The Puffer Forum

In my 20g tall downstairs i noticed a small army of little tick like bugs and they are a milky white color and are approximately the size of this star thing * they are not flatworms ( i am a fully licensed wood destroying pest inspector (but specialize in termites)) so i know the difference between bugs slugs and other horrors. my cam is out of batteries but i found a youtube vid which is the closest representation of what i am seeing if it isint those things themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSBhLqoi1d0

its like my fungus gnatt problems got moved over to my tanks. im especially worried as i took a good amount of taiwanese moss from the 20g tank and put it into both my 40 breeder and puffer tank =0

i looked on this forum and found nothing so i am hoping for any help

do a quick search for cyclops

Looks like water fleas.

J-P wrote:do a quick search for cyclops

i did and i couldnt find anything definitive.

FADE2BLACK_1973 wrote:Looks like water fleas.

same as abve, i count find anything definitive as to what they are exactly and whether or not they are harmful.


I have a handful of different crustacean names, yet no photos or vids to verify exactly or even closely. although i have had a handful of fish deaths in the 20g. and the water params are near perfect with 0 ammonia/nitrites and less than 5ppm nitrates

Have you siphoned then out? I'd do a thorough gravel cleaning.

see if you can't take a magnifying glass and then get a photo.

Pufferpunk wrote:Have you siphoned then out? I'd do a thorough gravel cleaning.

i'll be doing 25% -55% water changing over the next 2-3 weeks...every 3-4 days.

J-P wrote:see if you can't take a magnifying glass and then get a photo.

i'll try that. but if i can get my digital cam charged then youll have some interesting pics but until then the youtube vid is the closest thing to what i have

I wonder is some type of loach would rid of them?

If the tank is uninhabited, add a few guppies. Or if you breed any fish, young Cichlid fry will likely clean them up. Small loaches could also do the job, as would a Singapore Shrimp if there is a decent current in the tank, but they do need current.

RTR, what are they?

Too small for me to see, but certainly naked-eye visible, so could be daphnia/cyclops/copepod/ any other large infuorian/small crustacean. I can see the motion but no detail. It would take a high-resolution macro shot for me to see them, and that itself is not easy for something that jumpy even with my wife's cameras.

I had some daphnia like creatures that were pretty harmless once. Like stated by RTR my guppies seemed to love eating them.

RTR wrote:If the tank is uninhabited, add a few guppies. Or if you breed any fish, young Cichlid fry will likely clean them up. Small loaches could also do the job, as would a Singapore Shrimp if there is a decent current in the tank, but they do need current.

the tank has 3 neon tetras, 3 cardinal tetras, 3 bloodfin tetras and 3 otos and 1 julii cory (i need to get 2 more for the schooling)