# Bugs



## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

I have little bugs and with research I couldn't find a positive match. I'm wondering what they are and if they're eating my plants or just cleaning the dead ends. I have a 5 gal that's been cycled for a really long time with clean water, 2 or 3 super RCS and a betta. Moderately planted and have a small amount of surface movement but not a lot.


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

..


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

Bump?


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

Water fleas, actually it a good sign if you can keep water fleas alive you doing something right. I feed them to my wood shrimp. They won't tolerate poor water quality, but can over run a tank in short order if you don't have something in the tank that eats them. They breed like fleas. 
By the way beautifully done photos 

R


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

Thank you, it's the IPhone 5 lol I had a nice video but it didn't agree with this forum. So my only questions are since you said it's a good sign, but that they can over run a tank; Do I take efforts to kill them? Will they negatively affect my plants or tank?


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

They feed on algae and the biofilm. They done do any harm to plants or livestock but they will over run a tank. May betta show no interest in them but my wood shrimp feed on them. They are a very good indicator of water quality. I generally thin the colony at water change time with the gravel vac if the colony start to explode 

R


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

I did notice a few got sucked up when I vacuumed today. So they my plants with bad leaves are not negatively affected from the fleas, that's good. I don't necessarily mind them but I definitely don't want many more because I try to keep my tank aesthetically pleasing and not many people know that bugs are a good thing lol. I guess if they get too bad I'll try to suck em up. I don't want them competing with the CRS for food since I don't feed them.


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

RCS not CRS*


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

"aesthetically pleasing" is the problem with them. They aren't pretty 
Rick


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Seed shrimp. Classic seed shrimp. Maybe also called wood fleas or whatever someone said but I can tell from your second photo that the shell is hinged. Do they swim like bumble bee's? 

Seed shrimp are notorious pests and a lot of fish don't eat them bc they close their shells and drop to the gravel. I have them in my RCS tank, had them in my 5g but they're not around anymore. I'm sure I'll see them again when the eggs hatch. They're resilient and hardy. They are thriving in my cold unkempt dirty shrimp tank.


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

They move every now and then in a jerky pattern but I never see the black ones move. Do they only go in shrimp tanks? Is it still a sign of a healthy ecosystem?


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

The white ones can move a little jerky but I never really see the black ones moving other than maybe crawling on the roots of the frogbit. So is it not a sign of a healthy ecosystem?


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## Fastcash124 (Nov 13, 2012)

Didn't see my comments already posted forget the double post


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

Seed shrimp(Ostracods) will survive in lesser water quality than Water fleas (Daphnia pulex),Water fleas are one of the organisms we use in biological toxicity testing(release water fleas if they die your water sucks). 
Seed shrimp on the other hand are much more diverse in the various water conditions they will inhabit this includes temporary habitats(yes you can find them in mud puddles) and what they feed on,this includes carnivores, herbivores, scavengers and filter feeders. I wouldn't say any are bad but there are 70,000 species so that cover a lot of ground.










Water flea










Seed shrimp

R


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