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rickztahone
10-10-2009, 03:22 PM
i was doing a WC today and i saw these small creatures that looked like fleas. does anyone know what these are? i tried to kill as many as possible. i wipe down the glass every time i do a WC and this is the first time i noticed them. can they potentially be hazardous? if so, how do i get rid of them? thanks for any input in advance.
smiley
10-10-2009, 03:27 PM
Fleas??? :s or could it be worms/algae?

Any pictures ricardo? Hearing for the first time
rickztahone
10-10-2009, 03:52 PM
Fleas??? :s or could it be worms/algae?

Any pictures ricardo? Hearing for the first time

tell me about it. it's the first time i have seen these little creatures. it surely isn't worms and/or algae. they are but a small black spec and they do move, i've seen them. it would be a real PITA to try to take a pic but i guess that's what the macro lens was bought for right? i will try...
DiscusKeeper403
10-10-2009, 11:21 PM
Are they sort of jerking? Maybe some sort of nematode? I used to see them in my tank but the ones I saw where white.
Dutch dude
10-11-2009, 04:55 AM
Hey Ricardo,

Can you describe how they look like? Are they round and hovering from spot to spot and don't seem to have tails or do they have tails and possibly are Cyclops. Are you feeding live foods like Daphnia?

Often the live foods bring along small creatures (mostly good sometimes bad). Cyclops are very common and are a good food for baby fish. I have a bug in my tanks and most likely the origin is peat moss. It is very small round to oval shaped and colors black to white. They move on the tank floor, go onto an object, seem to feed there for a while and move on to the next. This is the same type of creature that appears in floating plants with some decaying food. They turned out to be harmless but once in the tank they are imposible to kill. I used the same approach as I did on planaria,....keep the tank clean and they will have a lack on food (decaying stuff) and reduce in number to an exceptable hardly noticeable number. Now I see them rarely but I know they are still there and probably spend most of the time in the filter. I have watched them under the microscope at the veterinary and did all effort to find a pic of them. I found something that looks a bit like them and this was some sort of encapsulated amoebae with black hairs all around (to move around). I have only one fish died (pleco) over a period of 3 years in that tank and the discus do very well. I would not worry to much and just keep an eye on things.

Ruurd
rickztahone
10-11-2009, 04:27 PM
Are they sort of jerking? Maybe some sort of nematode? I used to see them in my tank but the ones I saw where white.

they are not jerking so much as jumping...


Hey Ricardo,

Can you describe how they look like? Are they round and hovering from spot to spot and don't seem to have tails or do they have tails and possibly are Cyclops. Are you feeding live foods like Daphnia?

Often the live foods bring along small creatures (mostly good sometimes bad). Cyclops are very common and are a good food for baby fish. I have a bug in my tanks and most likely the origin is peat moss. It is very small round to oval shaped and colors black to white. They move on the tank floor, go onto an object, seem to feed there for a while and move on to the next. This is the same type of creature that appears in floating plants with some decaying food. They turned out to be harmless but once in the tank they are imposible to kill. I used the same approach as I did on planaria,....keep the tank clean and they will have a lack on food (decaying stuff) and reduce in number to an exceptable hardly noticeable number. Now I see them rarely but I know they are still there and probably spend most of the time in the filter. I have watched them under the microscope at the veterinary and did all effort to find a pic of them. I found something that looks a bit like them and this was some sort of encapsulated amoebae with black hairs all around (to move around). I have only one fish died (pleco) over a period of 3 years in that tank and the discus do very well. I would not worry to much and just keep an eye on things.

Ruurd

Thanks Ruurd for that explanation. the ones i have seen have always been black and they are a pin-sized. i swear they look like fleas. i wish i had a microscope i would also try to identify it. i keep that QT tank very clean but i will try a different approach while doing WC's from now on. thanks again
DiscusKeeper403
10-12-2009, 01:21 AM
Still would have to guess some sort of harmless nematode. The ones I saw where jumpy when on top of the water and jerking when in the water.
discusluvr818
10-12-2009, 01:58 PM
Do you have dogs or cats?
plark
10-12-2009, 10:37 PM
Do you have CATfish ahjajajajajaja sorry couldn't help it
rickztahone
10-12-2009, 10:46 PM
Do you have dogs or cats?

NO


Do you have CATfish ahjajajajajaja sorry couldn't help it

LOL
wgtaylor
10-13-2009, 12:09 AM
i was doing a WC today and i saw these small creatures that looked like fleas. does anyone know what these are? i tried to kill as many as possible. i wipe down the glass every time i do a WC and this is the first time i noticed them. can they potentially be hazardous? if so, how do i get rid of them? thanks for any input in advance.

Hi Ricardo,
Check this out, http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=34834
Scroll down to Copepods:
No picture, just description but sounds similar, fairly common.
Bill
rickztahone
10-13-2009, 12:32 AM
Hi Ricardo,
Check this out, http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=34834
Scroll down to Copepods:
No picture, just description but sounds similar, fairly common.
Bill

thanks Bill! i have honestly never seen them on the bottom of the tank however. i always see them skipping on the water surface only. i had not previously noticed them because i noticed today while doing a WC that they stay on the glass when the water level decreases. as i wipe it they just go into the water column and as i start to siphon they get back on the glass :mad:. i will try to get rid of them even if i have to do it 1 by 1
DiscusKeeper403
10-13-2009, 12:37 AM
thanks Bill! i have honestly never seen them on the bottom of the tank however. i always see them skipping on the water surface only. i had not previously noticed them because i noticed today while doing a WC that they stay on the glass when the water level decreases. as i wipe it they just go into the water column and as i start to siphon they get back on the glass :mad:. i will try to get rid of them even if i have to do it 1 by 1

Oops. I meant copepod :blushing: Good luck getting rid of them anyways.
Jhhnn
10-13-2009, 09:09 PM
thanks Bill! i have honestly never seen them on the bottom of the tank however. i always see them skipping on the water surface only. i had not previously noticed them because i noticed today while doing a WC that they stay on the glass when the water level decreases. as i wipe it they just go into the water column and as i start to siphon they get back on the glass :mad:. i will try to get rid of them even if i have to do it 1 by 1

Why? They're clearly not an issue wrt the fish, and I suspect that they're an aid to the biofilter and a food source for fry, if you're interested in that...
Barr1542
03-08-2010, 03:50 AM
Sounds like copepods, they are a good problem, providing food for all sizes of fish and lots of fun to boot.
pchekay
03-09-2010, 11:57 PM
I have also had this problem in my tank. They are always on the side of the glass not in the water just above water line. It looks as though they have wings. very small but will jump arcross the water. If you try to kill them they skip across the water. If I do a WC they disappear. I accounted it to dirty filter or tank and this bug must be eating something near the surface of the water. I to would like to know what they are...
rickztahone
03-10-2010, 12:06 AM
I have also had this problem in my tank. They are always on the side of the glass not in the water just above water line. It looks as though they have wings. very small but will jump arcross the water. If you try to kill them they skip across the water. If I do a WC they disappear. I accounted it to dirty filter or tank and this bug must be eating something near the surface of the water. I to would like to know what they are...

Yeah thats exactly how mine were. When i switched my fish from my 55 to 125 they seem to have gone away
pchekay
03-10-2010, 12:14 AM
Ok I found some info and I think this is it:

Water fleas belong to the Crustacea, a large group of 'jointed limbed' animals, most of which live in water. Water fleas are placed in the order Cladocera <see footnote> and are probably called 'fleas' because they move through the water by a sort of hopping. Water fleas are very common in fresh water, in Britain you can find about 80 different species, in The Netherlands about a 100 species.

Link:http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun99/wflea.html
rickztahone
03-10-2010, 01:59 AM
Ok I found some info and I think this is it:

Water fleas belong to the Crustacea, a large group of 'jointed limbed' animals, most of which live in water. Water fleas are placed in the order Cladocera <see footnote> and are probably called 'fleas' because they move through the water by a sort of hopping. Water fleas are very common in fresh water, in Britain you can find about 80 different species, in The Netherlands about a 100 species.

Link:http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun99/wflea.html

interesting