Strange looking creatures....???

wagnutz69 · 03-31-2001, 10:19 AM

Hey, I have these odd looking creatures on the surface of my water in my 125. The look similar to water spiders/fleas (not sure what the correct term is!) that one might find on the surface of a lake near/around the edges of the water. They are a whitish/clearish/yellow, some of them are matured with legs and are skimming across the top of the water, some of them look like little pods waiting to be hatched. I recently had an ich outbreak in this tank and lost EVERYTHING!. My question is is this the swimming stage of ich, or are they microscopic, or is this another type of parasite, or is this something that will not bother the "inmates" left in my tank. I had a few on my 58 at one time, but they disappeared. This tank has 100's if not 1000's on the top. HELP????? Thanks.

Tim

horge · 03-31-2001, 04:52 PM

Definitely NOT "ich larva" (Cryptocaryon irritans 'tomites'), which are protozoans and microscopic, while what you're describing seem to be crustacean.
So, you can relax ...about them being the agents of "ich"

I'm not too clear on the description: these fleas are ON the water surface, or in the water just under the surface?

wagnutz69 · 03-31-2001, 07:10 PM

Hello Horge, these are on top of the water, and the one's with "legs" not just a larvae looking substance are "skating" across the top of the water. They look exactly like watergliders you would find at a pond/lake. I'm not sure how these would have been incorporated into my tank as I haven't putten any foreign objects in there. I was wondering, are there any type of mysis shrimp/other micro orgs. that could be spawning this heavliy in my tank. I recently removed my Dragon Wrasse, and have seen tons of more life at night now that he's not feasting on it all? Hope that helps you out Horge. Thanks again all.

NUTZ

DAN THE MAN · 03-31-2001, 08:15 PM

I know what your talking about I got them in each of my tanks after cycling. They are harmless and are the same little critters you find on out side on puddles if they remain to long. Their harmless and once you put something in your tank that eat their larva in the water colum they will disapear they have a short life.

Doug1 · 04-01-2001, 12:44 AM

Hmmmm thats a new one on me, but they are not the freeliving stage of SW ich. Possible a larval stage of some tank inhabitant that is able to reproduce with out predation from fish. Keep an eye on them and see if you can determine what they morph into