What is this white stuff growing on my Java ferns?

[Allan B.]

I have no snails—only amano shrimp, celestial pearl danios, and a brittlenose pleco. May not be related, but I’m on day 3 of treating my aquarium with Maracyn, Paracleanse, and Ich-X. I also use Bacter AE to help feed the shrimp. 

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
PH: 7.0 - 7.2

[johnzhe]

Do they move/wave in the water and do they close up if you disturb them? Maybe they are a freshwater cnidarian, similar to hydra. (They have too many tentacles to be hydra though.)

If they don't move, then I have no idea.

[Colu]

Looks like vorticella

[lefty o]

looks like a case of the plant herpes. i have no idea what it is.

[Allan B.]

Update: After some research and asking around, this is likely a vorticella or zoothamnium boom caused by Bacter AE overuse. Basically, they’re feeding on the excess bacteria and they’re already starting to die off or get eaten by my cleaning crew.

[johnzhe]

A zoothamnium... hmm. Interesting. I used to have something similar in my tank, but I think mine were a bit larger and more active. Sadly they all died out.

https://imgur.com/a/SGtDEWA
The images aren't the highest quality, but did your creatures look sort of like mine?

And Bacter AE overuse? I'm using that as well so I might have to watch out for it.

Very interesting!

[Allan B.]

@johnzheYeah, that’s exactly what I had growing in my aquarium. I definitely have a small bloom when ever I use Bacter AE, so I’ve cut back to using it once a week. My Amano shrimp and pleco seem to get enough to eat without adding it to this tank, so I’ve decided to use it sparingly moving forward.