# Small flies and worms in DSM



## herezor (22 Oct 2015)

Hi

I am in my 7th week of a DSM with Eleocharis sp mini. In the past 1-2 weeks I have started to see really small flies (about 4-5 of about 1 mm or less in size) flying around inside the tank.

Yesterday I saw a really small worm (not an earthworm) on top of a dead leaf of eleocharis. Kind of larvae. I guess it was feeding on it. I do have some brown leaves because the in vitro portions I purchased on the web were not 100% healthy and I did not remove dead leaves before planting them. New growth is fine and, although it took some time, I am starting to see new leaves from runners everyday, so everything goes fine.

Does anyone know what those flies might be?. I assume they are not dangerous to the plants as the worm seem to feed on dead matter. I also guess the worm is the larvae form of the flies.

To give you a better picture, I must say that tank is closed (saran wrap) and humidity is kept at around 85-95% (hygrometer inside). Temp is aroun 22-24 ºC. I open the tank everyday for about 1 h and spray (tap water) everyday a little. No puddles. Substrate is ADA Aquasoil. Lights are 3x12W dowlight LED bulbs (52xSMD 2835 LEDs each) for a 60x30x45 cm tank on for 14h. I know plants don´t give a s*** about lumens but they yield, theoretically 1180 lm each bulb (just to give you an idea of the lighting).

I tried to get some pictures, but flies and worm were so small that were hard to see (actually impossible)

Cheers

Pedro


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## dw1305 (22 Oct 2015)

Hi all, 





herezor said:


> Does anyone know what those flies might be?. I assume they are not dangerous to the plants as the worm seem to feed on dead matter. I also guess the worm is the larvae form of the flies.


 Have a look at <"Sciarid Flies">.

cheers Darrel


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## herezor (22 Oct 2015)

Thanks Darrel. They look like those, but smaller (1 mm max), so I guess you´re right ( and also was I supposing what I did). Reading your link, they do not seem dangerous to well stablished plants. So I do not worry (actually I wasn´t)

Thanks a lot

Pedro


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## dw1305 (22 Oct 2015)

Hi all, 





herezor said:


> So I do not worry


 I just ignore them.

cheers Darrel


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