Weird white "dots" inmy invert tank! WTF?!?

The Zigman

The Zigman

Here fishy fishy fishy!!!
Oct 5, 2007
5,249
7
62
Near Chicago, Il.
www.uglymuggs.com
Calling all inverts!!
So I see that one of my remianing 2 sulawesi spongecoli shrimp was dead this morning.. the body was covered with tiny white dots that were jumping about. It apeared as though they were eating the corpse...

I first saw these things after I dropped a Hirakari (SP) algae wafer in the tank, and the next day, the wafer was there, and so were these things...

I have seen them in my cherry shrimp tank also..What are they?
Are they killing my shrimp?


Would try to get a picture, but the are very small..
they crawl into the pores of my sponge filter...


:mad2::help::eek3:
 
Shrimp don't eat them, but fish do. They are not at all uncommon in invert tanks unfortunately. I have never had them harm any of my critters.
 
they come from excess food/mulm in teh substrate, not sure how they magically appear the way they do to be honest. Nopthalmus would know the answer. They could be scuds or copepods of sorts, not sure exactly but I am pretty sure I know exactly what you are talking about. When I notice them, I do several gravel vacs in a row with reduced feedings and they seem to go away.
 
They're just one of those things that appear when there's excess food, like planaria et al. They do tend to pop up in invert-only tanks, since nothing predates on them, and they have a lot to feed on.
 
They are indeed copepods. They actually are a sign of very clean water and will not tolerate any pollutants. They are indeed harmless and feed on the same thing shrimp do for the most part bio film... I have them in all my shrimp tanks and as long as the tank is healthy with lots of bio film and no fish to eat them they will be there. They will also increase their population with overfeeding, but will also be present when not....



Cheers, Bill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom