Maaany Bugs: Cycling Tank

[soritan]

I have a 10gal (US) tank. So, the tank is empty, save for a few plants, some bogwood, and the substrate, right? Also, doing a Fishless Cycle.

Today, when I go to check my nitrItes, I notice in a little corner, a bunch of tiny white specks that are racing around the glass and hopping. Is this some kind of water flea? It's probably some type of oppertunistic bug, and I imagine once I add my ghost shrimp and the tank is cycled, the oppertunity will go away and them as a result, I was just wondering what on earth they were?

They're hard to describe, since they're so small, but they do appear to be segmented right in the middle (either that, or a number of the large ones were caught "in action").

 

[Mr.September15]

I have a 10gal (US) tank. So, the tank is empty, save for a few plants, some bogwood, and the substrate, right? Also, doing a Fishless Cycle.

Today, when I go to check my nitrItes, I notice in a little corner, a bunch of tiny white specks that are racing around the glass and hopping. Is this some kind of water flea? It's probably some type of oppertunistic bug, and I imagine once I add my ghost shrimp and the tank is cycled, the oppertunity will go away and them as a result, I was just wondering what on earth they were?

They're hard to describe, since they're so small, but they do appear to be segmented right in the middle (either that, or a number of the large ones were caught "in action").

Well I think its a parasite.

What is that white fuzzy looking thing growing on my live rock? What are those little white dots growing on my aquarium glass? What are those little white bug-like things swimming around my tank? Is it a bristleworm, shrimp, plankton, anemone, urchin, copepod, amphipod, starfish, worm, parasite or some other organism? Is it going to hurt my aquarium?
Sound familiar? These questions and others like them are not odd, but what is odd is how many aquarists don't realize that when it comes to keeping a saltwater aquarium, strange things will come out of nowhere. We don't understand why someone is so surprised when it happens, because it's all a part of the environment! New organisms are usually introduced into an aquarium by way of newly added live rock and live sand, so it's bound to occur, but there are other reasons why things appear out of what "seems" like nowhere. Many organisms are microscopic or plankton sized when they start out, so until they grow large enough to be seen with the naked eye, you don't know they are there.
Some organisms that can be seen with the naked eye, no matter how large or small, are experts at hiding.
They hitchhike in on live rock and sand, and it is only after you have placed it into your aquarium that these organisms then crawl out and make themselves at home.
Often corals, anemones, urchins, cucumbers, starfishes, nudibranchs and other forms of marine life play host to other, much smaller hitchhikers on the reef. Just a few examples of the many types of symbiotic relationships that occur in nature are the Pacific Clown Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) and Anemone Crab (Neopetrolisthes ohshimai) that live with various types of sea anemones. The Sea Cucumber Crab (Lissocarcinus orbicularis) lives commensally on the body, but most often among the tentacles or in the mouth, as well as the anus of several species of sea cucumbers.
Marine animals have babies. As examples; crabs and shrimps can hatch out live fry when mated pairs are present, snails reproduce by laying weird looking egg sacs, and corals spawn or split.

Yeah this is the resason for saltwater tanks. But I hope this gives you an Idea of the name of the parasite and what it does.

 

[soritan]

Yeah, I figured it was an oppetunistic bug (in other words: parasite). I've been trying to google for it, and search for it, but "bug" is a three letter word, and "white speck" churns up white spot infections. You caught me in the middle of doing a search for "bugs" (a natural progression).

It's a freshwater tank.

I didn't think it was a worm, simply because it appears to skitter, more than wiggle, you know? But that might simply be semenatics.

 

[soritan]

I apologize for musing aloud...

I wonder if my future ghost shrimp will find them a tastey treat?

 

[soritan]

*whistles* It is all sorts of nasty in there, now.

I see those little white worms that happen when there is excess nutriants. I see... that sort of hoppy flea I mentioned before, I see at least one adult (pond?) snail and possibly a few juvies (they were fairly small, but I *thought* I could see shells developing), and I see something like a limpet that's attached itself to my bogwood. The little white worms seem to be hiding in my bogwood cracks, and something seems to be eating at the surface of one of my larger pieces.

Before anyone asks, yes, all my bogwood was boiled, for several hours in fact, before being placed in the tank. Over half of them were boiled for at least 5 hours a day for 4 days, and the largest piece was boiled around 7 hours a day for 7 days.

The limpet looking guy is fascinating to watch, in a way, as it just sits there, with a little arm poking out, waving things at itself. He's the color of the wood itself, and is sort of elongated and pointy. He's highly camoflauged.

The snail is almost beautiful, in a way, but the fleas and worms tweak me out very gently, even though I know that those guys will be easiest ones to eliminate. Just do my water change once I'm cycled and add fish, presto changeo.

I wonder what the limpet-y thing is?


edit: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=110948 This topic soothed me quite a bit, as everything they went through, I went through. That still leaves me with the limpety thing and snail ID. This is exciting and a little nerve wrecking at the same time. MAN those things move in fast. I swear up, down, backwards, and forwards, the tank seemed completely empty yesterday. I didn't even notice the worms yesterday. It was this morning I first saw them, and now there are hundreds, and they grow fast. Wow.

I was going to add hornwart tomorrow, but I may wait until after I finish cycling now and do the big water change. I'm a little freaked out over the sudden boom of "aqua life". I wonder if ghost shrimp eat hydra?

 

[soritan]

I was going to add some hornwort/hornwart to the tank this week, as the shipment gets in this week. Considering how many little guys are in there now, do you think that's a wise idea? Or should I wait until after the tank is cycled and I do the big water change?