[FrogFever]

I found this vein like structure on the side of my tank one evening. I went back the next day and it had doubled its length overnight and traveled a great distance across the glass. It did the same thing by the next day. From what I can tell there is a piece of leaf touching the glass at the starting point. It looks like the veins literally grew off of the leaf and onto the glass and kept going.
I'm sure someone knows. Any ideas?

 

[DannyMeister]

It's a pretty neat fungus that I wish I still had. It'll grow along the substrate, and up plants and the aquarium walls. If you have springtails in there, they'll love it. If you don't like the looks of it you could wipe it away each day, but it never sticks around long for me anyways.

 

[tahir tareen]

awesome slime mold! i agree with danny, enjoy it while it lasts, it usually only makes brief appearances like what you have from time to time and only uses living plants as scaffolding to climb its way up. I once took pictures of some in my tank every hour for a bit to track its growth. pretty amazing organism!

 

[Okapi]

yep, slime mold. I used to have this really pretty deep orange slime mold in every thank that I used maple leaves in. If your lucky, after it fades away it will come back a few more times.

 

[FrogFever]

Thanks guys! I'm glad to hear that it is a slime mold that is sought after.
And I may just go out and get little maple leaves for my tank. They sure are pretty this time of year.
I think I am indirectly responsible for it forming there... My plan was to cover up the film canisters with a couple leaf pieces. One piece was against the glass and must have been the 'scaffolding' upon which it got onto the glass.

 

[raelilphil]

I know that this might be classified as a "dead board" (mods please don't jump on me), but this just happened to my amateur viv and I'm glad to see that people are almost celebrating it rather than giving cause to worry. I was thinking I would have to empty out my entire viv and start fresh with new substrate, mosses, and possibly run the tank (10 gallon) through my dishwasher.

The slime mold was not there this morning (around 8:30 EST), but now is about 6 inches tall (12:00 EST). Looks cool, just glad to see it isn't a worrisome thing.

I have magnolia leaves in the tank (live in NC) because they are waxy and last long. My hope is to save up for a bottom-opening tank so I can make a false bottom and get a real viv going for my precious leucs.

 

[Pumilo]

My hope is to save up for a bottom-opening tank so I can make a false bottom and get a real viv going for my precious leucs.

What do you mean by a "bottom-opening tank"?
A false bottom can be put into any tank style. If it has an unusually shaped footprint, or just to keep it easy to build, you can simply use LECA (rock hard, marble sized, clay balls) in place of a true false bottom.

Oh, and nobody is going to jump on you for resurrecting a dead thread. There are no dead thread's here, if they can still help someone.

In the future, should you ever need to sterilize a tank, consider water with some bleach. Don't forget a good rinse.

 

[Judy S]

I so totally agree about resurrecting "old" threads...they are the true library for this forum...so much information just sitting, waiting for someone to bring it back up and in some cases really update improvements...

 

[raelilphil]

What do you mean by a "bottom-opening tank"?
A false bottom can be put into any tank style. If it has an unusually shaped footprint, or just to keep it easy to build, you can simply use LECA (rock hard, marble sized, clay balls) in place of a true false bottom.

Oh, and nobody is going to jump on you for resurrecting a dead thread. There are no dead thread's here, if they can still help someone.

In the future, should you ever need to sterilize a tank, consider water with some bleach. Don't forget a good rinse.

Thank you! When I say "bottom opening tank", I guess I meant one of those vertical tanks with doors on the bottom so I could access the bottom and clean it out from time to time. I worry about the air quality in my tank (sometimes unnecessarily), so I'd like to get a false bottom to keep it from getting too much sitting water.

Also, have been jumped on in other forums on other sites for resurrecting an old thread. I love finding questions that others have asked, because then I don't have to start a new thread.

 

[Judy S]

Do NOT feel jumped on...check on the number of posts that the Jumpor has versus you, the jumpee.... I think you may have to rethink what you mean by bottom doors that open....you have to have a solid piece of glass across the entire tank, all around, with NO gaps in the silicone or else it will not hold water that accumulates with misting. If you choose not to have a hole drilled through the glass for drainage purposes, which I bet most people do not have--then you have to have a way to use a bulb baster or something to occasionally draw out the excess accumulation of water....check the forum on parts and construction if you don't understand....

 

[raelilphil]

Then why is everyone talking about false-bottom tanks with access to the false bottom? I guess I don't understand how that would work without have doors on the bottom or a sliding drawer type thing on the bottom. I see the "eggshell" layers and such, I just don't have the means to make one yet. People have looked at pics of my tank and told me that it is "okay for now". It makes me feel like I'm not doing the best I can for my frogs.

By everyone, I mean most people that have seen my tank and know what they are talking about frog-wise.

 

[Pumilo]

"Access to the false bottom", doesn't mean doors you can open to get at it. Judy is right, that would be a wet mess!
It just means you have planned in the ability to drain it somehow. That "somehow", could be any of the following:

1) My favorite way is to have a drain built in, with a bulkhead assembly. Let it drain freely into a collection bucket, or put a valve on and drain it when you wish.

2) Leave a small pond built into one corner. You can siphon excess from that pond at any time. The pond flows freely through to the false bottom, but screening, etc prevents frogs from getting under.

3) Build a siphon access into the tank somewhere. This access may be hidden with a rock or something, which you move to stick a siphon tube or turkey baster into the tank. Do NOT get a mouthful of nasty frog water if you siphon!!

 

[raelilphil]

So does a tube go from the bottom up and out the top, or is it a custom tank? I've been curious on how that works.

 

[Heartagramtc]

So does a tube go from the bottom up and out the top, or is it a custom tank? I've been curious on how that works.

See that black tube on the left front of the tank with the white cap on it? That is my "access" to drain my false bottom, I just hook up a piece of clear tubing and siphon it out.