Tiny things swimming in tank

[Staciekarp]

First off some sad news for you all; my newest betta passed of unknown causes about a week ago. Tank temperature was 74 and water parameters were all fine so I'm not sure what happened. :(

The same day I bought him I also purchased some live plants and a snail hitched a ride over as well.

I haven't changed the tank water since the death as there's no room for more plants in my other betta tank and I left the snail in there as well.

Today while watching the snail I noticed something tiny move across the glass very quickly, and then I noticed they are all over the glass! Like hundreds!

There isn't any in my other betta tank so I don't think they're from the plants. I also don't think they're from the snail.. So I'm guessing they're in there because I left the water in the tank? Could they have been there before and killed my fish?

I managed to get a picture of one in focus


Yuck

[Littlebittyfish]

Originally Posted by Staciekarp

First off some sad news for you all; my newest betta passed of unknown causes about a week ago. Tank temperature was 74 and water parameters were all fine so I'm not sure what happened. :(

The same day I bought him I also purchased some live plants and a snail hitched a ride over as well.

I haven't changed the tank water since the death as there's no room for more plants in my other betta tank and I left the snail in there as well.

Today while watching the snail I noticed something tiny move across the glass very quickly, and then I noticed they are all over the glass! Like hundreds!

There isn't any in my other betta tank so I don't think they're from the plants. I also don't think they're from the snail.. So I'm guessing they're in there because I left the water in the tank? Could they have been there before and killed my fish?

I managed to get a picture of one in focus


Yuck

Copepods...My one tank was infested with those..From what I have read they are pretty harmless.

[DarkMoon17]

Copepods are harmless but they are a sign that the water is dirty and has too many organics in it (waste material, uneaten food). It might mean that you need to do more water changes in the future. Sorry to hear about your betta :(

[Staciekarp]

Thank you for the replies! I havn't touched the water in about a week so maybe that's why they're popping up now? Either way I'll be on the lookout for them in my other tanks now.

So how do you get rid of them? Are they hard to get rid of? Thank you again!

[Littlebittyfish]

I still see one or two in my tank every now and then..But they're nowhere as crazy as they were...I have added corydoras and ghost shrimp though.Maybe they are eating them?

[DarkMoon17]

Usually keeping the gravel clean keeps them away. Adding salt to the water would probably help. Depending on your tank set up you could add ghost shrimp like Littlebittyfish suggested. I'd imagine that they would eat some.
-DM17 :)

[LeroyTheBetta]

Coincedentially, I was reading one of my fish books about parasites just last night. Your photo looks a lot like a sketch of a copepod that was shown in the section "parasitic copepods". One paragraph from the book:

Crustaceans belonging to the subclass copepoda include the parasites lernaea and ergasilus. Like most other crustaceans, they lay eggs. The first larvae to hatch swim freely at first, then attach to the gills of a suitable host and enter a nonswimming phase in which they complete their maturation. After mating, the males cease being parasitic, but mated females reattach to or penetrate the fish and mature to forms which can be seen with the naked eye.

A little further on it reads:

......... Fish may be affected with many of these parasites, causing irritation and localized hemorrhagic reactions at the point of entry, which may become secondarily infected with bacteria.

So, I wouldn't say they're completely harmless. It did say that to treat the fish one way could be to dip a freshwater fish into saltwater for 5 to 10 min a day, which would kill the parasites. So, one might conclude that you could treat your empty tank with salt water for a few days.

The book I took this from is "AQUARIOLOGY The science of Fish Health Management", by Dr. John B. Gratzek, p. 243.... to give credit where credit is due. :)

[DarkMoon17]

Originally Posted by LeroyTheBetta

Crustaceans belonging to the subclass copepoda include the parasites lernaea and ergasilus. Like most other crustaceans, they lay eggs. The first larvae to hatch swim freely at first, then attach to the gills of a suitable host and enter a nonswimming phase in which they complete their maturation. After mating, the males cease being parasitic, but mated females reattach to or penetrate the fish and mature to forms which can be seen with the naked eye.

A little further on it reads:

......... Fish may be affected with many of these parasites, causing irritation and localized hemorrhagic reactions at the point of entry, which may become secondarily infected with bacteria.

So, I wouldn't say they're completely harmless. It did say that to treat the fish one way could be to dip a freshwater fish into saltwater for 5 to 10 min a day, which would kill the parasites. So, one might conclude that you could treat your empty tank with salt water for a few days.

The book I took this from is "AQUARIOLOGY The science of Fish Health Management", by Dr. John B. Gratzek, p. 243.... to give credit where credit is due. :)

There are parasitic and benign types of copepoda. Copepoda lernaea are anchor worms but people often see other copepoda in healthy setups (some people even feed them to their fish!). But, if there is the slightest possibility that they are the parasitic type then you might want to consider bleaching the tank. It isn't in use currently right?
-DM17

[AshSkylar]

Snail snuck in on plant for me too- I stuck him in one of my beta tanks and then it decided to have a million babies. Thankfully my friend noticed there was tiny things swimming around in there- because I couldnt figure out why he was being so lathargic. I was like SOMETHING is wrong here- he just let me touch him. (He's usually a spazz)

As soon as I put him in a new tank he was back to his old self- Kept the tank for the snails, and was finally like- Ive got to figure out what these ARE! Now I know--

[Shaon]

You might want to watch out for that one snail. My personal experience with them was not fun. They will take over your tank if you let them. When I saw one small snail, I thought it to be harmless. In a matter of days my tank was full of snail juice and snail poo and there were snails EVERYWHERE! Just a heads up. (I also find they produce more waste then they clean, my 2 cents)

About the Copepods, I read somewhere that it's a good sign that your tank is ecologically sound. I too believe that they are harmless :)