Unknown bugs in my tank !!

**chansl** · 24th Feb 2012, 23:32

Hi guys

I am cycling my sulawesi tank. It was about a week and suddenly i had Planaria in my tank. What shocked me was there is tadpoles like bug cling on the tank wall. It is like fish fries and is white colour. I cant take a picture as it is just too small but it seemed to grow in numbers. They can swim and seemed quite active.

I am lost because there is no food in there. Just plants and moss and no rocks. How could they multiple that fast. Do you think they are harmless? Or should i buy a fish and put it in to feast on them?

**Navanod** · 25th Feb 2012, 00:21

Tapoles? Could they by any chance be cyclops?

**chansl** · 25th Feb 2012, 00:23

Replying my own thread ... The little bugs are Copepods, Cyclops .. Article online suggest that it is a sign that the tank is cycled fully which explain in their growth as they are intolerance to NH 4 . The way to kill it is to have fish or some chemical .. Since i have not have any shrimps yet, i will put a guppy in it . To clear the Copepods and Planaria .

**chansl** · 25th Feb 2012, 00:23

Originally Posted by Navanod

Tapoles? Could they by any chance be cyclops?

Yes bro .. It is ! Look pretty cute but i am worry at first if it will harm my sulawesi

**Emokidz** · 25th Feb 2012, 02:49

Cyclops won't pose any threat to your shrimps. They will just coexist with your shrimp peacefully.

**cheetf** · 25th Feb 2012, 08:12

Could it be that they are mozzie larvae? Pictures will be good.

**Navanod** · 25th Feb 2012, 08:38

Originally Posted by chansl

Replying my own thread ... The little bugs are Copepods, Cyclops .. Article online suggest that it is a sign that the tank is cycled fully which explain in their growth as they are intolerance to NH 4 . The way to kill it is to have fish or some chemical .. Since i have not have any shrimps yet, i will put a guppy in it . To clear the Copepods and Planaria .

Beware that having no ammonia does not mean the tank is cycled, especially if its only a week old. What ammonia source are you using to cycle the tank?
If all there is in the tank are just plants, soil and rock, then it's no surprise that there's no ammonia in the tank.

The plants also helps absorb ammonia so the tank may not be cycled in the sense that the bacteria colonies are not established yet.

**avex30** · 25th Feb 2012, 10:22

Bro try to cycle at least 2 weeks at least enough BB colony when you start loading in.

**sp1der** · 26th Feb 2012, 00:02

Sometimes I wonder if Planariais is good to have in shrimp tank, maybe they help to clean up the gravel/soil
They seems to crawl at the soil gravel and doesnt disturb the shrimp

**chansl** · 26th Feb 2012, 00:05

hi people

Thank for your reply. I used BT-9 to cycle the 1 feet tank. To add on, i used 2 HOF that were previously filtering my 2 nano tank. I shifted it to my new tank with treated tap water and distilled water and cycle together. I believed it will speed up the cycling process. I will cycle longer as i had not added my sulawesi rocks i just bought and coral fan. =)

**cheetf** · 26th Feb 2012, 08:27

Originally Posted by sp1der

Sometimes I wonder if Planariais is good to have in shrimp tank, maybe they help to clean up the gravel/soil
They seems to crawl at the soil gravel and doesnt disturb the shrimp

This was from my tank.

**stormhawk** · 26th Feb 2012, 08:43

Thanks for sharing the video cheetf. For awhile I thought they were mobbing the shrimp and eating it from within.

@chansl, the Cyclops are present in your tank because they are feeding on other microscopic animals. I have these too in a green water tank and they are harmless for most part.

**cheetf** · 26th Feb 2012, 09:29

Actually, one of the planaria was already attached to the shrimp. You can see it being detached when the shrimp jumped off.

**stormhawk** · 26th Feb 2012, 09:55

That explains why some shrimp tanks at some LFS are infested with these Planaria. They hitch a ride on a shrimp at the farm. I thought the shrimp was dead already since it wasn't moving much.