Ack! Small crawly things...

[hurricanejedi]

I don't have fish yet but there is definitely something living in my tank. They are itty bitty, too small for a decent picture (they hang out on the back wall). They are small and move really fast, zippy and jumpy sort of, and white. They definitely crawl on the glass. Are they dangerous to fish? Or will the fish eat them? I only turn the lights on a minute or two everyday, just to see the tank..

I have recently added malaysian driftwood and coral. I rinsed the coral, did I not do it well enough? I boiled most of the driftwood and the pieces too big I put in the hottest my shower would go for an hour.

What are they?

 

[grimm87]

water fleas??

 

[mishi8]

Could be a type of copepod. I see them in my tank. The bigger females, with egg sacs, can be a little easier to see. The fish like to eat them.

 

[kuzikan]

I know this is off the subject, but that is a beautiful bengal. Is he/she yours? If he/she is, where did you get one. I have always wanted one since I found out about them.
Anyways... I have had those small bugs in your aqarium. They are of no harm and are good protien for your fish. I have no idea how they get up in the aqarium or even where they come from in the first place, but it's nothing to worry about.

 

[hurricanejedi]

I'm so glad to hear they will just be food! I just wanted to make sure they wouldn't be parasitic.

Yah that girl is Mika. I got her from Lakewood bengals in NC and Lakewood is helping me get started with breeding. Mika is expecting her first litter in early April and the father is Lakewood Yogi who we are currently housing for the time being as well. She's an F3 so her kittens, being F4, will be the first generation of her line allowed to show. My cattery name is Solarity and I'm registered with The International Cat Association (TICA) and The International Bengal Breeders Association (TIBBA).

 

[mishi8]

I'm so glad to hear they will just be food! I just wanted to make sure they wouldn't be parasitic.

Can't guarantee that they won't be parasitic. There are some that are. Mine seemed to show up after a bout of treating for internal parasites. I fed medicated frozen mysis shrimp, and think that the copepods came in with the food. I also have some small white worms in the water column. The fish like to eat those too. Keeping the substrate clean will keep their numbers down, if not erradicate them.

 

[hurricanejedi]

I saw one swim up the water. It was sort of like it was jumping up teh water as it had halting starts...so hard to describe. I think it might have had a little threadlike tail too. These guys are really tiny though. What are water fleas? They are maybe a little smaller than a regular flea...

I looked up the description of a copepod and it sounds like that is it. Freeswimming "jerky motions" describes it well. My coral came with some kind of "pod" the fish guy told me if I had a saltwater aquarium there were all kinds of goodies in there (can't remember exactly what they were, but they were bigger than what I'm seeing) but I didn't think anything would survive into the freshwater tank.

If they were parasitic then they shouldn't have survived a couple weeks of my fishless cycle right? I'm suspecting these guys, as freeswimmers, will likely be food...hopefully.

 

[mishi8]

If they were parasitic then they shouldn't have survived a couple weeks of my fishless cycle right? I'm suspecting these guys, as freeswimmers, will likely be food...hopefully.

The fish seem to enjoy hunting them down too...quite entertaining to watch.

 

[hurricanejedi]

I read that if I can see them that I probably have a lot of them. I don't really see a lot but I know that dosen't mean anything. I kind of like the idea that I will have live food for my fish. The question is will the fish likely eradicate them in a short amoutn of time or do they tend to thrive even with occupants? (ie. do you seed your tanks often to keep your population there?)

 

[aklaum]

This is probably a dumb question but the LFS guy didn't sell you a live coral did he?