Bugs you might encounter in your aquarium

[zozo]

to the point where I thought some kind of small fish had hitchiked in.

Yes, they do indeed swim very fish-like... I occasionally get one in the tank with feeding Daphnia i culture outdoor.
First time i saw it i thought the Oto's had fry... 🙂 But it was a D fly larva.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

It's white/pale green (looks a little like a lacewing only underwater and wingless) with three or four fins on its tail and it moves fast and way more fluidly than the shrimp,

Sounds like it may be a Damselfly nymph, they are ambush predators and don't tend to swim very much, but they sort of flex from side to side.



It might be a <"swimming mayfly nymph (Baetidae)">, they are pretty rapid, but normally small and dark.

cheers Darrel

 

[PotteryWalrus]

Yeah, that's it! That's it exactly! I guess I got a weird colour morph lol XDD

 

[Mikljd]

why did i open this thread

I hate bugs like these...I had a damsel fly larvae nymph thing in my big tank once before, did not like it one bit haha

Me too almost put me off 🙂 altogether lol

 

[MattC]

Isn’t copper just toxic to invertebrates. At least it is for marine tanks. Expect same to be true. So if you’re keeping shrimp etc isn’t this method a not so good idea?

The removal of hydra thingy

It won’t work with steel as the degradation of copper is what makes the circuit and puts copper into solution. Possibly using a copper based treatment of some sort would do something similar.

 

[Wookii]

I wonder if anyone can help me ID these bugs I found in my low tech tank this evening.

The first are a flatworm of some sort - I’m wondering if the angular head means they are Planarian?:




The second looks like a small crustacean or beetle. They can scurry around really fast, but don’t seem to be able to free-swim:

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Definitely a Planarian, looks like it might be close to Girardia (Dugesia) tigrina, because of the eye spots. The <"second one is an Ostracod">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Wookii]

Hi all,
Definitely a Planarian, looks like it might be close to Girardia (Dugesia) tigrina, because of the eye spots. The <"second one is an Ostracod">.

cheers Darrel

Thanks Darrel.

So the Planaria need to go I assume - so Panacur at the ready.

I can’t find much information on the Ostracods and their desirability or otherwise in an aquarium - I’m all for having as much variety in fauna as possible, so are they a valuable member of the clean up crew, and of no threat to my shrimp?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

on the Ostracods and their desirability or otherwise in an aquarium

Entirely harmless, some fish eat them, and they tend to come and go in abundance. They are basically a Daphnia, <"surrounded by a hard carapace">.

They are really common in freshwater, even in big puddles.

cheers Darrel

 

[Wookii]

Another ID I’m hoping you knowledgable folks can help with. I was very kindly given the below ‘scuds’ by @Ash_bash - can anyone assist with a more specific ID. I assume they are a species of Gammarus, but they only appear to grow to about 5mm, and they are not side swimmers, swimming upright like typical cherry shrimp do:




The internet is typically littered with horror stories of them killing baby shrimp and out competing everything else in the tank for food etc. I assume these are typical fish keeping myths?

 

[Ash_bash]

Hi wookie, I trawled my eBay and found the old listing I brought it from! Hope this helps 50 Live Food~Gammarus Shrimp~Tropical~Turtle~Terrapin~Axolotl~Frogs~Fry~Goldfish | eBay

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Another ID I’m hoping you knowledgable folks can help with

I'm not at all sure.

but they only appear to grow to about 5mm, and they are not side swimmers, swimming upright like typical cherry shrimp do:

Makes them sound like Crangonyx pseudogracilis. You need to look at their <"urosome"> for a definitive ID.

Hi wookie, I trawled my eBay and found the old listing I brought it from! Hope this helps 50 Live Food~Gammarus Shrimp~Tropical~Turtle~Terrapin~Axolotl~Frogs~Fry~Goldfish | eBay

I think the spikes on the urosome make <"Hyalella azteca"> a likely ID (from @Ash_bash's link).


By Scott Bauer - This image is uploaded as image number 3579 at Tree of Life Web Project (tolweb.org).This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, File:Hyalella azteca 2.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

cheers Darrel

 

[Jan szewczyk]

Enjoyed this article

 

[PARAGUAY]

Enjoyed this article

You could take a small net find your local canal ,stream or pond scoop out a net full were there is duckweed and lay it out in a shallow tray . You be amazed amount of critters to observe. Its great fun when out with kids

 

[Wookii]

I’ve got another ID request for the group. I’ve never seen these worms in my tank until today when I tore it down and disturbed the sand border at the front. Usual questions, what are they? And can they harm my fish or plants?

 

[MirandaB]

Don't know the species but they're commonly called detritus worms,nothing to worry about and all part of the ecosystem in your tank.
Fish will eat them if they get the chance 🙂

 

[Wookii]

Don't know the species but they're commonly called detritus worms,nothing to worry about and all part of the ecosystem in your tank.
Fish will eat them if they get the chance 🙂

Thanks Miranda, I was amazed by how many there were given I've never ever seen one in the tank before - I guess as you say, as soon as one tries to swim off it's going to get gobbled up. As long as they're not a problem, I'll happily add them back into the rescape.

 

[ScareCrow]

I was seeing if there was any live food harvesting potential in my water butt today and noticed the organism below. This is the best shot I could get with a hand held macro and my phone, so sorry it's not clearer. They are 4-5mm long and seem to have a pointed head that is a darker colour and narrower than the body (red arrow indicates what I think is the head). When disturbed they curl into a circle then stay still. There are quite a few across the bottom of my water butt.
Does anyone know what it might be and most importantly can I safely feed it to my fish?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

They are 4-5mm long and seem to have a pointed head that is a darker colour and narrower than the body (red arrow indicates what I think is the head). When disturbed they curl into a circle then stay still. There are quite a few across the bottom of my water butt.

They are another type of midge larvae and yes the fish will eat them.

cheers Darrel

 

[ScareCrow]

Hi all,

They are another type of midge larvae and yes the fish will eat them.

cheers Darrel

Great, thanks Darrel