Does this look like hydra to you?

They definitely are interesting to look at. My first post on this forum was about them as I had no idea if they posed a threat. Luckily I had no fish then. But I left them and still had them after I put in betta, 5x ember tetras, and amano shrimp.

I found a name of "Ciliate Zoothamnium arbuscula"

Frost creatures for warm windows....

MattW3344 said:

They definitely are interesting to look at. My first post on this forum was about them as I had no idea if they posed a threat. Luckily I had no fish then. But I left them and still had them after I put in betta, 5x ember tetras, and amano shrimp.

I found a name of "Ciliate Zoothamnium arbuscula"

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Oh! Yes! I looked up some freshwater ciliates and that's totally what this organism is! The more magnified view helps to see the individual ciliates better. Is that your photo?? It's really impressive. You can very clearly see the lophophore (tentacle feeding structure) of a bryozoan in the bottom right corner as well


Here are a couple more photos. The ciliate in rebe's tank could also potentially be Carchesium

Seisage said:

Is that your photo??

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God no My camera could never do that! It's from a Photomicrography Competition hosted by Nikon a few years back. There are some great pics of nano species, microscopic cells, organisms etc

edit - I especially love this one of a Daphnia

Seisage said:

Oh! Yes! I looked up some freshwater ciliates and that's totally what this organism is! The more magnified view helps to see the individual ciliates better. Is that your photo?? It's really impressive. You can very clearly see the lophophore (tentacle feeding structure) of a bryozoan in the bottom right corner as well


Here are a couple more photos. The ciliate in rebe's tank could also potentially be Carchesium

Click to expand...

Do you know much about these types of organisms? I'm mostly concerned about how and what they feed on. The images look really similar!

Look at this! It's so cool, especially at 0:50


I found the video through reverse searching images @MattW3344 and @Seisage shared

rebe said:

Do you know much about these types of organisms? I'm mostly concerned about how and what they feed on. The images look really similar!

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Admittedly I don't know a ton about ciliates, but I do know that they won't be harmful to your fry. They don't have any stinging cells like cnidarians. They're filter feeders that eat tiny little microscopic things, so no need to worry!

Bunch of nerds, all of you.

More pictures please, these are really interesting

Hi! Did you get the microscope camera? If so, do you recommend it? I have similar critters in my tank and would love to take better photos than what my phone can take.

BeckyCats said:

Hi! Did you get the microscope camera? If so, do you recommend it? I have similar critters in my tank and would love to take better photos than what my phone can take.

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Sorry for the long wait for a response, but yes I did get it! If your phone camera quality is quite good, then I'd recommend getting a clip-on lens. If your phone has a lower quality camera then I would recommend this kind of microscope camera. While the microscope is really interesting to use, there isn't a jaw dropping difference. I'll attach the pictures I have so you can decide for yourself. Although it might not be useful if you've already bought one in the time it's taken me to respond


You can see that the microscope image is closer/zoomed-in more, but for almost double the price. Though if your phone camera isn't comparable to mine then I would recommend the microscope.