's get the largest portion of food, the 6 Rummies and 1 FM Betta has to settle for... well, whatever settles! and that's not alot lol.

The tank is in our living room, about 6ft from a sliding door that faces south. I have a curtain that lets about 65% - 70% of light through. Not any direct sunlight though. And the temp is 82F (27.7C)

One more thing!... looking at the back of the tank today I noticed 2 very small white specks on the glass. I stared straight at them and noticed movement!! So I reached into the water and squished whatever it was with my thumb. It wasn't a bubble stuck to the glass, it was live! Any Ideas what it might have been? Thanks for your help Tammy.

snails, perhaps. They can come in on the plants or in with the fish when you bring them home. The first thing I would do is lower the lighting times each day. Having daylight in the room and the lighting the tank is like double lighting. I had the same problem, and the girl at petsmart told me to cut the lighting times to come on just before it gets dark for about 4-5 hours. Worked like a charm. Also, the presence of fish that consume algae helps too. I just added some molly fry to the tank and now worry that my rubbernose pleco doesn't get enough to eat.