What Are These Bugs In My Aquarium?! Critters You May Just Find In Your Tank....
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Folks, have you ever been sitting back, admiring your tank, when suddenly you see a critter wiggle by that you didn't put in your tank? I'm guilty as charged. So what are these little bugs and critters we find in our tank? Where do they come from? Are they harmful to our tank plants and inhabitants.
In this video, a little guide to the ostracods and copepods you might find in your tank. But first, take a deep breath and give yourself a round of applause. Most of these little critters are harmless, a natural part of the aquatic ecosystem, and in small numbers are a sign of good water quality. You are doing a good job. :)
Hope this helps clear up any questions about critters in your tank....
Keep tankin!
--d
@0:08 thats too large to be a Daphpnia even if its the subgenus Daphnia Magna. It looks more like an amphipod ( Hyalella azteca ).
@2:19 The one in your picture is a Rhabdocoela Flatworm. Planaria have 2 eyes and the very distinctive trilobular head. Also in the shrimp keeping circles Planaria is considered a parasitic worm.
They crawl into the bodies of shrimp after molting when the exoskeleton has not yet hardened... with an undesirable outcome.
Waverwreck - much appreciate the corrections! You certainly know this much more in depth than I do - I'll have to pin this so the folks can see it. Well done. You are the bug whisperer :) Really appreciate the clarifications! Glad you checked out the video!
Glad i could be of assistance.
As a child, i used to panic when i`d see some new critters in my tanks... and was faced with a lack of "peer knowledge" so i had to do a lot of research.
Hope this helps someone sleep better :P and not worry :)
0:08 its gammaurus and good aquarium fish food and it eats waste and dead plants
@waverwreck I am currently struggling with a sudden detritus infestation and I am freaking way too much. I only have 2 bettas in a tank with a separator and an algae eater in there. How do you get rid of those 💔
@@sjarvis4839 medicine called "no planeria" or your own custom fog dewormer only if it's active ingredient is fenbendazol...chech UA-cam on how to get concentration right.
Phew thank god, I was freaking out until I found this
Lol - i freaked out too on the first time Oscar. But not to worry. All those critters are pretty harmless
Same I saw little weird round bugs in my aquarium
OH thank goodness, I found a few and freaked out. They're welcome if they're harmless.
Totally get it. I used to freak out as well. Most of them, though, besides hydra, are totally harmless 👍
So glad to have found this!! I thought I was crazy seeing little white specs crawling around. I also saw the flatworms twice, thought it was feces at first but I did notice a strange wiggle that made me question it. Thank you again! Subscribed and going to check out more of your videos. Helping ppl 3 years later huh! 😁
Thanks for the kind words Heather! Glad the video was helpful. And wow, I can’t believe this video is already 3 years old! I remember making this one like it was just the other day....time flies. 😊. All still relevant though. Thank you for subscribing and I hope other videos are helpful to you. Thanks for watching!
The worms actually can ben harmfull when there are to much.
I started a planted betta tank a few months ago, and the plants quickly flourished. That's when I noticed a handful of these critters in the tank. I wanted to make sure they were helpers and came across your video. This is my first tank with live plants, so I of course freaked out at first. Thanks for the info.! :)
Fangs & Forests - my pleasure! Glad it was helpful and enjoy the planted betta tank!! 👍
I had an explosion of copepods in my tank gravel bed. Caught my shrimp 🦐 picking them out of the bed and eating them.
Yep, they are a fantastic snack for the shrimp, for sure!!
@@dmichaelsfishden YUM!!!!!
I have a wild aquarium full of these cuties! I got some dirt, plants and water from a lake. I found a small beta aquarium with a light and voila. I don't have to do anything but top off the water (I get it from the same lake and let it get room temperature). It takes care of itself. I find new creatures all the time even a year later! I just found 4 little hydras! ❤️❤️❤️ I've got seed shrimp, shrimp, nematodes, two big ribbon like worms (may be leeches), copapods and more. I have the cute little guys with the little egg sack swimmers but they are gone. I highly doubt that it's the last time I'll see them though lolsurprise every single day and I love them!!
Still have it or no??
Folks, please see the pinned comment by Waverwreck for corrections! I'm thankful for the clarifications - hope this helps further!
Awesome! So apparently after watching your video I’ve been able to identify one of these buggers in my tank the “Copepod Cyclops”. Well done and thanks 👍💯
Great video! I was worried about two of the little crustaceans but now I know what they are and that they won't be harming any of my animals in the tank. Thank you!
jwhalstrom - my pleasure! Glad it gave you some piece of mind! Yep, a lot of those little critters are totally harmless - good snacks, in fact, for your fish 😀 Thanks for checking out the video!
Thank you so much! Learned a lot from your video. Kind regards from the Netherlands.
Thank you so much. Awesome video…..🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
vid helped me identify the cyclops copepods that I was worried may harm my betta, my mind is now at ease, thanks !!
My pleasure, Kendra! Glad it was helpful! Yes, most of these little critters are harmless copepods that can sometimes be more of a snack for your fish than a threat ;)
Thank you so much! I got really scared to see some weird insects in my tank and felt quite desesperate after so much attempts to do a good setup for my betta😅 i feel better now, thanks again!
My pleasure Juliana!
Dude thank you, I see 3 total bugs on 2 of my fish, it’s literally so creepy
Good information, and the crowd noises were a nice touch. :)
Thanks, Anthony! I thought this was a topic that would be helpful to beginners. Years ago I freaked out when I saw these guys in my tank, assuming I was doing something wrong.....(I was, but the critters weren't one of them 😉). As always, appreciate the kind words!
GREAT video. Love your presentation as well as the fact that you dedicate so much time to replying. you're great! Liked & subscribed. Thx.
Thanks v!! Appreciate the kind words and that's really nice of you to say. Anyone that takes valuable time out of their day to message me certainly deserves a response! Thanks for subbing. Glad to have you on board! 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden Looking forward to your next eucational video.
got some hydra on my currently cycling tank. was a bit concerned, but i found this video :) I'll hand pick the big ones, but leave the small ones in for my betta, hopefully he might eat them.
Kathy - if that doesn't work, one of the FB groups I'm in strongly recommends this product for killing hydra:www.amazon.com/Genchem-Planaria-Shrimp-Killer-Planted/dp/B07M683JK4/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=no+planaria&qid=1595183212&sr=8-1 Hope that helps!
Thanks!! I was very worried and thought I was doing something wrong. I've been raising fish for over 15 yrs and never saw these critters until today. Glad they're not harmless.
Wanda - yep, nothing to worry about! Except if it is a Hydra - but they are very distinct and you would know. All other critters are totally harmless so you are safe and sound! And side note: If you have been raising fish for over 15 years I highly doubt you would be doing anything wrong! :) Thanks for checking out the video!
@@dmichaelsfishden thanks for the validation. This is a peaceful hobby for me. I enjoy doing it.👍😃
Wanda - likewise for me :) Very peaceful and always helps relax me on a stressful day :)
Honesty thank you so much for this video! Saw some random little organisms in my tank which I have never seen before. Panicked and thought it was parasites, also finding out my barbs were mildly flashing. Honestly thank you this video
My pleasure, Collin! And don't worry - I freaked out the first time I saw these as well, which is why I ended up doing a ton of research on it. When I first saw them I had no idea what they were either...
I just found a small herd of ostracods in my tank. They seem to have decimated the diatom algae in my tank that I've been having problems with for like 2 months now. Like in a single week. Just a few tufts remain. I've also found one swimming nematode, but that was it. Pretty happy with all of them.
I think you got planaria and detritus worms a bit mixed up. Detritus worms are detrivorous tube worms, perfectly harmless. That pic I’m 90% sure was a detritus worm. They are in most aquariums. Planaria have a triangular head and are actually carnivorous. Would have liked to see something on scuds and sideswimmers too
I am so glad I happened upon this video. I am not exactly sure how I wound up with seed shrimp but I am glad it is harmless.
Thanks for this video. This is stuff no one tells you about when you get into the hobby. I’ve officially started the past summer, but had I know I would be dealing with bugs and worms, I wouldn’t have gotten into it to begin with. I feel bad because now I love my bettas too much to give them away, and I have a worms phobia, detritus in my case 💔 I don’t know what to do...
My pleasure Marie Anne! Glad it was helpful and thanks for watching! Yeah, a lot of us get surprised when we see these little critters. I think it all shocks us a little. Do you have a lot of detritus worms right now? I don't know of any medication that is easily available that might work. They should begin to go away with water changes - they are usually the result of overfeeding, etc...in a tank. I've never personally had them in my tank, but if the infestation is bad, here is what I would do: I'd take the betta out and put him in a bucket with an air stone and water conditioner (if you are using tap water. I'd save the biomedia in the filter, filter sponges, etc...in another bucket, again with fresh water with conditioner in it....take out any decor, plants, etc...put those in the same bucket....then I would really try to clean the tank out if you can. If the infestation is really bad, you may consider throwing out the old substrate and replacing it with new substrate. Then I'd put everything back. For the first week or so I would add beneficial bacteria to the tank every other day to rebuild your beneficial bacterial colony a little. I have read that with water changes the worms eventually will go away, but unfortunately I don't have any personal experience myself. Hope that helps a little. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I've had just about every little critter except detritus worms and hydra.
dmichaels fish den thank you for the detailed reply ♥️ In my case I had detritus, and then the next day I saw copepods and 3 hydras! So what I did was cry, kick stuff, pull my hair etc... but when I calmed down, I read a lot of entries online and watched a lot of UA-cam videos like yours, and I realized it was normal and part of thriving ecosystem. The detritus was probably because 1. that day when I did the water change I accidentally poured my water in a little more violently than usual so it disturbed the subtrate where they were hiding, and 2. I had a poor oxygen/filtration system because I kinda diy-ed mine to make a softer current flow for the betta fish. The detritus came up to the surface and stayed because of poor oxygen (also because I wasn’t gravel vacuuming well in my case) So the next morning I went out and bought a sponge filter with an airpump attached to valves to control the air bubbles etc... I cleaned everything as you suggested, even though my fish supplier told me to wait it out with water change, and that the bettas and otocinclus would eat the pests (they did, when I came back home, the copepods were gone, and I saw one of my bettas biting off a hydra - and it grew back creepily 😭😭) I scrubbed everything and disinfected some of my equipments and the tank. I am now with a bare bottom tank just because my tank is in my bedroom and the thought of worms in my room makes me cringe 😂😂 I saved my plants inside glass jars that I placed in the tank as well. Everything looks great now. I have another micro tank in our living room that has detritus, but they are almost never visible, they stay only inside the subtrate. In that tank, I have ramshorn snails, shrimps and otocinclus as my cleaning crew and a couple of ember tetras, so I guess they will never dare to go up, as I am sure they will be eaten. So that was my experience. I hope it was kinda interesting or useful as well. Thanks!!!
I have 2 solutions for anti-detritus worms. (1.) Aquarium salt. It killed my detritus worms and safe for the fish. Heck, if they are sick they get better. (2.) Put in guppies. My guppies love to chow down on detritus worms. And bettas love to hunt for guppy fry. Guppies produce tons of fry so you don't have to worry about your betta getting hungry again.
@@s-moi3413 hi! this comment was 2 years old but you are so right. All I did was add guppies and never worried about disgusting worms ever again, my guppy fry even grew really fast, thank you for your comment
ah, seed shrimp from my new driftwood.. thank you!
Great video, absolutely answered my question.
Haha loved the narration! This is the first video that I watched of yours and I just subscribed :)
Thanks for the kind words, Omar! Proud to have you aboard and glad you enjoyed the video!
Thank you so much for making this video. My planted tank is filled with Cyclops, and Planaria. I have not added fish yet so they have no natural predators. I got concerned and treated the tank with General Cure.
Wallytuber - My pleasure....and always a great preventative method using General Cure. But most of these little critters you find in the tank are copepods and harmless to your fish. Thanks for watching!
Well put together.
Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words, Arun and my pleasure! Glad it was helpful!
Dude thank you so much for the video, finally solved one of my aquarium’s mysteries
I specifically search for this video because i saw some in my aquarium today. Not scared anymore though. Lol.
Thanks
I have hundreds of small white what look fleas in my turtle tank. This only just happened after I cleaned his tank. As well as started using dried shrimp.
I Burn Stuff - these could be small copepods, and most likely are. Is it an indoor or outdoor tank? Most of these little critters are pretty harmless, though if you've been feeding more lately, they can show up....I'm still not sure exactly how they do....they do hitchhike into tanks from time to time, as well as their eggs...some of the copepod species' eggs can lay dormant for a long time and aren't always visible. They may have hatched if there is more of an abundance of food in the tank. They can "bloom" sometimes with more eggs hatching. They may be a nice little snack for your turtle, and if you have any fish in the tank, fish should snack on them as well. The only little critter I know of that poses a danger is the Hydra, and this guy can be seen well with the eye. The Hydra definitely doesn't look like a small white flea, so nothing to worry about there. Their numbers usually drop, and your turtle may very well snack on them - if there are just way too many and it is an infestation, you may need to remove some manually, but in time, the population should reduce. Hope that helps a little!
I’m proud to get my first batch of seed shrimp for the first time in my first ever aquascaped aquarium, well I thought they’re harmful, but I guess I got a free clean up crew!
Congrats!! Either you have a free clean up crew or some fish snacks :) They are definitely not harmful to the fish, so nothing to worry about!
Should I get worried about detritus worms? The tank is actually still cycling and I can see this worms and seed shrimp already...
JTS - detritus worms, to my knowledge are not harmful to fish - they are a normal part of the ecosystem. They are great "composters" in your tank, however they can be a sign of how your tank maintenance is....if the population absolutely explodes, that is due to higher amounts of organic waste. But if you don't have a massive outbreak of them, nothing to worry about 😀
Thanks so much! This answered literally all my doubts! Subscribed!✌🏻💙🌻💙
So glad it was helpful and thank you for subbing! Great to have you on board! 😀
Dang! This is heaps of help mate thank you so much
Sorry but I have at the moment over 20 tanks set up in my home and counting lol
I have had most of my tanks over 25 years alot of shrimp tanks .
And if you have been in the hobby long enough you see alot of strange things !
I have watched Hydra kill my Shrimp !!!!!! 😁 🐣🐥🐤 💕
Wow!!! 20 tanks! AND counting?? My admiration to you. I don't know if I could handle that many tanks...Lol - I only have 4 running and that's about all I can handle at the moment! Yes, you definitely see a lot of strange things the longer you are in the hobby...for sure. I'm only 9 years in, so you have seen much more than I have. I certainly have never seen Hydra kill shrimp!
Tnx a lot champion.. this is a great video.. you solved out my nightmare... I have ton of Copepods,,, to be honest I was pooping in my pants...
Funny, after watching this video I noticed some hydra attached to my rock. Thanks for clearing it up as I thought it was a fungus of some sort. I’ll probably get rid of it if it really can pose a threat to my shrimplets.
Kingnocho - glad it was helpful! Yes, definitely get rid of that Hydra...it's one of the few critters that actually can cause some harm in the tank. Appreciate you checking out the video!
@@dmichaelsfishden Alongside planarian worms. They are predators of shrimplets.
I’m a little more calming after watching this, but I still really wanna make sure those are what I see.
Didn't sanitize the store bought driftwood I just put in my planted tank after soaking and now have 3 of these species.
Guess I won't be doing that again. 😅
Thanks for your video, it was very useful, I've seen these guys recently and didn't know where they came from. I added some new plants from a website that guaranteed that there was no pests or algae, and I was fearing they lied.
Wow, great job this was enjoyable as well as informative!
Stone Wallace appreciate the kind words! This was a fun one to do and really glad it was helpful!
Thanks I now know that they were copepods. Btw I was searching the whole internet for them. Thanks 👍🏻
My pleasure!!
Thank you for such an informative video, comments below also helpful for accuracy.
My pleasure, Alexander! Glad it was helpful! Yes, a lot of people pitched in and provided some great follow up comments for accuracy on this one.
I seen mosquito larvae and it makes sense because I was like what are those? I live in Florida and even though I keep my door closed some always find a way to get it.
Wow that’s an amazing relief!!!!!!
Thank you!
Very interesting but I was hoping to find out what is in my shrimp tank. They are so tiny that I can only describe them as being microscopic. It is only by their movement that you can tell that they are alive. They jump around in the substrate and all over the tank. The are so small that even using a magnifying glass, you cannot discern any kind of shape. There are probably hundreds in there although you wouldn't know it unless you look very closely. Any ideas?
Zuzu - they are so many of these little guys. The subscribers did a great job clarifying some things on the video. If you read the comments, that should hep you! 👍
Absolutely loving your work.
Thank you! I have had two little things crawling on my tank walls (a tank of daphnia and snails only) and have been wondering what they are. One is just a little dot with a "tail" and the other is a dot with two smaller dots. Thanks to your video, I now know that the ones are copepods - and a little further research shows that the smaller dots are egg sacs and the others are just ones without eggs.
Amber - my pleasure and glad the video was helpful!!! It's natural to get freaked out a little when we have these weird little creatures show up in our tanks...😮 But most of the time, they are harmless little guys (except that Hydra 😉) Thanks for checking out the video!
Daphnia all time fish tank guest. But I saw my guppies not interested with them. Weird !!
this is silly question, is it dangerous if you accidentally swallow those creatures..?
sometimes when you do a water change/cleaning the gravel you Siphoning water with your mouth and that creature probably gets sucked in too.
ajr13 - I wouldn't make a habit of it 😉 But naw, you should be fine....these are just little crustaceans so one or two, accidentally, shouldn't hurt - kind of like swallowing a bug. Though you could get a Siphon with a pump on it 👍 That way, you won't have to use your mouth to Siphon. There is also a technique for getting the Siphon going that doesn't have a pump. I might have to post a video on it....but I wouldn't worry to much if you accidentally swallow one of these little guys...😀Some of them are a sign of good water parameters and conditions
I was using a bathtub to grow anacharis and I've seen loads of things now. It's loaded with tiny things, I'm guessing are seed shrimp now. I've watched the water lifecycle of damselflies and dragonflies. And the damsels stay near doing a great job. Anyways, I really need to use high power magnification on these things, they feel like hard pieces of sand and they swim well. I would like to know what they are for sure before I give them to goldfish.
This was really helpful, thanks!
Glad it was helpful and my pleasure!
Funny thing is i took some tank water and put it in a cup to keep moss balls and now i have a micro tank teaming with life... better than sea monkeys!
I saw a little thing run up to hide under a rock .. I SCREAMED
Wish I'd found this like a month and a half ago. I was watching my nerite snails and saw tiny round things swimming around. I asked Dans Fish in a live stream what he thought it could be and he suggested seed shrimp. I haven't seen them in a couple weeks, so I think my new betta probably ate them and/or I vacuumed them up. I think they came in on a lava rock I got from PetCo. I did a quick rinse in hot scalding water but nothing else since it wasn't wet or from a fish tank, so I didn't think to do anything else.
I freaked out when I saw all these critters. Nothing to worry about. 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden yes, I was like, "what the--where did those come from?!" But as long as they're not parasites, I'm fine with them. And so is my betta.
CheshireKat yep! You are doing great!
This may be a silly questions but when cleaning the tank are any of these bugs any kind of threat to humans? Like if they get on your skin?
Shelby - there are NO stupid questions in this hobby :) Most of these little critters are small harmless copepods/mosquito larvae, etc...so they are really pretty harmless. They aren't very pretty and won't win any Miss Universe contests, but they won't cause any harm. The only critter I know of that can cause harm to fish is the hydra, but I've never seen one in a tank yet. What I'm not absolutely sure about is whether they can bite or spread any disease, but I think the chances of that are pretty slim. They are so small I'm not even sure they could penetrate human skin. So most of the normal ever day small critters you might encounter won't cause any threat. Hope that helps!
@@dmichaelsfishden thanks so much for this detailed answer! This is helpful.
The adult mosquito is obviously very harmful if it gets on your skin.
The other creatures can't even survive on your skin if they dry out.
They will die in the bloodstream but should by no means be allowed into an open wound.
They may carry internal parasites, such as worms, so they should never be ingested.
GREAT VIDEO!
Vicki K thank you! Appreciate you checking it out!
Thank god for this i was worried but now i get it
Thank you!!!
My pleasure, Eduardo!
I just found loads of very small living things in my tank. They definitely are much small than everything in this video and I do not know what they are. Any ideas ?
Ava -are they little white worms? (smaller than Planaria?) What do they look like?
@@dmichaelsfishden I have those. What do I do? They came off my new snail
There are some tiny little white sphere-like shaped bugs in my tank, I think they might be daphnia or seed shrimp? My betta is eating them so I hope that's not harmful
Thanks man! Very helpful. Thanks eases my anxiety. Haha
I used to see all these bugs but ever since I stared pressurized co2,they all vanished.
Interesting! Have to imagine the CO2 snuffed them out a bit. All my tanks are low tech, but I see CO2 in my future. Really interesting that they vanished after the pressurized CO2.....I wonder if that is something that is common? CO2 is one thing I'm not well versed in...:)
I see little white beetle looking bugs all over my tank. Theres a huge infestation of them i dont know what they are
I am so relieve now
I saw those critters in adult guppy tank
but not in guppy fry tank
I guess they ate them
I found worm like creatures that turned into gnat or flying creatures
Thank you for this video very helpful.
Glad it was helpful King! Thanks for the kind words!
Is it common to have any of these in particular pop up after adding soil to a planted tank? I added organic soil to my tank about a week ago, and just yesterday spotted hundreds of these little white "bugs" crawling along the surface of the glass and in the sand. My water quality is good, just checked it yesterday. Nitrates and nitrites were at 0 ppm, ammonia was about .05 (going down steadily since adding the substrate), and pH was around 7.2. There are no fish currently in the tank, I moved them to prevent stress from any spikes in water quality.
Nat - they certainly can, yes. However, remember, if these are small planaria, most of your fish will eat them as a snack. Unless you have a massive outbreak of them....in that case there is an underlying problem with water quality and too much mulm and decomposing organics in the substrate (usually due to overfeeding, etc...). If your water quality is good (wait until 0 ammonia 😀) you should be ok. See how your fish react...usually they take care of the little critters....nice move removing the fish - let's wait until the ammonia is gone. You can try to net out as many of those critters as you can as well. But the only really dangers one is the Hydra...Hope that was helpful and thanks for checking out the video! ✌️
Thank you so much for your reply! I did a small water change before putting my fish back into the planted tank, and almost all of the critters are gone, they must've been a real tasty snack! I'm guessing the outbreak came from the soil and my plants adjusting to the new substrate, which did cause slight decomposition. My fish are really enjoying the tank though!
There ya go 😉 Always usually a nice tasty snack. You are right about the outbreak - new soil, new setup....Glad the fish are enjoying the tank! Well done! 🤘
I just found a live Bloodworm in my shrimp tank. I wish that it had shown up in my guppy tank. . .
That would have been a nice snack for your guppy!!
Hey guys, I’m having a problem with a ton of mosquitoes and their larvae in my tank. I’ve cleaned it out a couple times and tried to make it as uninhabitable for the mosquitos, and it seems to be working, but what should I do if it’s a reoccurring issue?
HELP! I have a clutch of younger aquatic snails, I found one of my adult snail dead, I inspected it and noticed these tiny grey bugs, I think they’re mites but I don’t know if they are harming my snails, any advice will help!!
Thank you I think I have the cyclops copepods.
Harmless critters and may be nice snacks for your fish! :)
What would eat these but not baby shrimp! Everything I had in my fish tank ate my poor shrimplets (including an Amano I was told was harmless 😦) I now have a shrimp only tank and unfortunately aquired these.
I put rocks in my tank last year and there’s flat worms showing up
I have a question my betta fish tail has like a white thingy its like around the tail its small and idk if its harmful PLEASE REPLY IM NERVOUS
Rapy PW - is it all around it's tail? Does it look like cotton? Little small cotton lines? Or small white dots? Is it all over his whole body or just the tail? Tell me a little more so I can help 😀 Can you describe it a little more?
Looks like the mystery life form got rtbu GT as well. 1 like = 1 prayer.
I have the same problem and I've been trying to figure it out too! Its white only on top fin and I thought it to be fin rot so I changed water and all that good stuff but It wont go away
nothing means everything Sounds like a parasite man use general cure
nothing means everything If it’s a fungus then use aquarium salt
Hello Sir, would you mind to answer my question?
In Indonesia, copepods - cyclops (top right corner of thumbnail) were called "kutu air jet" (jet water flea, because they move extremely fast). Among breeders, it is believed that these kind of fleas being predators to those daphnia and fish fries (commonly betta and guppy). Are you sure that these creatures are harmless? I just want to make sure that this info is valid since there is very little literature that talk about this creature.
Anyway very nice video! 🙏
Hi Onager - For the most part, and this is based on people's experience, copepods are considered generally harmless, yes, and more of a snack for adult fish. That being said, experiences can be different. While I've only heard of Hydra going after fry or other smaller fish, I don't want to say a copepod couldn't go after fry. Over 10 years of being on forums and talking to a lot of fish keepers, I haven't ever heard of a copepod going after fry, but that doesn't mean it can't. I've also only spoken with most people about their experience in America. So I wouldn't discount what the breeders are telling you, especially because they have so much experience. Perhaps the copepods in Indonesia may have slightly different strains of DNA than the ones in America. I think it is safe to say they are generally harmless to adult fish and more of a snack, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't try to get fry if they can....It is hard to know since you are right, there isn't much literature out there, so we all rely on our years of experience to form basic observations.....hope that helps a little. Thanks for watching and thank you for the kind words!
Cyclops will only dare to attack fish fry when they are ridiculously fragile or weak. If anything, they will most likely just cull the weakest individuals, which have a low chance of survival anyways.
I don't think that is seed shrimp but pupa, mosquito stage.
will my shrimps eat these wee creatures like snacks or should u strip down the tank and clean out all substrate etc?...I'm hoping for shrimlets soon and worried they'll be at risk of being eaten...
Start of the video was actually a freshwater scud (amphipod) not a daphnia
Very useful bro 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭
Love your videos
Elvis - much appreciate the kind words! Thank you for the support, and so glad you are enjoying the vids!
Thank you
I have 2 10 gallon tanks that are completely separate systems but about a month ago I noticed tiny white round/ oval shaped creatures absolutely all over everything in both of my tanks. I haven't added anything new in over 6 months and I don't have any natural decor like plants, driftwood, or dirt so I have no idea how they ended up in my tanks!! I rinsed all of my plastic decor and rocks well with hot water when I first set up my tanks and everything including the filters was brand new. I'm not 100% sure what they are since I can't find a comparison that looks just like them but there's definitely way too many of them and I'm not sure what I can do other than a bunch of water changes. Please help
Seag ull - Are you able to email any pictures: dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com. Really interesting that both tanks have this breakout. Are you absolutely infested with them? I'm not sure regarding the oval shape. My first thought was baby snails....Maybe there was a net or something you might have used that had some hitchhikers on it? Here is the good news...most of these little creatures we find in our tanks are tiny crustaceans. Harmless to our fish (except Hydra) but obviously it's not cool when you become infested. Usually, your fish like to eat them as a snack, but, you'd have to have a ton of fish to handle an infestation...somehow, these little critters must have hitchhiked in....It's hard to diagnose without seeing pictures, but a lot of people in the hobby have recommended Benibachi Planaria Zero to get rid of these infestations. I'll leave a link, and I hope it's helpful. I've never personally used it, so that is my disclaimer, however, I know several in the hobby that swear by it: www.amazon.com/dp/B00E877CPW/?tag=8121-20
I've been told it's safe for shrimp, snails, plants, and fish - it just knocks out the little critters. Hopefully that helps?
I've often read that planaria have a triangular head, but the photo you showed around 2:23 doesn't have this feature. Are you confident that what you showed is planaria?
Green Thumb Aquariums you are absolutely right. They all have triangular heads - The picture isn't very well representative of it but it is the Dugesia Tigrina My assumption is that the blown up picture is a planaria that may have been split and regenerating without a developed head. Either that or it's simply not blown up enough around the membrane to showcase the contour of the head....but you are right, sir - their heads are usually triangular shaped, and they are supposed to look "cross eyed" 👍 👌. (The one time I need a crossed eyed emoji and don't have one 😫)
Not all planaria have triangular heads. Those ones are known as Shovel-headed Planarians or worms.
0:41 that seems to be a picture of rhabdocoela rather than planaria.
Aridian - definitely could be! It was pretty tough to see...I tried to identify as closely as I could, but I definitely could be off...I'm not a scientist by any means. The main point that hopefully got across in the video was that many of these little critters are harmless to our fish - I know a lot of beginners freak out when they see them
I found a bug ( black and yellow stripped ) that looked like a small waterborne version of a centipede. Does this ring any bells? Thank you
I have things that are little tiny dots on my plants. Haven't seen them swim
Are the tiny dots maybe algae? What color are they?
dmichaels fish den they are grey and they are not algae, it could be a fungus but I could scrape it off
THEY ARE DIATOMS.something is preventing the nitrogen cycle from completion.
Can copepods live in axolotl tanks? If so can they also be clear? I just saw something that looks similar to the one that looks like has 2 back wings and it jumped when I got real close to the tank
I've small white cotton kind a bugs like in groups in my tank what will kill it?
Prakash - they aren't on a fish right? They are in groups by themselves? I'm not sure what those might be - may be some time of copepod, which is likely. They usually spring up either because they hitchhike in on a plant, rock, etc...from the fish store, or can multiply as a result of too much feeding and organics in the water. I would try to cut back on the feeding, which will cause their numbers to decline. What kind of fish do you have? The fish may also eat them as snacks, if they are copepods. If that doesn't work, you can always use Fritz Mardel Coppersafe, which should kill them BUT - if you have shrimp or snails you will need to take them out as Coppersafe is not safe for them. Coppersafe is a chelated copper solution that stays active in the tank for about a month (can be removed with activated carbon as well). ALSO - coppersafe isn't perfectly safe for scaleless fish either (clown loaches, etc..). So I would first try to cut back on the feeding. If that doesn't work, i would try Coppersafe, which should get them Hope that helps a little!
Just saw ant looking critters on top of my plants, they're super tiny to be ants tho. Any ideas of what they are and if they're harmful?
I have some type of fleas or mites on top of my floating water lettuce
Could be scuds or one of these small copepods....they could have "hitchhiked" in with eggs on the plants you purchased. Unless they are hydra, they are harmless. If your fish don't eat them as a snack, you can always remove them with a net - not likely anything to be worried about though :)
So I bought recently two bottom feeders and I put them in my quarantine tank that is a 20 gallon tank I clean it out every single time a fish leaves it to go into another tank I put these bottom feeders in this tank and then a couple days later I have white little bugs all over my glass are these peaceful or harmful bugs and how do I get rid of them
Yer I had fish tanks they doing well I was very clean one year I started seen little tiny things moving arthey eating dead fish and all my snails and baby's died so I have to throw out the black pepples to keep fish safe
Some of those IDs aren't accurate, those things in your bucket arent seed shrimp but mosquito pupas...
Any advice on bugs that accumulate outside the tank? I’ve been finding these tiny dark brown round bugs on the sides of my hang on back filter. I’m afraid of poisoning them because I don’t want them to fall in my tank and contaminate the water. I’ve only ever seen these bugs on or around my tank/filter. They won’t go away though. I’ve cleaned my filter multiple times washing them all off, only to find more a few days later. Is this something I should mention to my landlord? Lol
I found something in my aquarium substrate that looks like a white little ant, spider or flea. It definitely has legs but it’s very hard to make out with the naked eye. Very small! Anyone have any idea what this might be? It’s crawling around the substrate. I’ve only seen the one so far but I assume there are more.
Hey, I need help, I’ve just found out that my betta tank is filled with little white bugs swimming around the water, is hard to see with the naked eye. I just want to know if they are harmful to my fish and how could I remove them?
Matthew - they likely aren't harmful. The only critter I know that is harmful is the hydra. They could get invasive, though, which would be a worst case. I'm not sure what they might be without seeing them, but you can try removing them with a fine net, if they are just in the water column. Detrius worms and other critters can breed more and become invasive if there is a lot of left over uneaten food, detrius, or other organics breaking down in the tank. I'm not a huge fan of introducing chemicals/medication to kill them off, as that could stress your betta. I would do some extra water changes - maybe 2 a week, 20%, and keep that routine going for awhile. Make sure there isn't any left over food around the substrate - sometimes when we increase our husbandry, their populations thin out. If that doesn't work, you could try Prazi Pro from Hikari (safest way to go) or General Cure from API. The Praziquantel in both may get the little critters, but of the two, my first try would be Prazi Pro. Hope that helps a little!
dmichaels fish den Thanks for the reply, very useful. I’ve been looking for information about it and didn’t found, and for a moment I was worried for my betta. I will try my best to get rid of them, without hurting my betta ofc.
is there any way to get rid of them? i have tiny white bugs that look sort of like the seed shrimp, but are no bigger than a pin head & keep coming back even after replacing the water & substrate. my tank does sit in a window & algae has been a problem that i manage with an algae magnet but i cant seem to get these bugs under control. id rather not have them at all