Tiny White creatures - what are they, and how to get rid of them... ?

[dapellegrini]

Somehow my nano has become infested with millions (probably exaggerating, but there are A LOT) of tiny white things. They crawl, hop and swim all over the place. Max size is 1mm, but many are much smaller than that. They are very hard to photograph, but here are a few attempts:

And a video: http://www.publiclogic.com/fish/tiny_white_things.wmv

??? ??? ???

 

[livionakano]

Some of them looks like Cyclops
I presume you don´t have any fish there yet, right?
Most of fishes will enjoy them as meal

 

[dapellegrini]

This is in a 3-gallon tank with Cherry and Bee Shrimp, Nerites and MTS. No fish. I have had bad luck with fish in the tank because it has no top and they tend to jump out easily... I would throw my wife's beta in there, if I thought it would leave the shrimp alone...

Those pictures were taken a few weeks ago... Here is a more full shot of the tank, to give you an idea. It is pretty heavily planted now.

They don't seem to bother anything, more of an eye soar. Is there a good small fish I could add to a tank this size that would eat these things, while leaving the shrimp alone?

 

[edacsac]

I had some for awhile: the cyclops things, some worm like things and some hydra. They either came aboard some plants from a friend or from the snail water from the fish store. I had a real infestation for awhile, but they went away almost as fast as they appeared, wtih no changes to my routine whatesoever. I have two dwarf puffers and about 8 ghost shrimp at the time. Whether they took care of the problem or not, I'm not sure. But ya, thousands wasn't an exaggeration for my 10gal. Some of the hydra still show up, but those are few.

Nice tank by the way!

 

[Piker]

That is a pretty little set-up you have there.

 

[dapellegrini]

Thanks.

I guess the solution is to add some fish that will eat those things. I had some galaxies in there, but they jumped out (an expensive fish to find dead on the floor)... the challenge will be to find something that will eat the bugs but not the baby shrimp and that is small enough to be happy in there...

Anyone familiar with Brachygobius aggregatus (Schooling Bumblebee Goby)? I am tempted to give them a try because of their size...

 

[Piker]

Or you could try some Killies. I haven't had any jump out.

 

[dapellegrini]

Problem with Killies is the size of their mouth compared to the size of my shrimp

I am going to try a few different things. The Dwarf BB Gobies, a Dario Dario, and perhaps a Dwarf Botia... Most likely not all at once though

 

[Tom Barr]

Little killis with huge mouths

I've seen them eat shrimp their own size.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[VaughnH]

My nano has Endlers and cherry shrimp, living in harmony as far as I can tell.

 

[edacsac]

I am going to try a few different things. The Dwarf BB Gobies, a Dario Dario, and perhaps a Dwarf Botia... Most likely not all at once though

Aren't bumble bee gobies brackish water fish? I've been looking into them for my tank as well, but the more I read the more I find there are no dwarf bumblebee gobies for freshwater.

 

[dapellegrini]

Scroll down - 4th from bottom: Nano-Fish

And I have kept normal Bumblee Gobies in my 72g gallon freshwater successfully for quite some time. They have spawned at least once. No salt.

 

[IUnknown]

seed shrimp right? I thought this was a water quality issue. The more crude these guys have to feed on the more they populate.

 

[dapellegrini]

Could be a water issue I guess... but it is crystal clear 75% RO/DI with EI dosing... No fish (yet) only snails and shrimp.

 

[edacsac]

Scroll down - 4th from bottom: Nano-Fish

And I have kept normal Bumblee Gobies in my 72g gallon freshwater successfully for quite some time. They have spawned at least once. No salt.

I guess I'll try some myself! I think those fish are really cool.