List Of Pests Found In Your Tropical Fish Tank

[ArauraDiscus]

Algae
What are they? Single celled plants.
Why are they here? They are everywhere in water.
Harmful? No, but can be very unsightly.
How can I get rid of them? Algae Killers, UV Sterilizers, reduction of sunlight, and cleaner water will kill or reduce the number of algae in your tank. Be careful in using chemicals as they will also kill your good plants.

Asselus
What are they? Vaguely resemble water borne wood lice. Colonise filters and nooks and crannies in the tank.
Why are they here? Introduced with (or sometimes as) live foods.
Harmful? Not directly although commonly associated with the introduction of other parasites.
How can I get rid of them? Good tank husbandry, ensure when tank is cleaned all decor is well cleaned paying particular attention to any difficult to reach spots, will also be eaten by small fish.

Cyanobacteria
What are they? Very small bacteria that use photosynthesis to create food. They are a blue-green color and often are the cause of green water in fish tanks.
Why are they here? They exist in almost every body of water.
Harmful? Yes, some species create neurotoxins and other toxins, don't drink them during a bloom for whatever reason. Also are very unsightly.
How can I get rid of them? Anti-bacterial meds in small amounts, UV Sterilizers, reduction of sunlight, and cleaner water will starve or kill the majority of them off.

Cocepods
What are they? Small creatures that look like tiny beetles roaming around your gravel and ornaments.
Why are they here? Bad luck.
Harmful? No.
How can I get rid of them? "Clout" and other meds that can kill invertebrates are useful. Adding salt and doing water changes will also aid in killing them off. In addition, adding clown loaches and other botias will take care of the problem for good.

Hydra
What are they? Very small organisms that look similar to sea anemones.
Why are they here? Bad luck.
Harmful? Yes, but only to very small fish like fry.
How can I get rid of them? "Clout" and other meds that can kill invertebrates are useful. Adding salt and doing water changes will also aid in killing them off. Gouramis love eating hydras. Many people actually ettempt to buy these guys, can be very interesting to watch and fairly beautiful as long as you have no fish fry.

Leeches
What are they? LIttle worm like creatures, related to worms in fact. They often come in on plants added to your tank.
Why are they here? Bad luck
Harmful? Yes. They can stick to the side of your prized fish and suck enough blood out of it to kill it. Remove them asap.
How can I get rid of them? "Clout" and other meds that can kill invertebrates are useful. Adding salt and removing the specimens visible will greatly help.

Nematodes
What are they? Small worms that will often try to live inside fish.
Why are they here? Bad luck, came in on live plants or in live foods.
Harmful? Yes they can be.
How can I get rid of them? Any anti-parasitic med should be effective. If your fish is pooping yellow poop, this is a very good sign that you have nematodes, treat asap.

Ostracods
What are they? Kidney bean shaped crustacean up to 4mm long, resemble small mobile spots scuttling over your substrate. Usually yellowish or brown black.
Why are they here? Normally introduced with live foods and/or plants. Multiply well in a poorly maintained tank.
Harmful? No, but if the cause is not rectified they will easily multiply and can eventually get to an almost plague like number.
How can I get rid of them? Good tank husbandry, will also be eaten by small fish.

Planarians
What are they? Small worms that are common in many fish tanks. They are completely harmless, but look like tiny white maggots, thus being fairly unsightly. They are quick fish food when they multiply, but can often multiply way too fast.
Why are they here? Very bad water quality, lots of leftover food and waste.
Harmful? No, but if they are present, they are an indication that your tank's water quality is deteriorating.
How can I get rid of them? "Clout" and other meds that can kill invertebrates are useful. Also multiple water changes that remove excess food from gravel will lower their numbers and starve them.

Pest Snails
What are they? Unusually small hemaphroditic snails that need ay two individuals to creat over 1,000 offspring in a few days.
Why are they here? Bad luck.
Harmful? Perhaps, it's been said that they can grab on to slow moving fish like discus and eat their slime, causing small problems, but mostly they are nothing more than unsightly.
How can I get rid of them? "Clout" and other meds that can kill invertebrates are useful. Adding salt and doing water changes will also aid in killing them off. KIlling all individiuals you can will also help. Watch out for slimy little globs of jelly. These are egg sacs. Remove these before they hatch creating many more. Perhaps the best method is by adding specific chemicals meant to kill snails. This is a quick and effective method. In addition, adding clown loaches and other botias will devestate the snails population. If there are no large snails, they will all be eaten in less than a day.

Tubifex
What are they? Small red-brown worms tend to protrude from the substrate.
Why are they here? Introduced as live food, but as a result of overfeeding (or lazy fish) burrow into substrate and begin to breed and multiply.
Harmful? Nope.
How can i get rid of them? Stop feeding your fish (for a while), they will eventually use the tubifex as a food source.


Thanks to germ for help!

 

[Danno]

Clout contains copper. Note that if you use it and you have shrimp in your tank you are condeming them to a very unpleasent death. If you don't want to use clout, you can take a clean copper pipe and set it in your tank for about 30 minutes with your carbon out. Note that if you do this you also label your tank contaminated. Copper is very difficult to get out of your tank itself. After using this you can never keep intertabrated in the tank....ever... Marine aquarists and invert keepers hate copper infected tanks.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Pest snails can easily be taken care of naturally. Simply place a small piece of vegetable into the tank over night (cucumber i've heard works best) once you wake up you should see a bunch of those pest snails on the cucumber, take the piece out and dispose. A lot of different fishes can also help, different types of catfish will combat against it, plecos, red tailed shark and corydora for example work well with eating the snails. Puffers will also do the same.

You didn't add Planaria into the list, it's pretty common and I think most people have it and don't know they do...

 

[ArauraDiscus]

I reccomended loaches because the others you listed are either tank busters or agressive. Planaria is the number one on my list lmao.

 

[Bozza]

Corys don't really eat pest snails. They do sometimes eat the squished snails on the tank walls. Interesting topic. Thanks for sharing

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Anytime

 

[Lynda B]

I got rid of my ramshorn snail invasion by doing a complete water and substrate change, scrubbing all decorations in hot bleachy water, checking the biowheel for eggs/snails and removing both of my filters and replacing them with one cycled filter from my husband's tank. Hey, it may not be the recommended method, but it worked.

Oh, and hermaphrodites do not need a partner to breed.... thus, they are hermaphrodites. Your note indicates that you need 2.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

No hempahrodites need another to breed. They have both sex organs, but need another to breed. That way they need only one other snail to exhange DNA and elminated the problems assocciated with Male to female ratios. Although there are definately types of snails that are asexual, so I certainely can put that, but Hemaprhodites are not asexual.

 

[Lynda B]

You are quite right. Thanks for the clarification.

I must have been given incorrect information when I first had my ramshorn invasion and asked about them. Upon reading your post and doing further research, I found this:

Ramshorn Snails are in fact hermaphrodites. (Planorbidae species) They do possess both male and female organs. But they cannot fertilize themselves. It takes two snails, even though they are hermaphrodites. Two snails can and will fertilize each other. That is an important fact that needs to be remembered for those of us who now have them in our aquariums. Two ramshorn snails can fertilize each other and both will lay fertilized eggs.

Most ramshorn snails are considered minor aquarium pests. They may arrive in a tank as egg bundles hidden in newly acquired plants. Although their color may make them somewhat interesting aquarium subjects, their hermaphroditic ability to breed prolifically from any two specimens can make them troublesome.

One ramshorn snail kept singly can't reproduce. It is impossible.

There is no scientific data available that informs on whether ramshorn snails have the ability to store sperm.

Reference information: A hermaphrodite is an organism that possesses both male and female sex organs during its life. In many species, hermaphroditism is a common part of the life-cycle, particularly in some asexual animals and some plants. Generally, hermaphroditism occurs in the invertebrates.

 

[darkwolf29a]

Excellent info. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Thanks guys, Mods should this be added to williams list of threads that's pinned as Faqs? It may be helpful.

 

[The-Wolf]

Bagheera; Male Abyssinian cat
often found in the tank at water changes (well his paws and nose at least)

 

[ArauraDiscus]

lol, My dog, if he wasn't 80 pounds and fat, and if the tank was on the ground, would be swimming in the tank. He eats anything that moves, except for my other dog thats 100 pounds at least. She would eat Baja for breakfast.

 

[Bluejay]

I got planaria in my tank after fishless cycling it for only a week. As far as I can see its only ammonia that they need to multiply so saying its very bad water quality isn't very clear.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Well I say bad water quality to be broad. if I just say ammonia, that could be too narrow. Because over feeding and other bad water quality can bring them around...