tons of little flies in my 55gal!!!

[crimsonmoon]

the one inch per gallon rule is not a reliable or accurate method to stock an aquarium with, i wouldn't follow it.
have you introduced any rock or plants from a local river or body of water lately?
i have had something similar to this happen to me after introducing a beautiful piece of driftwood to my tank from a local river, and the flies must have had eggs in it. they hatched and would kind of touch down on the surface of the water at times and hop off into the air between the tank lid and the water surface. they never fouled my water or harmed fish, they were just pesky little annoyances
the pictures of yours look like dead mosquitoes but im not sure about your description of the larvae. do you notice and jerky, skinny worms near the surface of the water (in the water, beneath the surface)

 

[Sigrid]

Okay,
...here comes my domestic engineering suggestion:
1. If you live in snow country, you brought some flies along with veggies or fruit from the grocery store - my humble opinion.
2. If you live in sun-parched country, then some unknown fly=beast has come in thru your windows or doors. Unknown fly=beasts I am not acquainted with.
***
Now the suggestion:
3. First of all try cleaning up the walls of the tank and make a water change.
4. Then, grab your small/med. size net and swoom down onto the creatures pushing them under water.

Perhaps your fish will stand by with knife and fork to have fresh meat for din-din.
Don't laugh, it was just a suggestion. Domestic engineers work in strange ways, BUT they work.
Happy hunting

 

[ufvj217]

the one inch per gallon rule is not a reliable or accurate method to stock an aquarium with, i wouldn't follow it.
have you introduced any rock or plants from a local river or body of water lately?
i have had something similar to this happen to me after introducing a beautiful piece of driftwood to my tank from a local river, and the flies must have had eggs in it. they hatched and would kind of touch down on the surface of the water at times and hop off into the air between the tank lid and the water surface. they never fouled my water or harmed fish, they were just pesky little annoyances
the pictures of yours look like dead mosquitoes but im not sure about your description of the larvae. do you notice and jerky, skinny worms near the surface of the water (in the water, beneath the surface)

nope, all my rocks i bought at a local rock/cement warehouse, which i've had in the tank since the start with no issues (cleaned them ALOT before putting them in the water)

im not sure what the stuff on the inside of the glass is. its nasty brown algae looking stuff, but ALOT of it. and i see alot of squiggly little brown lines, i never see them moving, but ive never seen them in my tank before the flies started appearing, so i dont know what they are. i couldnt get a good pic becuase of the reflection on the outside of the glass, etc.

Okay,
...here comes my domestic engineering suggestion:
1. If you live in snow country, you brought some flies along with veggies or fruit from the grocery store - my humble opinion.
2. If you live in sun-parched country, then some unknown fly=beast has come in thru your windows or doors. Unknown fly=beasts I am not acquainted with.
***
Now the suggestion:
3. First of all try cleaning up the walls of the tank and make a water change.
4. Then, grab your small/med. size net and swoom down onto the creatures pushing them under water.

Perhaps your fish will stand by with knife and fork to have fresh meat for din-din.
Don't laugh, it was just a suggestion. Domestic engineers work in strange ways, BUT they work.
Happy hunting

im going to deffinently clean the walls today, and drain as much water as i can and refill it. im going to also hose down the lids outside and scrub them and let them dry in the sun before putting them back on, as well as get new filters and boil the plastic pieces on the pumps in water, ive heard thatll kill anything living/breeding in it.

between the rocks, gravel, and 25% old water left in there, there should be enough bacteria to make up for me cleaning the pumps completely off i think. hopefully this, plus a few water changes will get rid of these things!

 

[Star_Rider]

they look like tiny mosquitos?
if they do and they don't bite could be midges(chironomidae) a bit of a bother but usually harmless..the larvae are bloodworms..check your substrate look for tiny worm like critters..if you have detritus or mulm you may find them there

 

[ufvj217]

well, i did a 75% water change the other day and bought new filters for inside my pumps, water is really clean now, doesnt smell, inside walls of the tank is clean so far, and flies are minimal. the next monring, there was only a few flying around the top, there was some on the wall behind my tank, i quickly grabbed a towel and killed those, so they slowly seem to be eliminating. i do have my lids off for right now, i cleaned them, but im leaving them off for a while until i can get rid of every fly. all seems to be good now, and the fish are out in the open more now, so im sure they're a lot happier now too lol