green gnats in my aquarium?

[liverleef]

I tried searching the forum for this subject but could not find anything so sorry if this has been gone over before. I have a 55 gal aquarium housing 3 african clawed frog, 2 small pacu, 1 small pleco and 2 small snails. I have a DIY background constructed out of polystyrene, cement, epoxy and sand. There are no live plants, all plastic. The aquarium does catch a good deal of sun and has some brown algae on the background. It was established several months ago and seems to be doing fine.

I perform a 50% water change every week, treating the water and vacuum the bottom of the tank pretty well. My house is clean no flying insects around or anything.

Last week I went on vacation, I had the neighbor come by and feed my dog and feed my aquarium pets. When I came back and started to clean the tank I noticed there were tiny green insects floating on the surface. They looked like green gnats, they had wings. I didnt see anything flying around, they were just on the surface. Im not sure if maybe the neighbor forgot to feed my fish and that caused a problem or what. Also the tank went 2 weeks without a water change because of my vacation. If anyone can clue me in as to what these things are and how I can get rid of them I would appreciate it.

 

[kyryah]

I apologize that this is not answering the original questions, but the stocking in your tank is a disaster waiting to happen. The pacu need HUNDREDS of gallons EACH, and a 55 is not large enough for a pleco, if it is a common. You need a 300 gallon tank at least for that combination of fish.

The pacus will eventually get large enough that they will eat the clawed frogs.

Kristina

 

[liverleef]

kyryah, thanks for the post and I'm aware of the pacus potential for growth. The pacu are small now but eventually I guess I'll have to sell them on craigslist. Funny you should say that though, I had told my kids we would have to get rid of the pacu eventually because they'll get big. They didn't believe me. Then last week we went to the aquarium and saw some pacu that were as big as my kids! As far as the pleco, its a bristlenose pleco. I thought they didnt get that big.

 

[kyryah]

Good that you know My five year old is quite the avid little fishkeeper, so far we have gone through two tank upgrades and I just bought her a 25 gallon this morning (she started with a ten.) We were at the store one day and she asked me for a pacu. I told her how large they got and that their nick-name was "tank-busters" and her eyes got wide and she just walked away, lol.

You are correct on the bristle nose, but they stay small enough that I would worry about both the pacus and the ACFs eating it. Back in the day when I did not know any better, I had two ADFs with a black belly pacu. The larger ADF ate the smaller ADF and then the Pacu ate the big ADF. Whoops, major lesson learned.

The other problem with keeping them in a smaller tank is that it can stunt their growth, and the tank can get very dirty very quickly. A 50% water change would be adequate for most tank stockings, but with fish of the nature of pacus they can foul the water pretty quickly. Performing more water changes will help with that, but will also help the pacus to grow faster because they will be healthier. It is really a no win situation, and you are better to rehome them sooner rather than later. When a fish is stunted the outside of the body no longer grows, but the organs do and it eventually shortens their lifespan and leads to a horrible death.

I am still sorry that I cannot help with the initial question, and I feel bad for "hijacking" your thread, but perhaps it would be in your best interest to rehome the pacus in the very near future. Perhaps two silver dollars as a replacement? They look similar but do not attain the same size, 6-7 inches each.

Try doing a water change and see if that gets rid of the gnats.

Kristina

 

[TookayS2K]

Any updates of this problem? I have the same exact "green gnats" in my tank. I scoop them with my net but they always seem to come back in a day or two. They are VERY small, 3 legs on each side and their main body is green.

I've seen their larvae as well. They are pretty clear and they wiggle around on the top of the water. I only see 1 or 2 of them when I'm scooping the gnats out. This has been going on for about 2-3 weeks.

 

[SubRosa]

You say you don't have any flying insects in your house. It's a fact that at one point you had at least one female who laid eggs in your tank! Surprised the fish didn't eat them all.

 

[ghinksmon]

TookayS2k,

Are you feeding your fish any live foods that can be introducing larvae or eggs? Are you confident that these bugs aren't regularly found around and it's coincidental that they're in the tank?

 

[TookayS2K]

TookayS2k,

Are you feeding your fish any live foods that can be introducing larvae or eggs? Are you confident that these bugs aren't regularly found around and it's coincidental that they're in the tank?

I hardly ever feed any live foods. Rosy reds once, crickets once.

They are still in my tank now! It's been over a month. I can scoop the gnats out at night and in the morning there are back. There's definitely a good 15 of them everytime I check.. but they just float on the water.

I even scoop the larvae out when I see them. They move around rapidly under the surface of the water. They look like mini worms the size of a thread.

I wish they were a little bigger so my arowana could eat them all up!

 

[TookayS2K]

Anybody? I'm still scooping everyday. There are just more and more eveyrtime I check...

 

[KarlTh]

What do the larvae look like? Wingless versions of the adults or are they like grubs?