Does anyone know what this is?

[angelcraze]

I noticed my fish in this tank have been flashing a bit, no ich, no other symptoms, this has been going on for a few weeks.  I have been keeping a close eye on this tank and found these.  Does anyone know what this is?  Eggs, or critter like hydra?

Additional info:
The tank reads 0 ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.  It is heavily planted and lightly stalked.  Four platys and some mts snails, assasin and pond snails and a few cherry shrimp.  46g.  Ph=7.4.  The platys have been in there for more than a month, and the tank has been cycled for about a month before that.

This is the best pic I could take.  It's the little white/clear things attached to above and below the moneywart leaves.  It is also on the glass and other plants.  There's a lot.

[newtchaplin]

They could be Copepods, do they move around?  Is there a gelatin substance around each white spot? 
They sorta look like scattered pond snail eggs.  Platy's like to pick and eat the eggs.

[angelcraze]

They look like groupings of small dots, mostly in a half circle shape, they don't move, but one seemed to 'sway' in the current or open and close.  It was attached to the glass by a section.  They do not have any jelly, look more like snow flakes.  They seem to stay in one place for about a week, then some disappeared.  (eaten or hatch)  Also, I believe I watched a platy pick at one, do a little wiggle, then spit it out.

I don't think they are pond snail eggs, I've seen those before and the assassins make quick lunch of these, then I googled assassin snail eggs, and they look nothing like this.

I think it's some kind of organism or organism eggs, but don't know which.  I am just wondering if that's what is making my platys unhappy and flashing sometimes.  That or flukes, I am trying to collect clues so I can diagnose.  I am not one to throw in meds when I don't know what it is.  As for keeping little critter hitchhikers, I don't mind, like newtchaplin said, it would be food for the platys.

[alexv]

To me, they look like Protozoa. Maybe Carchesium or similar. They seem harmless. I observed them in my tanks from time to time. They seem to go away by themselves. But I can't guarantee this from the image alone...

[angelcraze]

Wow, I think I have some research to do or maybe a microscope............I think they are probably some kind of protozoan, or protozoan egg.  I will not freak, or remove them, I embrace a natural ecosystem, but if I find out they are harmful (which I read some can be) I will remove them.

Thanks for all the promt responses, I like leads to research.  I find we learn most from other peoples experiences (but more our own) and it nice to be able to share this knowledge.  Thanks.

[alexv]

By the way, Carchesium I mentioned have this ability to contract their stalks when touched. Just touch the crown with something, if they spring back, that's Carchesium. If not, then it's something else.

[angelcraze]

Cool, I'll check in the am when the lights come back on.

[blueknight0303]

definitely not hydra.. and hydras dont lay eggs. if they disappear within a week then they seem to be snail eggs. try poking it, if it feels slimy and jelly then they are definitely snail eggs. im not too sure what kind but if you have assassin snails then you dont have to worry too much about it.

[angelcraze]

yah, I get what you're saying, the assassins will eat them, but they don't seem slimy, so I don't think they are eggs, at least snail eggs cause I googled images of the assassins,  and they are square with white centers, unless someone can prove me wrong-you know-the interweb.  I have only (as far as I know) pond snails and assassins, some mts.
But thanks to all for possible answers, maybe I have more snails than I think.  I will look into it.

[angelcraze]

By the way, Carchesium I mentioned have this ability to contract their stalks when touched. Just touch the crown with something, if they spring back, that's Carchesium. If not, then it's something else.

They didn't seem to contract, but it looks like they grab onto surfaces with two prongs.  I have removed a few and put them in a separate container to look at closer.
The few hydra however that I saw in the tank did contract when I poked at them.

[angelcraze]

UPDATE 

The platys are still flashing periodically with no other outward symptom.  Those "things" are still present.

Here is a closeup of one I removed from the glass and put in a container a few days ago.

Does anyone recognize this?  Idk if it's just dirt, but there's a lot of it the same.  It's just there..............
Like I said before, in the tank they are mostly in a half-moon, crescent shape.

[blueknight0303]

Hmmm... now they look like a type of fungus to me.

[angelcraze]

Ok, I guess they do ..........maybe, look like fungus, but it's not............oh well, I'm sure they are harmless and nothing.

[newtchaplin]

When it's on the glass is it a kidney shape? you said half circle in an earlier post. 

The reason why I ask is it looks like the end stage of snail eggs before they disappear in you substrate. 
I have been doing as much research as I can and I keep going back to snail eggs.  Not assassin snail eggs but pond snail or bladder snail.  When they lay it looks like a half circle or kidney shape, over time the egg mass breaks up and each egg sways in the current until they drop off and start their life.  When you take it off the glass by hand it breaks up the look of the half circle or kidney shape to more of a mass like the ones you have shown.  Can you post a pic of all your snails but not the assassin snail I already know what they look like.  I will be able to tell what snails they are by looking. 

If not that I found these two possibilities, Suctoria, or Peritrich.  Both are fine in a freshwater aquarium, it adds to the micro organisms that are great for a tank.

Thanks
Andrew

[angelcraze]

Right on!!  That must be it.  Pond/bladder snail eggs.  At least some of it is.  

Can you post a pic of all your snails  

I posted pics of the snails I have (couldn't get one of the malaysian trumpet snails) and also a pic of their eggs.  I noticed the remanence of some eggs laid earlier (which I could not photograph) on another leaf and it looked very similar to the stuff I pulled off the glass.  

When it's on the glass is it a kidney shape? you said half circle in an earlier post.  

The 'things' on the glass, I am not able to photograph with my camera, but I guess you could call them kidney shaped, although they all had a more prominent white half-circle edge.

As for the Suctoria and Peritrich, wow, I could not find this when I was researching, thanks, I guess it could all be possibilities, I know I have some hydra (lucky me), but I didn't know about all these other organisms.  At least none of them are really threatening, at least to larger inhabitants.

I was hoping to find out a reason why my platys are flashing, but I guess I better move on to another possibility..........

[newtchaplin]

I am unsure what you have exactly but I am sure it will not harm a thing in your aquarium.