What's that bug? How to recognize them

[HatchetHaven]

I just boght a small bag of daphnia, but it's not just good old Daphnias in there... A bit like those dragonfly nymphs Timanator was talking about (The body shape & colour) but no legs or 'streamers', and totally transparent body with a blue spot behing the eyes and near the end of the thing. A little pink swirl inbetween the spots. (The spots and the swirl are inside the critter - probably a kind of organ?) About 4/5 times the length of a daphnia. Also, there is this little grey daphnia sized beetle thing that dwells just below the surface like a hatchetfish.

There was also a mosquito larvae, tons of cute copepods, a little shrimp thing (I am going to try him in a tank if I can get him out! He looks a lot like a mini Amano shrimp) and a Tubifex.

How do I get Bryozoa in my tank? It looks really cool. Also, where can I get some springtails, and how do I breed them? (Thinking of Bettas and Hatchets. Both carnivorous surface feeders.)

I really love staring into this bag of life right now! Gotta start culturing that daphnia.

Thanks!

[BradH]

Just found this post. It appears I have a limpet or perhaps more than one in my tank. I kept seeing this thing on the front glass and noticed from time to time it would be in a different spot, but in the same vicinity. After looking at the pics, I'm pretty sure it's a limpet. Should I leave it or destroy it? It seems to be eating algae off of the glass.

[clifford]

Great thread, and fantastic pictures...unfortunately my camera is not so good...and my photography skills are worse, but here's a photo of a local freshwater isopod/amphiopod that turned up in one of my tanks.

They appear to be harmless and just snack on left over food and detritus in the tank. I probably wouldn't want them in a tank with egg laying fish, but I'm currently keeping them with gammarus (scuds) and cherry shrimp, and they are an interesting addition.

A little like an aquatic sow bug...

[schlip]

Awesome thread! I'm new to this forum (because of the arrival of my new RSC's). Also arriving with them were some plants (thanks Jon) and quite a few critters - seed shrimps, cyclops. One thing about cyclops: The female carrying egg sacs are quite different.. like this(Darkfield, x100.)
: I was quite puzzled until I found this picture from the following site. Great info. http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol...d/clad0100.htm

[BradH]

Just saw something in my tank and I have no idea what it is. I turned the lights on and happened to see this thing about the size of . the period sign. It was white and moved super fast. It went straight for the substrate and I couldn't find it again.

[t0p_sh0tta]

I will be doing a necropsy tomorrow, but I believe that I have a eustrongylid (Nematode) infection. I thought it was just the pectoral fins, but there may have been red worms hanging out of one of my fish earlier. Maybe it's just my mind wandering as I enter my 14th hour at work.

Article

It's usually responsible for "incurable" forms of dropsy as it is due to a parasite living within the hosts' tissues (not in the GI-tract).

Originally Posted by aelysa

This is not a planaria with a spine and rudimentary legs. It is an Australian LEECH! Apparently the "spine" is it's developing young, and when they become free swimming, they attach itself to the mother and look like a billion tiny wiggly legs. Totally disgusting and mine was about a fourth of an inch long.

Actually, I come to find a year later, it was some sort of snail leach. Even more disgusting.

Better late than never, but this looks like a Trematode (liver flukes). A parasitic flatworm. (IIRC, the branching structures are ovaries/testes).

[thelobster]

I have so many tape worms in my tank...I was just informed that putting Neons in my tank might eat my CRS shrimplets.

they are so disgusting to my tank...first snails now this.

[t0p_sh0tta]

You sure they're tapeworms? They're of the class cestoda and strictly (IIRC) parasitic.

[thelobster]

sorry flat worms

i was going to get some neons for a month to clear them out...but then i was told neons may eat baby crs i was hoping ottos would eat them but nope

[bulrush]

This type of flat worm is called a planarian (singular). Notice the 2 "eyes" on the arrow-shaped head. Head is usually more clearly arrow-shaped.

[thelobster]

ya i have alot of them...i hate them...

[psybock]

If you have a magnetic scraper, put it in the tank with the highest light output. Place it near the surface and within a week it should be covered in algae (well at least the top), take it out and put in your shrimp tank, then the next morning check it out, usually there will be planeria swarming it, then you can just take it our and wash it off... Or another method I've used to dwindle their population is to take a leaf (preferably a long broad one like those of swords) that is either covered with algae or dying and put it in the shrimp tank, same idea, wait overnight (or maybe 2 or 3 nights depending) and let the planeria swarm it, then you can remove it and a good number of planeria at the same time. These two methods help me remove roughly 20-40 worms at a time...although I will say, the scraper will become very slimy from the worms...

Kevin

[thelobster]

thanks good looking!

when you say near the surface for teh magnet do i break surface or just near it?

[psybock]

I usually have it within 3 inches of the surface (I also have plecos that like browsing the algae, so that close means it maintains a good coat of it. When I first tried this my cherries and nerites swarmed it, and after all the algae was gone the planeria swarmed it for the residue. Then the next time they swarmed it before the cherries got a foothold. You just have to find the method that is good enough for you. You can always set a bait trap for them as well. Take rigid tubing or something of that nature and place bottom feeder pellets in it at night, usually by morning either snails or planeria are swarming the insides. However, you can also wait an hour after turning of the lights and check the tube, usually planeria have indeed swarmed it by then...

Kevin

[cwilfinger]

This morning I had looked into my tank and saw this Planeria crawling on the glass. It was HUGE! It was a little over an inch long when it was stretched out. I quickly grabbed the camera but was unable to get a clear pic but I did get a fuzzy one. I them grabbed it out of the tank with a paper towel and took pics of it on the paper towel. The thing was creepy and eeewwww!



I kinda smashed up part of the face getting it out of the tank..as you can see on the napkin, there are bits of him....



He had measured 5/8 of an inch long - after being out of the water for several minutes and drying up...He measured longer than what was stated at the begining of this sticky.... But I neglected to get a pic of him against the measuring tape (kinda hard jigglying the camera and holding the measuring tape, at the same time)