Tiny white bugs in gravel?

[BettaFishGirl]

I have a 5 gallon planted tank with fine white gravel. Not quite sand, just a really fine gravel. I saw a few tiny white bugs in the gravel and though they were ghost shrimp babies, but they are smaller than that. They almost look like springtails, just underwater. They were going kind of in the crevices of the gravel. Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

pictures and maybe a video so we can see them moving?

 

[BettaFishGirl]

I couldn't get a vid but here are some photos. One has my fingernail as a size reference. Sorry for bad camera quality. They kind of move then stop, move them stop. Cant see any legs with my naked eye, just am little pointed end

 

[Back in the fold1]

They might be Ostrocod seed shrimp . I am always amazed at what kinds of micro creatures can show up mysteriously in an aquarium. I have cyclops in all my aquarium’s and I don’t know where they came from . Got some small worms and little skittery things that are too small to see also . Some of these things come in on plants but some have no known origin . I think they might be dormant eggs in commercial fish food or something in suspended animation in frozen food . They could even come in on the air . What strange wonders surround us on this earth .

 

[BettaFishGirl]

It's crazy! I didn't even get anything new, except ghost shrimp a few weeks ago. As long as they don't harm my fish+shrimp I'm fine with them being there

 

[Fishmanic35 151]

If you gravel vac the substrate, that will probably suck up many of those critters.

 

[Colin_T]

blurry pictures, can't tell. possibly cyclops (copepods)