Reply With Quotethink they may be some form of miniature copepod...and maybe water bears? hmm... can check those out on the internet and see if i'm right..
Hi.have anyone seeing little black "bug" looking things inside your shrimp tank?I have lots of those inside my red cherry shrimp tank.can't take pictures of them because they're too small and moves fast.
thanks.
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
think they may be some form of miniature copepod...and maybe water bears? hmm... can check those out on the internet and see if i'm right..
Never create what you can't control
Pond Life Identification Kit... see which one resembles it most...
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/inde...k.org.uk/pond/
I can't seem to figure out which one is inside my tank,but I guess it's water mites???are these mites bad for my shrimp?do I have to reset my tank?thanks.
If want to get rid of them, can use small fish like Boraras maculatus.
koah fong
Juggler's tanks
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
nope.. most of these are harmless to fish. in fact i almost want them to be in my tank because they will eat the microscopic algae...
I sometimes see these in my shrimps tank, they are actually quite ok.
Heard from people that the living condition for these creatures very near to CRs
Apparently after reading the link given by Quixotic,i think i might have a case of either stonefly nymps or mayfly nymph?
If all goes well according to PLee that living conditions for these "insects" are close to CRS, then i'm in for luck as i'm about to upgrade my Cherry shrimps to CRS!
cool!can I mix my cherry shrimps with CRS?
Last edited by Quixotic; 8th Oct 2007 at 08:35. Reason: Remove immediate quote
Never create what you can't control
These nymphs are predators and carnivorous. They will eat small insects and fishes, so your shrimps could be at risk.Originally Posted by aquanatix
Generally no problems in mixing them as they don't cross breed. However, CRS cannot tolerate high temperatures well and generally needs cooler water.
like what Quixotic said.... if they are Nymph... you better rid them....
I think you better try to post a pic so we can identify ....
Unfortunately pictures of these critters cannot be taken as they're really small and fast to boot! The lack of a good camera is yet another problem?
Will try getting a picture reference online and update here asap.
If they are predatory as quoted by Quixotic,then i fear for my shrimps!
I tend to leave them alone as they're about the same size as my shrimplets but damn if they start feeding on them!
On a sidenote,i've got about 10 Boraras brigittae residing within my 2FT tank. Always see them hungry and searching for food, wonder how much help they would be?
aquanatix was right.it's too difficult to get picture of them.I used magnifying lens to make a better look at it.it's shape is oval and it has two tounge like thing thats coming in and out of its mouth(i think)
quixotic - my tank is inside our room.lighting time is from 6 pm to 2 am,and thats the time my baby will open the air-con of our room till 6 am the following day.setting of our aircon is at 20 C.my tank is equipped with fan also.but the room is closed the whole day.would you think the temp is enough for CRS to live?thanks.
Never create what you can't control
IMHO, it should be okay but I cannot be sure. I think most hobbyists here keep them around the mid 20s C? One of the literature on the Internet mentioned they would be okay from temperatures of 70 F to 78 F (around 21 C to 27 C?).
Perhaps, you can get a few low grade CRS to try first. You can then add better grades once you have confirmed they are doing well.
thanks quixotic.will try to do that.by the way,if I buy low grade CRS then later I want to buy higher grade CRS,do I have to remove all my low grade so it wont affect the line breeding of my high grades?thanks again.
Apparentl i and lowell are on two different tracks...
My alien tank inhabitants actually look like minature earwigs. Black,slender and pretty small. They're roughly the size of shrimplets?
If predatory,what means do i have of removing them from my tank should by fishes prove not useful?
Never create what you can't control
Well yeah, I guess preferably so, if you wish to breed the high grades.
Looking like miniature earwigs don't sound good, it is almost certain that those are nymphs. Fishes won't work because these will eat small fishes. You would probably need a net, or for drastic measures, set up another tank for your shrimps and transfer them there.
The problem is they're black,tiny and very fast! They're near invisible to the naked eye and dart at the slightest attempts to squash them with a pincer.
Kinda frustrating to be honest. After much reading up,it's almost certain that i have a case of Stonefly nymphs? BUT...It's quoted that "most Stonefly nymphs eat dead plants and algae. Other stonefly species (predators) stalk their prey and are carnivorous (eating other animals)."
Question is...which are the carnivorous and which are not? This is extremely perplexing as switching shrimp tanks are not an option. Any one with similar experiences?
I made a mistake...after staking out the tank and literally using a pair of magnifying glass...I was lucky enough to chance upon a lone "alien" on the glass and studied it closely. It is now confirmed to be a mayfly nymph and not a stonefly as mentioned in my earlier post.
From information i gathered from the net,the mayfly genus is too darn confusing. There are over 2 000 named species in 200 genera and 19 families! I really have to narrow down the exact species i'm dealing with here soon.
As quoted by a website on the creatures...
" Many nymphs particularly smaller ones live among the aquatic vegetation i.e Cloeon dipterum but some species make small |___| shaped burrows in the substrate to live in i.e. Ephemera danica, while others are dorsventrally flattened to allow them to live clinging on to the underside of rocks in fast flowing streams i.e. Rhithrogena semicolorata. Most Mayfly nymphs are herbivores feeding on algae and diatoms and or are detritivores feeding on detritus (dead and decaying material). Some species are collectors, filter feeding on floating material while others are scrapers actively removing plant material from the rocks. Their are some omnivorous species in the genera Isonychia, Siphlonurus and Stenonema. There are even some carnivores in the genera Dolania, Spinadis and Raptobaetopus of which the first 2 at least feed on Chironimid larvae."
Reading the above,i'm not really convinced? Probably a general sense of aquarist paranoia? Hope more people here will share their experiences with these unwelcomed "aliens" and hopefully lead to a more conclusive answer.
Never create what you can't control
Yes, you are probably correct in their diet.
The question is, how sure are you that these are what you think they are? Damselfly nymphs look very similar to mayfly nymphs. Damselfly nymphs are definitely carnivores. Even for mayfly nymphs, most are herbivores but some could be carnivores.
So, just how exactly sure are you that your fauna won't be at risk? It's a matter of risk management. If you are unsure, I would suggest to net them out instead of spending time figuring out what they are and losing sleep over it...
... unless either you are very sure they are herbivores, or you aren't too concerned on the potential loss of your lifestock and can live with it.
P.S. See this site for comparisons of various nymphs, http://www.almadenelementary.org/hom...tch/index.html
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