Strange critters found

Cristy Keister · Post by **Cristy Keister** » Sun May 16, 2004 10:26 pm

Hi
I just found a bunch of unidentified little creatures in my fishless 30g.

Critter 1 looks like a cross between a shrimp, daphnia and an insect. They are 2mm max with some just big enough to be visible. They're clear/white, they swim and crawl over substrate.
Critter 2 is some type of worm (I think), 2-3mm long, swims by convulsing its body.
Critter 3 looks like a bubble stuck to the glass with whitish innards.

There's a couple places they could have come from. First guess is from the beached driftwood I had soaking in the tank briefly. Second guess would be from plants (I wouldn't put anything past Sean's plants since I found a leech in one of his tanks! <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley11.gif" border="0"> )

But I wonder now if I need to break down the tank and clean it out? I did have a small guppy in there that dissappeared after a few days.

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:54 am

It's all fish food. When you stock the tank those little critters will get gobbled up.

There are at least 3 leeches in that tank, they came from the giant hairgrass pots. Also found a bunch of little planktonic crustaceans in there and some other annelid worms. Hey, it is what is in every lake, stream, and pond around here. <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0">

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Mon May 17, 2004 9:01 am

Congratulations! You have an invert tank! <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0">

In fishless tanks you are most likely to see such critters, but I believe that they are all but universal, especially in planted tanks. The fish tend to prey on such (depending upon the particular critters and the particular fish), so they are less seen but commonly still present in some numbers in most tanks.

Critter 1 sounds like a copepod/ostracod/some type of small crustacean and is likely to be good fishfood.

Critter 2 sounds a bit nematode worm-like. Sine-wave motion in swimming? Call it a nematode. Major invert group in soils, aquatic environments - the real world. In tanks excessive numbers usually mean excessive organics in the substrate from overfeeding, otherwise IMHO full normal fauna.

Critter 3 I have no clue, but as long as it is not a hydra, and if it is still no problem unless the tank is to be used for small fry or fed baby brine shrimp. Could it be a FW non-spiraled snail? Go to http://www.applesnail.net/
Click on "Various" from the left-hand menu, then click on "Other Freshwater Snails" from the thumbnails. These beasts are the first listed in the summary, then the first pictured below.

Enjoy the exposure to a commonly unseen part of the the underwater world. <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0">

Cristy Keister · Post by **Cristy Keister** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:15 pm

Hmmm... Perhaps I should start feeding them and harvesting to feed fish. Live foods are the best! Makes better use of an empty tank, anyway.

Rick Dotson · Post by **Rick Dotson** » Mon May 17, 2004 10:34 pm

Sounds like number 1 is a "scud". There are a large number of shrimp like animals that can attach to live plants and thrive in a tank without fish. They usually feed on bacteria and micro-organisms. I have a book on live fishfood that you can borrow is you want.

If you could catch several of them I would like to try to culture them as well.

Rick

Cristy Keister · Post by **Cristy Keister** » Tue May 18, 2004 4:07 am

I'll see what I can do. The adult size are FAST swimmers! I only saw a bunch of them when I did a water change and they were pushed out in the open. I probably sucked up a ton of them before I knew they were there - changed almost all the water.

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:11 am

I've got a bunch of scuds in with the leaches Rick.

Strange critters found

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