Weird Microscopic Creatures In My Tank  10/27/09
I have found some odd looking creatures in a small, 3 gallon tank I have been using lately. I have been trying to hatch goldfish eggs in this small tank with no success. 3 times so far. I have a sponge bubbler in the 3 gallon tank. The bubbler seems to work in the tank. But I have not seen the goldfish fry.
<You will need more than three gallons, to be honest. Fish eggs are very sensitive to poor water quality. What happens is that still water and a build up of organic material promotes the growth of fungi and bacteria.
These in turn go on to eat the eggs, and up to the point where the fry become actively swimming, the fry can be infected too. I use an 8 gallon tank for rearing eggs, and even that tank can sometimes get dirty so fast eggs become fungused.>
Yet they are very tiny I hear (about the width of a human eyelash I heard one site say).
<That's a bit of an overstatement. Goldfish fry are smaller than, say, a newborn guppy, but comparable to newly hatched Corydoras or Danios.>
So about two or three days after the eggs have been laid I have tried to put very finely ground foods and live brine shrimp eggs in for the fry.
<Almost never a good idea to add food before you see fry swimming about.
Firstly, the newly hatched fry won't be eating for the first two days.
During that period you will see them sitting on the bottom flicking their tails but otherwise not moving much. They are using up their yolk sac.
Adding food will only be a waste, and potentially ruins water quality at this key stage.>
Included in the powdered foods are ground up bloodworms and regular goldfish flakes ground up fine and Spirulina.
<Likely too coarse for newborn Goldfish, which really do need infusoria ("green water") and/or liquid fry foods. It'll take a week or so after their first meals before they can tackle finely powdered flake and brine shrimp nauplii.>
I also include liquid food and a little artificial rotifer, which I was told is good for baby fish and brine shrimp. After about a day or two I still do not see any goldfish fry, but I do see transparent creatures hanging around the bottom of the tank. They are translucent gray to completely clear in color. They have two large dots for eyes that are usually red, but have also been black. Then they will develop long bodies with eyes placed on their heads like those of a hammer head shark.
<Could possibly be goldfish fry. Very young fish are usually obviously different from the most likely other things that might be in the tank: nematodes, flatworms, or copepods.>
It also appears some of the creatures have heads similar to those found on a mature adult dragonfly.
<Juvenile dragonflies and juvenile damselflies (these latter smaller and have three "tails") are common in aquaria sometimes, usually coming in with plants or live food. They can, will eat fish fry. They are obviously insects though, i.e., they have compound eyes and six legs.>
There is no salt in this freshwater tank system. But our water does have a high natural mineral content. My question is are these odd creatures brine shrimp nauplii?
<Unlikely.>
Or could they be bloodworm larva regenerating? Can bloodworm larva pieces and fragments do that if they are not cleaned up?
<No.>
Could they also be flatworms?
<Potentially, yes; these look like flat slivers that slide along the glass and over gravel. Often brown or pink; may have two eyespots at the front end.>
And do brine shrimp (at any stage in life), bloodworm larva, and flatworms eat small things like recently hatched goldfish fry?
<No, no, and yes.>
Below I have tried to include a rough outline of some of the critters I have found in my tank. What do you think they are? And would they eat the tiny goldfish fry and eggs?

| | |
/ \

1. . . 2. . . 3. (' ') 5. ( ( ) ) 6. /\/\
| \/ | |
|
# 5 is the creature with the bug head I mentioned, #2 is the one with the shark head I mentioned (though in this outline it does not show the classic T shape this creature usually shows, though it does sometimes show the shown v-shape too). None of them appeared to have an outer shell like a fish louse would have. So I do not think they are fish lice (though I could be wrong). Sorry I could not provide a proper picture, as I threw out the water in the 3 gallon tank already (all 3 times).
<Sorry, these diagrams don't mean anything to me.>
I would just really like to know what these creatures are, so I can identify them better in the future.
<Do look out for an excellent little book called "Fish Breeding" by Chris Andrews; it's easy to buy online, often inexpensively, and well worth having. It includes details on breeding Goldfish as well as numerous other freshwater species.>
I hope these rough outlines and the descriptions above help. Thank you for your time.
<Cheers, Neale.>

Title "Guide to the Freshwater Invertebrates of the Midwest" by Kansas Biological Survey is "Now Available"   5/13/09
Dear Professor,
We have printed & published Kansas Biological Survey’s title “Guide to the Freshwater Invertebrates of the Midwest”. So now this title is in print and ready to ship. You can order this title at $51.00 including shipping charges. It is a nice 230-page hardcover book with title and Authors name gold embossed on the cover. So send your inquiries to reprint_service@hotmail.com
Following are the Table of Contents for your glance:
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1:::::Introduction to the Non-Arthropod Group
Chapter 2::::: Hirudinea (Leeches)
Chapter 3::::: Oligochaeta (Earthworms)
Chapter 4::::: Pelecypoda (Clams)
Chapter 5::::: Gastropoda (Snails)
Chapter 6::::: Turbellariz (Flatworms)
Chapter 7::::: Introduction to the Crustacea
Chapter 8::::: Amphipoda (Scuds)
Chapter 9::::: Decapoda (Crayfishes and Shrimps)
Chapter 10::::: Aquatic Isopoda (Sowbugs, Pillbugs)
Chapter 11::::: Introduction to the Insecta
Chapter 12::::: Coleoptera (Beetles)
Chapter 13::::: Diptera (True Flies)
Chapter 14::::: Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)
Chapter 15::::: Hemiptera (True Bugs)
Chapter 16::::: Aquatic Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Chapter 17::::: Megaloptera (Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Finshflies)
Chapter 18::::: Neuroptera (Lacewings)
Chapter 19::::: Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies)
Chapter 20::::: Plecoptera (Stoneflies)
Chapter 21::::: Trichoptera (Caddisflies)
Chapter 22::::: Stream Study Procedures
Chapter 23::::: Biological Sampling Techniques
Chapter 24::::: Detection and Documentation of Impacts
Chapter 25::::: Current listings of threatened and endangered Aquatic Invertebrates
Glossary
We look forward to your order.
 Regards,
Sales Team
 <Thank you for this notice. Bob Fenner, WetWebMedia.com>

Question: Help me ID these zooplankton? in my freshwater tank!   5/4/09 Hello, I was observing my 16gallon tropical freshwater tank today and noticed what first appeared to be small translucent white debris on the inside of the aquarium wall.? Upon closer observation, I realized that these are some sort of plankton stuck on the wall of the tank, probably about 0.25mm body with 5 thin, longish tentacles sticking out from them.? I am noticing that these tentacles are ever so slightly moving, extending, then curving towards the "body", as if marine corals or sea anemone might feed. <They're a Cnidarian called Hydra, and yes, they are somewhat closely related to corals and anemones, though surprisingly perhaps, more closely related to the Portuguese Man o' War.> I tried my best to photograph these guys and circled them on Photoshop.? I've found what appears to be copepods in my tank before... which are pretty well known and there are plenty of photos on the web to help ID them.? But these things, I have no clue what they are, or whether they are beneficial, harmless, or harmful.? <Somewhere in the middle. Hydra can and will eat baby fish, potentially as large as newborn Guppies, and would probably also be a threat to newly hatched freshwater shrimps as well. On the other hand, they are too small to be of any threat to adult fish.> I hope you will be able to help ID them!? Thank you so much in advance. Sascha <Fascinating animals, and well worth observing! Cheers, Neale.

Invertebrates for a loose Central/South American biotope 3/2/09
Hello Crew,
I hope you can offer me a bit of advise. I'm planning on setting up a loose Central and northern South American biotope using some hardy species in a 50 l.
<Fifty litres? That's not a lot of space. At best, we're talking a harem of Apistogramma and perhaps a few surface swimming Carnegiella hatchets or Heterandria formosa.>
The problem is I can't seem to find any invertebrates from the region other than the apple snail which, I believe, will add too much bioload.
<Correct. In addition, Pomacea snails need alternating cold and warm seasons to last for more than a year. In the wild they go dormant for some months, and without being cooled down, they effectively "burn up".>
Do you know of any suitable species in the trade, preferable hardy ones?
<Would perhaps look to Asian shrimps; while the families of shrimps in South America may be different, to the eye one transparent shrimp looks much like another. So by all means use Amano shrimps if they're available. Melanoides snails are now firmly resident around the tropics including the Americas, so they can be added as well. Nerites are an option too; as with the shrimps, the species in the Americas are different, but they're all from the same family and extremely similar in appearance.>
I'm planning on stocking with 4 red wag tail platies (I know they're not exactly a wild breed..), 6 Endler's livebearers, and 6 Corydoras habrosus with relatively heavy planting with low-light plants from the region, swords, narrow leaf arrowhead etc.
<Platies will be far too large for this tank. Your other fish should be fine though. Besides, if you're doing a biotope aquarium, why bother using bright red artificial varieties of anything? Furthermore, all the Platies and Swords in the trade are hybrids, further diminishing their value in a true biotope aquarium. There are true dwarf Xiphophorus species, for example Xiphophorus pygmaeus (to 4 cm) and Xiphophorus xiphidium (to 4 cm), that would be better suited to a smaller aquarium. While not commonly "in stock" at pet shops, they can be ordered from decent aquarium shops or obtained via fish clubs and your national livebearer association.>
At PlanetCatfish
(http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=482)
it recommends using fine sand and oak leaves for the Corys. Is this good advise?
<The leaves are optional, but the sand is, in my opinion and experience, essential. Only in sandy tanks do Corydoras behave normally, and their whiskers tend to grow much longer as well. Definitely worth doing.>
I realise it could affect pH though I have a pH of 7.8 and hardness of 15.9 so I assume a high KH (I haven't tested).
<Smooth silica sand from a garden centre will have no effect on pH or hardness; silica is chemically inert. Do not use coral sand! Do not use any sand designed for planted tanks (e.g., Tahitian Moon Sand or Eco Complete) unless the packaging or manufacturer explicitly states it is safe to use with burrowing fish. The two named are not safe with burrowing fish. Retailers may know, but often their information is vague at best, so visit the manufacturers web site before spending the money. Smooth silica sand is extremely inexpensive and works well; here in England, a 25 kilo (55 lb) bag costs about £3 ($5).>
Does this sound like a good set up?
<Apart from the Platies, sure. Given the size of the tank, choose your livestock extremely carefully. Consider territorial requirements in particular; if you get dwarf cichlids, these can (and will) attack Corydoras, and in a small tank the results can be very unfortunate for the catfish (Apistogramma for example bite the eyes out of Corydoras). A 55-litre tank isn't much space to work with, so stock lightly and use a competent level of filtration.>
Any advise greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Sam
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Invertebrates for a loose Central/South American biotope 3-4-09
Thanks for your help with this Neale,
<Happy to help.>
I should have mentioned the reason for the platies is that I currently have 1 female adult and 7 fry (the mother died unfortunately) that I didn't want to sell. Now you mention it, the platies would definitely look out of place! I like the look of X. xiphidium. Do you think Xiphophorus clemenciae is a viable option in 50L?
<Would be a squeeze; swordtails are active swimmers, and appreciate space.>
I can't seem to find much info on either species.
<Essentially identical to Platies or Swordtails, depending on the species. Clean, hard water with a decent current; moderate temperature (ideally 23-24C); algae-based diet.>
As for inverts, I am thinking of going with Neocaridina heteropoda, the wild red cherry shrimp, if I can get them as they appear to be a more forgiving in my London water and they might reproduce.
<"Might" reproduce??? Seriously, if Cherries are happy, you'll have lots and lots of babies. Most get eaten by the fish, but if you have non-predatory fish like small livebearers and small Corydoras, enough babies survive that you get a healthy, self-maintaining population within a few months. It's quite amazing. I give batches of shrimps away regularly, and pet shops are always happy to buy surplus specimens.>
I'm also in England: where do you get smooth silica sand that cheaply!?
<Garden centres. Look in the section where they sell things like gravel and vermiculite. Make sure to get 'smooth' not 'sharp' silica sand. It's sometimes called 'smooth' silver sand.>
One last thing, how do Bacopa monnerii, Ceratophyllum demersum, Eleocharis parvulus, Echinodorus latifolius, Echinodorus paniculatus, Hydrocotyle leucocephala and Riccia fluitans sound for low light (15 watts in 50l) plants in this set up?
<They sound like bad choices. Bacopa and Hydrocotyle especially become etiolated and then die under poor light. Hairgrass is a bit hit and miss under low light, but usually fails. Swordplants are adaptable, but down to about "medium" light. Under low light, concentrate on Cryptocoryne species, Anubias, Java ferns, Java moss, etc. The potted Cryptocoryne species and hybrids sold in pet shops for £3-5 are outstanding value because they do very well at around 1.5 watts per gallon, which is what you've got. They live for many years, and once settled propagate themselves happily, covering the substrate in new plants. Java ferns and Anubias can be bought on pieces of wood and arranged as required.>
Cheers,
Sam
<Cheers, Neale.>

Title "Guide to the Freshwater Invertebrates of the Midwest" by Kansas Biological Survey is "Now Available"
Dear Professor,
We have printed & published Kansas Biological Survey’s title “Guide to the Freshwater Invertebrates of the Midwest”. So now this title is in print and ready to ship. You can order this title at $51.00 including shipping charges. It is a nice 230-page hardcover book with title and Authors name gold embossed on the cover. So send your inquiries to reprint_service@hotmail.com
<Will post. BobF>

Re: Title "Guide to the Freshwater Invertebrates of the Midwest" by Kansas Biological Survey is "Now Available"   2/27/09
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thanks for writing back to us. If you wish to place an order for this title you may buy it directly from our website www.iabooks.com by using your visa credit card, ISBN Number of the title is 8189617214 . Shipping is free on this title. We look forward to serve you.
Sincerely,
Agnel Henry
Vice President
I A Books
www.iabooks.com
sales@iabooks.com
<Thank you for this. Bob Fenner>

Black Pepper Size Critters in FW Tank - 7/2/08 Greetings from Georgia! <And reciprocal salutations for Hertfordshire!> We apologize is this is covered elsewhere on the site, as we found reference to white copepods, but not our 'bug.' Our 125 gallon community FW tank (1.002 salt) has been up 15 months. It has 2-3 inches of LFS gravel. <Ah, 1.002 definitely qualifies as "brackish" -- that's about 4-5 grammes of marine salt mix per litre of water, or about 10-15% the normal salinity of seawater. Great for livebearers, killifish, and other species that appreciate slightly saline conditions.> For the first time, upon vacuuming the gravel and changing water, our white buckets had 100's, perhaps 1000's of black (dark brown?) specks smaller than pepper grains moving furiously in the bottom of the siphoned water yesterday. I have never seen them before. <Likely only copepods, ostracods, aquatic insects or similar.> They seem to cling to larger detritus in the bottom of the bucket. Under a hand held magnifying glass, no visible legs, eyes, spots, antennae, stripes, etc turned up. Still looked like black pepper. Our fish are healthy; these are not on the fish that we can see. These are not visible in the tank. <OK.> They died pretty quickly in the sunlight in 2" of the water outside at 90 degrees F daytime temperature. <How mean!> What are they, are they harmful or good for the tank? <Harmless; indeed, somewhat beneficial as they will be helping to speed up the decay of detritus in the substrate, preventing anaerobic decay. They will also provide a certain amount of food for species that graze on or sift the substrate. If you have an excessive number of them, it likely implies that there's a lot of organic matter in the sediment, which implies you are either overfeeding your fish or under-cleaning the substrate. Either way, controlling the food supply will go a long way to restricting the population of these organisms.> Many thanks, Don <Cheers, Neale.> Re: Black Pepper Size Critters in FW Tank   - 7/2/08 Many thanks, Neale, we appreciate your advice. <Most welcome!> I have visited your area years ago, I think it dates back to the Bronze Age; I visited after that! <I see!> Thanks for clarifying that we are indeed "brackish." We will watch the overfeeding. <Very good.> Your answer begs the question: Since we need (want?) the gravel substrate to anchor our many plastic plants (oxymoron?), the UGF is along for the ride and we don't see getting rid of the UGF, it does the job. <Quite; UGFs can work very well, provided their limitations aren't a problem for your particular set-up. Turned into a reverse-flow system by adding a canister filter to the mix instead of powerheads/airstones and you have one of the single best filtration systems around.> What is the thinnest we can go on depth of the gravel and still accomplish the UGF function? We understand too deep is bad (anaerobic dead spots), and too thin does not accomplish the mission. <I'd recommend 8 cm/3". Does of course depend on the grade of the gravel; finer gravel will provide more surface area per unit depth.> It would seem that vacuuming and cleaning are simplified with a minimal thickness of gravel. We operate two Aqua Clear 400 power heads (1 in each back corner), and also a Fluval 405 and a Fluval 305. Again this is a 125 gallon tank with no live plants, and approximately 50 community fish. The gravel is on a raised plastic tray. We remove plastic plants, caves, etc to gravel so there is never a dead spot due to a fixed decoration. <Ah, I suspect a reverse flow system is precisely what you need. All you do is connect the canister filter outlet to the inlet of the UG filter plate. So water gets filtered mechanically by the canister (removing silt and organic debris) and then pushed from underneath the filter plate up through the gravel into the tank. As it goes through the gravel, the ammonia and nitrite are removed. The really big advantage is that the gravel now becomes 'self-cleaning' because silt and debris can't settle into it; instead the upwards flow of water constantly cleans the gravel, pushing fine particles into the water column.> Thanks again for your time and efforts toward this fishy fun. Cheers, Don and Rosemary <Cheers, Neale.>

Invertebrates in planted discus tank? -03/27/08 Hi crew! Nicole here, from South-Africa. First off, thanks for the wonderful, informative site! I've been a regular browser for quite some time and I've learn't oodles! Okay, so I have a lightly planted (swords, Java fern) discus tank - 1500mm (L) x 600mm (W) x 750mm (H) with an internal filter (box/sump?) and 2000l/h pump currently set to half speed. Lighting is not ideal for a planted tank, I know, just 3 x 40W Bio-Lux (12h per day), but the plants are doing okay. Heating provided by 2 x 300W submersible heaters in the intake partition of the filter. I also have a few air-stones. I'm not too clued-up with US units, but I think the 650l capacity translates to 148 gallons? <There's about 4 litres to the US gallon, give or take a bit. So yes, your estimate is fine. I'm in the UK where we mostly use metric units anyway. When we do use gallons, we have our own kind a bit bigger than the US gallon! So I'd prefer we all used the metric system... less confusion!> Substrate : 2cm layer of Seachem Fluorite mixed with fine brown gravel (1 - 1.5mm). 2cm top layer of only fine brown gravel with some course gravel (mix of dark brown, black and white) for aesthetics. No under-gravel filter. Water : pH = 6.8, alkalinity = 50, hardness = 100, nitrate = 0, nitrite = 0 Current inhabitants : 2 turquoise discus (pair), 2 red melon discus, 2 blue German rams (1 male, 1 female), 1 spotted Sailfin Pleco (15cm), 2 albino Corys, 2 peppered Corys, 2 emerald Corys, 15 cardinal tetras. The discus range from 10cm to 15cm in size. I am on the lookout for more discus to add to the tank, although I'm going to limit myself to 8 in total. Does that sound like an okay mix? <Sounds fine, though I will make the point that (most) Corydoras don't like water above 25 C, so they're not my first choice for a Discus community. But if they're happy, this is no big deal.> It is very hard to find more out-of-the-ordinary fish here in a 3rd world country - most pet stores only have Bettas, harlequins, Neons and such. Finding proper aquarium plants is near impossible! (Especially since I live in a small town). All aquarium equipment is horrendously expensive here - about twice the US prices :o( <Ah, but you can always go after some of those amazing native South African fish! I'd trade a boat load of "community tropicals" for the chance to keep things like Sandelia spp. labyrinth fish!> Maintenance : I use 50/50 RO water and tap water (treated with AquaSafe, heated and aerated for a few days). 20% water change weekly - might need more if I add more discus? Seachem Flourish once a month. Jungle plant tabs with iron every other month (I just stick them into the substrate at the base of the plants). Fish are fed twice daily, before and after work. The discus get home-made food (Rocky Mountain recipe), as well as frozen bloodworms, peas, etc. <Very good.> Okay, now for my question : Are there any crayfish/shrimps that I would be able to keep safely with this setup? I don't want them to eat anybody or to get eaten by someone! I know it is usually a bad idea to create too much of a mix where discus are involved, so that is why I am checking with you clever folks! I love freshwater shrimps, but I love them enough to NOT keep them if it would do them (or my fish) a disservice... <Nope, crayfish would not be a good idea. Armoured shrimps would be better, perhaps things like Atyopsis gabonensis. Despite their size, they're harmless filter feeders. Not the easiest things to maintain, being a bit fussy about food, but not impossible either. Snails are another worthwhile option. Freshwater whelks (predatory, eat baby snails) and Nerites (only eat algae) would be nice choices. Funnily enough, it's a SA snail that's the commonest Nerite here in the UK, Neritina natalensis. So that at least should be something you might be able collect from the wild, if you can't easily buy it. Amano shrimps are mostly subtropical and probably wouldn't last long in a Discus tank, even if they weren't eaten. You could try some of the smaller "long arm shrimps" Macrobrachium spp, but often the specimens traded are baby Macrobrachium rosenbergii, and these become huge territorial and predatory monsters. So research this option carefully.> Thanks in advance for your help and for the great site! Best regards Nicole <Hope this helps, Neale.> Re: Invertebrates in planted discus tank? -03/27/08 Hi Neale, <Nicole,> Thanks so much for the invaluable advice! I'll try and find a suitable filter feeding shrimp - it should do well, because discus a messy eaters. However, will Atyopsis Gabonensis survive the 28'C water? I've read they prefer temperatures around 24'C. The Asian variety - Atyopsis Moluccensis - on the other hand likes 27'C water. Will this not be a safer choice? <Quite possibly. But temperature is less of an issue than oxygenation, because these shrimps (as I understand it) live in fast flowing streams. I've not heard of either species being stressed by tropical temperatures, but I've seen them do poorly in tanks with little water current and overstocking. In other words, provided water quality was good and you had plenty of circulation (as I'm assuming you do with Discus anyway) I'd certainly try either species out with some optimism for success.> It seems getting any shrimp will be really hard. I just learned yesterday that South Africa no longer allows the import of freshwater shrimp and crayfish :o( I'll look into our indigenous species, but doubt that would do me any good. Local species would probably not survive the warm water in my aquarium... <Agreed, but certainly try a few smaller specimens, perhaps placing them in a breeding net for the first couple of weeks to see how they do. As a rule, species from still waters tend to be more tolerant of warmer water than those from fast-flowing streams, so that might well be a factor to consider.> Snails, as you said, are also an option. BUT, a "snail outbreak" a few years ago (after unknowingly getting a few on new plants) left me severely traumatized and unable to face the little critters! :oD Nope, no snails for me, thanks! <Neither Nerites nor freshwater whelks (Clea helena) breed readily in aquaria. If you get babies from either sort, that's something of a coup! The Nerites as well tend to be short lived (around a year) so at best the babies maintain a population. Many of the Nerites have larvae that drift into the sea to mature, and obviously these won't develop at all in aquaria. A few lay small clutches of eggs in freshwater tanks, but survival of the baby snails does not seem to be very high. In other words, these are NOTHING like the snails that multiply wildly in aquaria, so don't be afraid of them! The predatory whelks are rather fun to watch in fact as they cruise about looking for prey. They eat one snail a day as far as I can tell, as well as things like bloodworms (but not fish!).> Keep well Nicole <You too, Neale.>

FW Snails, contr., reading   2/28/08
We bought an orange snail and a blue ghost snail to put in our 10 gallon tank! It has been 2 months and both adult snails we purchased have been dead for a month and our tank is full of babies, at least a hundred! We keep see more little white stringy things moving on the glass. What are these, how many are we going to have, and how do we stop this?!!!!!!!
<... likely more reproduction. Read: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsnails.htm
and the linked files above. If more worm like... see WWM re. RMF>

Strange critters in my tank(s), FW aquatic insects   2/1/08
After several days of scouring the web for answers, I'm still no closer to identifying this critter. So far I have found 3 - two very tiny, and one that's now about 3/4 inch long. When I saw them swimming I observed that they moved with a sort of eel-like motion, but they are definitely not worms (as I thought when I had only seen the tiny ones). These have 6 jointed legs (looking much like a spider's legs) at the "head" end, no legs on the bright green body (which looks to be segmented, but since it is so small it's hard to tell). It's about as thick as a pencil lead and at the other end is a sort of finned tail with 3 distinct "fins" which, unlike the body, are marked with dark bands. When resting right-side-up, this critter uses the two outer "fins" to hold up its tail end, and the middle "fin" stands straight up. When swimming the "fins" are folded and look like a darker extension of the body. When the critter (presumably) sleeps, the fins are also folded together and the 3 separate appendages can't be distinguished.
I found the first of these when I was doing a water change in the large tank (200 liter) and the second and third while doing a water change in the fry tank. The first two were less than 1/4 inch long and the colors were not apparent at that stage. They just looked like short, very thin wiggly things with larger heads and I first assumed they were some type of worm. However, given the 6 legs and fin-like tail sections I realize they're totally un-wormlike.
Not knowing what they were, I put the largest of the 3 in a small glass of water and he's been there now for a couple of weeks. In that time he hasn't gotten any bigger, and crumbs of fish food went untouched. A few days ago I put in some dried and fresh bits of various leaves to see if he would eat them. Until then he had stayed at the bottom of the glass, supporting himself on his legs and the two outer "fins" - but the first day he somehow noticed the floating vegetation (I say "somehow" because before then I had never seen him move from the bottom, do any exploring, etc.) and has now relocated himself to the underside of a floating bit of (dried) leaf, folded his "fins" and settled in at his new location.
It's just not possible to get a good photo of him - though I did try - so that his head, legs and "fins" are visible.
The fry tank sits on a low table beside a medium-sized potted Sheffler which from time to time gets infested with those tiny pesky gnat-things that crawl around on the surface of the potting medium. Not whiteflies, but I don't know what they're called. However, I've never seen the gnats look anything like this in any stage of their development, and there are no other plants/pests in the immediate vicinity of the tank. The little table is, however, next to the balcony door (which I tend to leave open when the weather is nice, though that doesn't happen often here) and on the balcony I have probably 60 or 70 plants of different types, none of which have had any pests aside from the occasional snail. I considered the possibility that my critters came in from the outside and from there to the fry tank, possibly transferred to the main tank on a communal net or something. But that's quite a bit of guesswork, and I'd like to know for sure what this is and what (if anything) I should do about it.
My partner thinks they're mosquitoes. However, we have had sub-freezing and inhospitable weather this winter, and I can't imagine that mosquito larvae would be already hatching. It hasn't gone above 8 C. for at least two months. In addition, this mystery critter is already bigger than any mosquito I've ever seen - even in southern Louisiana. :P
Does anyone have any ideas? Please?
Hopefully,
Erin
<Erin, without a photo difficult to say, but if the thing has three filaments (actually gills) coming from the tail-end, then it's mostly like a damselfly larva (Order: Odonata; Suborder Zygoptera). Quite common in ponds, and they sometimes get into aquaria with live food or on plants. They are predatory, and eat things like smaller insects as well as fish fry. They won't (likely can't) eat dried food. Cheers, Neale.>

Invertebrates, sel., FW
Are there any good invertebrates to add to my fresh water tropical fish tank? I have neon tetra's, Red Wag's, a Black Molly, and 2 Dalmatian Mollies, and 4 River Catfish. I'd like to have something different in the tank, but Crayfish or the like will tear up my fish. Do you recommend any species I can introduce that will not affect the community balance I have now with my fish? Eric
<Many, many options. But freshwater invertebrates can be problematic in a variety of ways. Some eat plants, others react badly to fish medications, some will even eat small fish. Given Mollies do best in brackish water, I'd be looking at salt-tolerant invertebrates such as Amano shrimps and Nerites snails. Anyway, have a read of this: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwinverts.htm . Cheers, Neale>

Breeding, fungi or alien phenomenon? Gastropod repro.  11/08/07
Hi Guys!
Tried to find an answer on your awesome site but it's hard to phrase the problem I'm having! But I'll give it a try!
So, I emailed Sabrina a few months back coz my two common goldfish were fighting. She told me this was normal and that it could be the start of them showing breeding behaviour which totally matches with the other info I've recently found.
However, I was cleaning out my tank the other day and found small, clear bubble like things on the little ornaments and along the top of the tank at water level.
<Ahhh! Snail eggs likely>
At first I thought they were just bubbles but they weren't - they were solid. Anyway, concerned it was some sort of fungi I removed them all from the tank and did a full clean to eradicate any trace of them, although considering the behaviour of the fish I started to think maybe they were fry?!?
<Mmm, no... not fishes>
(They did try to eat them and they have been chasing each other a lot...)
However this seems grossly out of character in these winter months despite the mild weather here) and they're not even a year old yet.
Do you have any idea what these clear things were?!
So confused!
Thanks in advance!
Chloe H, London :-)
<You do have snails of some sort... likely Ampullaria/Pomacea... "Mystery, Apple...". These are the eggs of these. Bob Fenner>

Tiny white bugs/crustaceans, FW...  8/29/07
Hi. Hope you can help me with this one!
<Will try.>
I have a 5 gallon freshwater aquarium with a betta fish in it. A few months ago I noticed a few things:
1) tiny white bugs, barely visible to the naked eye, that swim/jump through the water and sometimes scoot along the surface of the glass
<Those are very small insects or insect-like animals. Thrips, collembolans, mites, and so on. Harmless.>
2) tiny things that stick to the glass and plants. They remind me of barnacles more than anything else. They are scale-like, flat, transparent beige in color, and have a small red-orange colored center. They start out as specks on the glass and progressively grow bigger, to about the size of a pin-head. They have a hard outer "shell"....I know because I've been killing them off as best I can ("crunch"), but they continue to multiply.
<Sounds like snails of some sort. Basically harmless.>
3) tiny red-orange bugs that jump/scoot on the surface of the water, which remind me of mites or water spiders or chiggers.
<Again, some sort of harmless arthropod. Quite possible red mites.>
I have no idea what any of these are, and my internet research thus far has not helped. I'm wondering it is it possibly a single organism that I am witnessing at different points in it's life growth cycle??
<No, not really. Aquaria become ecosystems of a sort, and animals in house attracted to warm, damp places congregate on them. Hence you find the same sorts of things on the aquarium as you'll find in the bathroom.>
A few weeks ago I did a major overhaul of my tank. I boiled the gravel, driftwood, and filtration components. I threw away all the plants. I replaced all but about 10% of the water. Two weeks later, there are tons more of the white bugs, and I'm seeing more and more of the "scale" looking things on the glass everyday.
<You can't get rid of them. Remove them, and more will move in from your house. I'm guessing your tank doesn't have a proper filter; these little arthropods don't tend to be such a pest where the surface of the water is agitated by a filter. In "bowl" type situations, the still water surface is a perfect habitat for them. Furthermore, in betta bowls the water tends to have lots of nitrate and organic material in it because the volume is so small, and this encourages the growth of algae and molds. It is these that the little arthropods are feeding on. In bigger tanks with proper filtration, there's less of this stuff, and so the arthropods are less of a big deal.>
These critters are such an EYE-SORE and NUISANCE in my Betta's home. Can you please help me diagnose this infestation and how I can get rid of them?
<You can't. Learn to love them.>
With gratitude,
Shawna B.
<Hope this helps, Neale>

Re: tiny white bugs/crustaceans 8/29/07
Thanks for your response about the critters in my tank. I believe a partial solution would be running the filter more often.....I only currently run it a few hours a day.
<Arghhh! Why are you running the filter only a few hours per day? That's not how you use a filter, and all you're doing is killing off the "good" bacteria every time you switch the power off. A filter should run 24/7 -- end of story.>
Also, I've heard to get rid of snails you can add copper to the water? They are the major eye-sore of the tank. Can you confirm this and suggest any products that accomplish that?
<You heard wrong. Copper is toxic to crustaceans (which you don't have) and to a lesser extent to fish. Snails are largely indifferent to it, and you'll kill the fish long before the snails get bothered by it. Learn to live with them. Remove them by hand if you want. Otherwise just let them be. Snails only increase their numbers in "dirty" tanks. Snails eat leftover food and algae. If there's a surplus of leftover food especially they will turn that into more snails. In a clean tank, they don't have enough food to breed all that quickly. Show me a person with a "snail problem" and I'll show you a person who overfeeds their fishes or doesn't clean their aquaria properly. It's as simple as that: basic laws of physics; without the extra energy from surplus food, the snails could reproduce as quickly. So, take the snails for what they are -- a symptom of another problem. Act accordingly, and you'll find the snail population will gradually decline to the point where you'll view them as harmless additions to your aquarium.>
Thanks again!!
<No problems, Neale.>

Re: tiny white bugs/crustaceans   8/30/07
Hi Neale ~~~
<Shawna,>
Again, I really appreciate your help and advice on the unwanted critters I have. However, I am not sure that a "dirty tank due to overfeeding" is the problem. I have a single betta in a 5 gallon tank, who gets about 4 pellets of betta food twice a day, and eats it all within about a minute. I generally clean the tank every 4 weeks.
<A properly maintained tank shouldn't need "cleaning" this often. Betta bowls are different I admit, but really, it's the water that needs replacing regularly not the tank decorations. Now, as for the role of food, uneaten or otherwise: snails simply cannot multiply in a tank with no food added. Try it yourself some time. Put a few pond snails in a bowl and don't add any food. See how quickly they multiply. They won't. Except maybe for algae, there's nothing for them to eat, and they starve. Basic biology. The reason snails prosper in fish tanks is that the food (and to some degree fish faeces) provides them with high-protein fodder. They multiply at a rate directly proportional to the amount of food available. It really is that simple. Now, it doesn't sound like you're overfeeding your fish, I admit, so perhaps the food source is something else. Decaying plants perhaps?>
I am really stumped....because as I mentioned about 2 weeks ago, I scoured the tank and boiled everything in it (with the exception of the fish of course!) To see such a dramatic re-appearance of the crusty-scale-like critters in such a short period of time.....in a clean tank....with no plants....well, I just don't get it. Believe me, I have seen small aquarium snails before, and what I have looks different. I wouldn't mind a few snails, but these guys are prolific in numbers....still multiplying....and make the tank look sick and infested.
<Need photo. There are very few other shelled invertebrates that live in freshwater. Ostracods perhaps, but they're very distinctive and don't "turn up" announced. Snails are really the only common shelled stowaways in freshwater tanks. Nematodes and flatworms can be a pest, but they're wormy, not snail-like.>
I had no idea I needed to run the filter all day, and I can see now how that could create a stagnant environment for unwanted critters and such. I was not doing so because I thought my betta liked to have calm waters most of the time. I will change that habit immediately. But the snail-scale like things have got to go!!
<OK.>
I plan to clean and scour and boil everything in the tank again, in hopes that I can further reduce or eliminate the problem. If you have any additional thoughts, I would greatly appreciate your feedback.
<Waste of time. Assuming these "critters" got in by themselves and are prospering under whatever conditions you have, my assumption would be if you clean the tank, they'll be back to full strength in a month. So I'd tend to reflect more on filtration, water changes, removal of potential food (dead plants for example) and so on.>
Thanks so much.
Shawna
<Cheers, Neale>

Micro-organisms? FW   5/25/07
I have some sort of micro organism in my breeding tank (bettas). I'm not that it is a parasite because my fish seem to be doing alright. It's barely visible, but it looks like a millimeter-long, white worm. I had a plant in the tank that didn't make it and started decomposing, but since then the tank has been completely emptied, cleaned, refilled, and several water changes. I guess my question is what is it? And can it potentially harm my fish and/or fry? If not is it likely the fry will eat it? Thank you very much and have a good night!
<Not likely a problem... perhaps some sort of small worm or crustacean... that "came in with" the plant... Not likely harmful, perhaps unpalatable. Will probably disappear as readily as it became aware to your conscious. Bob Fenner>

Gel like material on most objects in tank, FW – 04/30/07
Thanks for having a great web site.  I had the pleasure of your  assistance once before.
<Welcome>
In fifty some odd years of keeping both FW and SW tanks I have never run into this problem before.  As a side note I also clean numerous SW & FW  tanks for a living.  Fantastic type of job even if I do say so  myself.
<I did this as well... for nineteen years>
I maintain a 125 gallon aquarium for a doctor with basically  cichlids.  In the past 5 or 6 months the tank has developed a clear gel  like goo all over the lift tubes, glass and filters.  The stuff can plug up  an Emperor filter in less than one day.  The filter does not look dirty but  water cannot pass through it.
You can scrape the gel stuff off of the glass, etc., but it quickly  returns.
I have had some success in keeping it under control by using a  copper solution but it never truly solves the problem, just lessens it.
Any thoughts on what it might be (appears to be a living organism of some type as it certainly reproduces quickly) and also what might control or destroy it.
<Is a mix of life... the fancy current name is "bio-film"... Likely a mix of mostly "decomposers"... Fungi, bacteria... with a host of protozoan species, algae to boot>
It appears to have no affect on the fish as they are all healthy and eating and growing well.
<Yes... just slimy, unsightly...>
First time I have ever found something other than too much food that would make the water appear cloudy.
Thanks in advance for any assistance you might be able to provide.
Sincerely,
Jon Bartnick
<Mmm, well... you can likely "shake the foot-hold" this stuff has in this system with changing lighting, water quality... switching out the substrate, adding plants... Likely it would go if deprived of nutrient (the addition of a good deal of high-quality carbon...). Bob Fenner>

Red Dots Floating Around In FW Tank  – 2/25/07
Hello to you all. I have a 20 gallon brackish tank with one GSP in it.  
He has done well for over three years now and still seems to be fine. I feed him foods such as frozen krill, raw cocktail shrimp, and live ghost shrimp.
I do not want to overfeed him so when I have too much food thawed I give the extras to my cichlids and Senegal Bichir that are in a separate tank. The GSP has aragonite substrate and fake plants. I do a 30% to 40% water change and siphoning every Sunday and a full pump cleaning every three weeks. This has been his routine for three years now and I have been lucky that I have never had a problem- until two days ago. I went to the tank to feed him and noticed there were several tiny dots on the silk plants. On further inspection I saw these tiny red/brown dots were swimming from leaf to leaf and crawling on the aragonite. They are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The GSP seems unaffected. His color is still nice and bright and his appetite is still the same. My cichlids and Senegal Bichir do not have these tiny dots in their tank, so I don't think this was caused by the food. I have searched extensively over your sight as well as many others to no avail. The closest thing I could find was something called hydracarina.
Since they are so small I cannot see legs if there are any, so comparing the photo to what I have is questionable. Could I have somehow grown a culture in the aragonite? I work at a vets hospital and occasionally get cat scratches so I am concerned if these "dots" were to burrow into any broken skin on my hands. These "dots" do not seem to be growing in size or numbers or changing shape in any way. I hope you can identify these things and let me know if they are harmful to my GSP or myself. The idea of my fish swimming in his own filth drives me nuts, so I am eager to get his tank cleaned before it gets too nasty. I hope you can help soon. Thank you for all your help! Michelle in N.C.
< Could be something brought in by the ghost shrimp. Use Fluke-Tabs or Clout to get rid of them.-Chuck>

Re: live creatures   3/2/07
Sorry...freshwater tank.  
<A yeah, this information is important.>
I know I couldn't possibly capture a picture of them b/c they are barely visible.  You have to be really looking for them and know what you're looking for.  They seem to be clear in color.  I realized they were alive when I noticed them curling up/moving as they float through the water (and when on the side of the tank).  
<Gotcha.>
I often look but can find none.  The most I have ever seen throughout the tank at one time is about 4 or 5.
<I doubt these creatures will cause any harm.  I think there is little likelihood that they are dangerous.>
Thanks!
<Welcome!  -Mich>  

Baby snails   11/25/06
We have just set up a tropical fish . the tank was ok this morning, when I checked on them this evening I found this little things on the glass the slate they look like something  from out of space. but when I looked closer they look like baby snail. Have you got any picture of baby snails so I can see if that is what they are. thank you .
<Mmm, don't have (as of yet... maybe you'll send along)... but would not be surprised that this is what you state. Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsnails.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>