SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I have seen these before in my tank but NEVER this many. When i tell you they are all over the glass.... THEY ARE. These are the same insects i found on the dead guppy a few weeks back. However i dont think they caused the death. They where just feeding of it. Anyways what are they and how do i get rid of them, are they fish and shrimp safe?? It also may be worth mentioning that these where not all here 3 hours ago. They may have been hiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) Are we sure they are not baby MTS? I feel like your fish would show interest to eat them if they were insects. Edited January 23, 2023 by Lennie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Look a bit like small trumpet snails. They often hitch a ride on plants... if they are snails then they certainly are not bugs unless well the classification of such things has been turned upside down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) On 1/23/2023 at 8:28 PM, anewbie said: Look a bit like small trumpet snails. They often hitch a ride on plants... if they are snails then they certainly are not bugs unless well the classification of such things has been turned upside down. On 1/23/2023 at 8:18 PM, Lennie said: Are we sure they are not baby MTS? I feel like your fish would show interest to eat them if they were insects. i dont think they are snails... AT ALL. ive seen some of these swimming and jumping , they are definatley not snails. atleast not all of them. this tank is "snail free" from what im aware @anewbie @Lennie they also appear to have antenas of a sort? or possibly a tail. they are so small i cant even tell Edited January 23, 2023 by SC Fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Idk, they seem like baby MTS to me still. They let themself float on the top of the water and drop themself to the substrate again, a lot of the time. MTS usually hides during the day and are active during the night. I think this is more valid for adults and I keep seing babies awake during the day. They are usually a good clean up crew, and helps to turn the substrate over and helps with a planted tank. They seem like a new born babies, there is probably adults in the substrate but you have never noticed them as they probably only wake up when you are sleeping 🙂 They are by no means bad. They were even helping to clean up your dead fish probably and keep the water parameters at a healthy level. The only reason why people don't like them is bcoz they can increase their population super easily, as long as there is food. And food is, well, fish poop, algae, dead plant matter, fish food, etc. So you gotta be careful with overfeeding and keeping up with maintenance well to prevent population explosion. They wont harm shrimp, but generally shrimp eat slowly, so they will have an opportunity to get lots of food from them. If they are not MTS, then idk. But once they are newborn, they are really, I mean really tiny. And that makes it hard to understand what they really are. I didnt notice that I have a MTS population, until one day I've seen an adult burried in my tank in the size of a baby rabbit snail. Lol. They are very nocturnal @beastie what do you think? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 8:46 PM, Lennie said: Idk, they seem like baby MTS to me still. They let themself float on the top of the water and drop themself to the substrate again, a lot of the time. MTS usually hides during the day and are active during the night. I think this is more valid for adults and I keep seing babies awake during the day. They are usually a good clean up crew, and helps to turn the substrate over and helps with a planted tank. They seem like a new born babies, there is probably adults in the substrate but you have never noticed them as they probably only wake up when you are sleeping 🙂 They are by no means bad. They were even helping to clean up your dead fish probably and keep the water parameters at a healthy level. The only reason why people don't like them is bcoz they can increase their population super easily, as long as there is food. And food is, well, fish poop, algae, dead plant matter, fish food, etc. So you gotta be careful with overfeeding and keeping up with maintenance well to prevent population explosion. They wont harm shrimp, but generally shrimp eat slowly, so they will have an opportunity to get lots of food from them. If they are not MTS, then idk. But once they are newborn, they are really, I mean really tiny. And that makes it hard to understand what they really are. I didnt notice that I have a MTS population, until one day I've seen an adult burried in my tank in the size of a baby rabbit snail. Lol. They are very nocturnal perfectly understandable , i mean it makes sense because i never see them at day, just at night . however they dont just drop themselves, i see some of them move FAST like they are sprinting or something in one direction ,only a few millimetres most the time, but i dont know if baby MTS can do that , im pretty sure they cant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) Maybe ostracods or cyclops. I have those in my shrimp tank. How long have you had the tank setup? Edited January 23, 2023 by knee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 8:55 PM, knee said: Maybe ostracods or cyclops. I have those in my shrimp tank. How long have you had the tank setup? this tank has been up for around 3 months, give or take a few weeks, or even a month honestly. i first saw a few of these about 1.5 months ago and then again around 3 weeks ago when i lost a guppy and they where eating it. but they didnt cause the death , the guppy had finrot or something related that caused it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 12:59 PM, SC Fish said: this tank has been up for around 3 months, give or take a few weeks, or even a month honestly. i first saw a few of these about 1.5 months ago and then again around 3 weeks ago when i lost a guppy and they where eating it. but they didnt cause the death , the guppy had finrot or something related that caused it Here’s a video of what I have in my shrimp tank. If they’re similar then definitely ostracods and copepods (cyclops) and not snails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) On 1/23/2023 at 9:07 PM, knee said: Here’s a video of what I have in my shrimp tank. If they’re similar then definitely ostracods and copepods (cyclops) and not snails. they are not quite what i have going on upon the first view of the video. however i do recognise some of those lill guys who are in my tank also. good to know that atleast some of them can be identified aha also do you do anything to maintain or lower their population? Edited January 23, 2023 by SC Fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 1:08 PM, SC Fish said: they are not quite what i have going on upon the first view of the video. however i do recognise some of those lill guys who are in my tank also. good to know that atleast some of them can be identified aha Maybe the unidentified ones are daphnia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOtrees Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 It would be great if you could take a video an upload to youtube, so you can link it. I'd love to see the moving/swimming/jumping that you're describing. The first pic (with anubias in the background) looks like nerite eggs. The pics down in the weeds look like baby snails. But neither of these would move fast, much less jumpy. Maybe there is more than one thing? Eg what we're seeing is the mts or nerite eggs or whatever (not saying that's what they are, just saying that's what they look like), and you're seeing something else that is moving around faster that doesn't appear so well in the pics. I love that you have live plants but think you don't have snails. So adorable. 😂 Do look up seed shrimps and ostracods, just to see if they look familiar. Also look up freshwater limpets, there is a type that is really common in new tanks that does look a lot likewhat you have. Not really fast, but they are definitely able to move and are not fixed in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 9:10 PM, knee said: Maybe the unidentified ones are daphnia? possibly ill look into these after i reply to totrees comment On 1/23/2023 at 9:10 PM, TOtrees said: It would be great if you could take a video an upload to youtube, so you can link it. I'd love to see the moving/swimming/jumping that you're describing. The first pic (with anubias in the background) looks like nerite eggs. The pics down in the weeds look like baby snails. But neither of these would move fast, much less jumpy. Maybe there is more than one thing? Eg what we're seeing is the mts or nerite eggs or whatever (not saying that's what they are, just saying that's what they look like), and you're seeing something else that is moving around faster that doesn't appear so well in the pics. I love that you have live plants but think you don't have snails. So adorable. 😂 Do look up seed shrimps and ostracods, just to see if they look familiar. Also look up freshwater limpets, there is a type that is really common in new tanks that does look a lot likewhat you have. Not really fast, but they are definitely able to move and are not fixed in place. both pics contain the exact same life form. so they arent one thing and another , just to say. chill out man, after my 10 gallon got snails ive been so carefull putting in plants like i cleaned em for 30 mins before adding each one lol, also i genuinly have not seen a single in the 3 months i have had this tank. and i was just about to search these up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 9:10 PM, knee said: Maybe the unidentified ones are daphnia? they may very well be daphnia, maybe younger ones , just because they are so small and the pictures online make em look quit e a bit larger.. i also just searched up seed shrimps and they look very much like those because of the antenas i have observed are similar. On 1/23/2023 at 9:10 PM, TOtrees said: It would be great if you could take a video an upload to youtube, so you can link it. I'd love to see the moving/swimming/jumping that you're describing. The first pic (with anubias in the background) looks like nerite eggs. The pics down in the weeds look like baby snails. But neither of these would move fast, much less jumpy. Maybe there is more than one thing? Eg what we're seeing is the mts or nerite eggs or whatever (not saying that's what they are, just saying that's what they look like), and you're seeing something else that is moving around faster that doesn't appear so well in the pics. I love that you have live plants but think you don't have snails. So adorable. 😂 Do look up seed shrimps and ostracods, just to see if they look familiar. Also look up freshwater limpets, there is a type that is really common in new tanks that does look a lot likewhat you have. Not really fast, but they are definitely able to move and are not fixed in place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 1:20 PM, SC Fish said: they may very well be daphnia, maybe younger ones , just because they are so small and the pictures online make em look quit e a bit larger.. i also just searched up seed shrimps and they look very much like those because of the antenas i have observed are similar. Goodluck! Hopefully you can ID them soon 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Fish Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 9:31 PM, knee said: Goodluck! Hopefully you can ID them soon 🙂 after a lot of research i decided to let them be, (i started resaerch literally 5 hours ago and this isnt the first time ive resaerched them) i find that most of these things are fish and shrimp safe so they are ok for my tank, but they are abundant and what illl do is just make sure i keep ontop of my syphons and start to do changes at night when they are out so i can target them and suck some of em up. they are apparently also signs of good water quality so yay? what ill do is also not feed my fish for a couple days and see if they are interested in eating those things and see if they will destroy their population a bit thanks for your help! @knee @Lennie @anewbie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siastia Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) Hello, I'm a little late here, but from what I can tell you have a healthy population of amphipods/copepods! No need for worry imo. What kind of fish do you have? Small fish, fry especially, will eat these little guys up like candy usually. I don't believe you have anything to be worried about necessarily. Like any living thing in the aquarium eco-system, they are going to thrive depending on the conditions. They feed on your tank's deritus/mulm like snails and other larger organisms do. I have 5 tanks set up at the moment, and the only one with pods in it is very low stocked with a low-energy betta and some african dwarf frogs. The other tanks are all full of guppies, endlers, tetras etc that eat all the pods. I actually got excited when I found them and was wondering how I could culture these little guys in their own tank so I can feed them to smaller fry, like tadpoles or cory babies. If they are causing you a bit of stress or viewing displeasure, you can do 10-30% water changes and gravel vacuum most of your mulm up. Just keep in mind that mulm does play a beneficial role in your nitrogen cycle, so I would not vacuum it all out all at once. If you're REALLY hating whats going on, you can turkey-baster the lil guys outta there. Feed a little less and clean a little more and I would expect your pod levels to go down. Edited January 23, 2023 by Siastia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) As long as they are not something like planaria, parasite, leeches, dragonfly larvae, hydra etc., I would not worry a lot. Aquariums are like small ecosystems anyway. That's usually why I enjoy keeping some of everything, shrimps, snails, fish, plants, and so on. Nature finds its balance, and such system provides the best outcome, imo. I don't know what critters I have, but I def have detrius worms too. I'm not sure they are a sign of good water, as sometimes critters can populate a lot if there are stuff going on negatively in the tank too. But I would say, critters are generally a sign of a small ecosystem going on there. On 1/24/2023 at 12:36 AM, SC Fish said: what ill do is also not feed my fish for a couple days and see if they are interested in eating those things and see if they will destroy their population a bit I think this would work in case of for example an adult bristlenose not grazing much algae, so cutting on wafers make him graze more again. Or in scenarios where you are trying to create a balance for the fish that don't accept dry food but only live/frozen food. When it comes to fish, they almost always go after live food in their tank even if they are full, in my experience. So I would say don't starve them for nothing. If they are not eating them already, which again is bcoz I believe they are MTS, they are more likely to graze on algae than eating them meanwhile. Edited January 23, 2023 by Lennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Mystery snails where banned in the UK under EU law so have only returned to the market in the last year ish since we left the EU. So are not as likely a hitchhiker as you expect. Out of the 6 LFS near me I've only seen them in 1 recently. I get very tiny Ramshorns from nowhere in my tanks but I don't think that is what you have, I'm with @Siastia and the copepod theory in which is impressive and a great thing to observe in the aquarium 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 it should be fine, it looks like what i see in my infusoria culture all the time, just the little bugs, they are probably too small for the big fish to notice or want to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remi de Groot Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 11:52 PM, Flumpweesel said: Mystery snails where banned in the UK under EU law Bit off-topic. But i had no idea they are banned here. Never noticed after a couple of years leaving the hobby they are indeed not that much around anymore where before every store seems to have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 1/24/2023 at 1:22 AM, Remi de Groot said: Bit off-topic. But i had no idea they are banned here. Never noticed after a couple of years leaving the hobby they are indeed not that much around anymore where before every store seems to have them. Yep they caused chaos in Spain where they became invasive. So EU wide ban, I only found out because as you said once common then gone still mainly nerites in the shops here. Obviously Spain had a very different climate to blighty so we can keep them again. Presumably they like the cold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) On 1/24/2023 at 1:52 AM, Flumpweesel said: Mystery snails where banned in the UK under EU law so have only returned to the market in the last year ish since we left the EU. MTS stands for malaysian trumpet snails! 😄 Just in case you misread. Bcoz once I misread MTS for mysteries too. Happens 😄 Edited January 24, 2023 by Lennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Have you looked at them with a magnifying glass ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) Hey, I was watching my 29g and wanted to show you what a baby mts look like, next to a juvinile. Not even an adult:D Edited January 24, 2023 by Lennie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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