# What are these???



## LondonDragon (8 Oct 2008)

How do I get rid of them? They are in my shrimp only tank, at first I could see the odd one or two but now there are hundreds, they are not snails and swim about very fast.












They are very tiny, thats the Fissedens Fontanus moss.

Thanks


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## jay (8 Oct 2008)

Ewwwww!!! Some sort of mite. Get a fish from another tank and see if it hoovers them up.


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## LondonDragon (8 Oct 2008)

jay said:
			
		

> Ewwwww!!! Some sort of mite. Get a fish from another tank and see if it hoovers them up.


Can't do that, fish will hoover up my shrimplets too lol


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## Tom (8 Oct 2008)

Are they not little snails?


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## LondonDragon (8 Oct 2008)

Tom said:
			
		

> Are they not little snails?


Nope they swim about very fast, but there are lots of little snails in there too, but these little things I have no idea what they are!


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## Tom (8 Oct 2008)

Ooooh. You named any yet?


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## LondonDragon (8 Oct 2008)

Tom said:
			
		

> Ooooh. You named any yet?


I am sure there is a Tom in there somewhere 

Here a crappy video:


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## Tom (8 Oct 2008)

Mmm don't know what they are then. A dwarf cichlid or something would probably control them, but might go for small shrimp. I know it was already suggested...


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## aaronnorth (8 Oct 2008)

that vid makes it look as though some abnormally large shrimp come in and attacked them


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## Carphunter57 (8 Oct 2008)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnia

is it these fellas?


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## vauxhallmark (8 Oct 2008)

Carphunter57 said:
			
		

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnia
> 
> is it these fellas?



Beat me to it


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## Ed Seeley (8 Oct 2008)

They're Ostracods Paulo.  Otherwise known as seed shrimp.  At least they look like it in the photo.


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## LondonDragon (8 Oct 2008)

Carphunter57 said:
			
		

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnia
> is it these fellas?


Looks very much like it!!! Are these harmfull in anyway? thanks


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## Steve Smith (8 Oct 2008)

You never know, you might be able to cultivate them as fry food


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## LondonDragon (8 Oct 2008)

Ed Seeley said:
			
		

> They're Ostracods Paulo.  Otherwise known as seed shrimp.  At least they look like it in the photo.


Thanks Ed, also very similar to these  they seem to live well with the shrimp and leave them alone, just worried they will multiply beyond control, what if I had some Ottos, I heard that they are shrimp safe??


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## the Guru! (9 Oct 2008)

I had some in my tank, but they dissapeared... guessin' the fish sorted them out


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## aaronnorth (9 Oct 2008)

i was going to say daphnia but i didnt think they were like that


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## a1Matt (9 Oct 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> what if I had some Ottos, I heard that they are shrimp safe??



Ottos are shrimp safe, as they are vegetarians.  Which also means they will probably not eat the Ostro wotsits either


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## Thomas McMillan (9 Oct 2008)

Maybe get a really small fish like an ember tetra or dwarf rasbora just for the time being to see if they sort it out? I'm sure they're shrimp safe.


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## Dusko (9 Oct 2008)

Ostracod   Harmless-
I keep Boraras maculatus with RCS and never have observed them attacking the shrimplets.

Regards, Dusko


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## LondonDragon (9 Oct 2008)

I will have to keep an eye on it, they are all over the fissedens at the moment so I might just grab it all off the substrate with a net and put it in the main tank, that will clear them out in no time I am sure hehe 

Thanks for the info everyone


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## Ed Seeley (9 Oct 2008)

They're completely harmless and are very good at surviving.  Their eggs survive dessication so they6 can appear to spontaneously arrive in new tanks.  I have them in little containers of moss and they must have been transferred somehow from one to another.

On shrimp safe fish that'd eat them; my _Pseudomugil gertrudae_ and _Biotoecus_ sp.'Tapajos' didn't seem to affect my shrimp population at all.  However since adding _Aphyosemion bivitattum_ 'Funge' killifish and _Apistogramma agasizzi_ 'Double Red' I have seen a lot less shrimp!  Mine are pretty small Rainbow shrimp though.


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## a1Matt (9 Oct 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> I will have to keep an eye on it, they are all over the fissedens at the moment so I might just grab it all off the substrate with a net and put it in the main tank, that will clear them out in no time I am sure hehe
> 
> Thanks for the info everyone



This made me chuckle... 

First move the moss into the shrimp tank to clean the algae.
Then move it back to the main tank to remove the Ostrocods.

Brilliant thinking  :idea:


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## Themuleous (21 Oct 2008)

Some kind of water flea was my thought, strange shape though.

Sam


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## tko187 (10 Dec 2009)

Did you find out how to get rid of these guys!! I was watching them today having a laugh at them swimming around getting pushed around in the flow!! Do they eat plants that is the question??


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## dw1305 (11 Dec 2009)

Hi all,
As Ed says they are completely harmless, basically they are a "Daphnia in a shell". They are detrivores, feeding on dead organic matter and are very easy to culture (just in a jar with some dead plant leaves). I've found that my tetras and particularly Dwarf Cichlids really like them, and will hunt them down before starting on the Daphnia.
cheers Darrel


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## Mortis (13 Dec 2009)

I have the same guys in my tank. I dont know what they are and how to get rid of them. I tried not feeding my tetras for a few days to see if they eat them but either they dont like them or there are just too many of the critters. I cant nuke the tank with some anti crustacean/invert treatment because I just discovered lots of little shrimplets in the tank a week ago and I dont want them to die 

I think Ill wait till the shrimp are bigger, remove as many as I can and then add some copper sulphate. Would this harm neons or the plants in any way ?


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## dw1305 (14 Dec 2009)

Hi all,
Mortis if you want to reduce the number of them, just remove as much of the decaying plant material as possible, and their number will decline. Personally I wouldn't ever use a biocide like Copper in an aquarium, but that would kill them off. 
Try and look at them as part of a healthy aquarium ecosystem, if you suddenly have lots of them, there is a reason.
cheers Darrel


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## mattyc (24 Dec 2009)

I have these in my tank they dont bother the shrimp or the fish. they live under my hc along with tiny shrimp. i have harlequins and ottos in my tank with them and thredfin rainbows and ottos in my other tank and i have no problems with my shrimp population of CRS or Cherries in either tank.


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