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Grey worm like "insects" in tank?

Divinityinlove

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Hi. There is the video link below to see what I'm refering to. The video won't upload on here as an attachment. Towards the end I zoom in and you can see it moving and it looks a bit like an ant with antennas.

I have cleaned off the fry tank lid now, there was flaked food on it from when I sprinkle through the hole.

Please can anyone tell me what these little grey things are, if they're bad? How to get rid of them?

 
The second bug at the end, I have no idea I'm afraid! I wouldn't be too alarmed by it, all kinds of critters and micro-organisms wind up thriving in our tanks - but you're right to want to ID them.

The worm things are easier, pretty confident that they're detritus worms. Those aren't harmful to the tank or fish, they live in the substrate and nom their way through the mulm, helping to break everything down. But if the substrate isn't getting cleaned as often as it needs, or there's something like an uneaten chunk of algae wafer on the substrate, they sometimes wind up climbing the glass to eat that food - and all the excess organics in the substrate has caused a population explosion in the worms, so people see them climbing the glass and freak out, having never known they were there! The flake food collecting there is likely why you've spotted them now.

No need to try to eradicate detritus worms, since they're normal and helpful. But seeing them does mean it's time to step up substrate cleanings, and check if you're perhaps over-feeding.

I notice you have duckweed though, any chance that any of your plants were grown in outdoor ponds? Sometimes creepy crawlies (thinking of the first bug I mentioned here that I can't ID) wind up in our tanks that way. Many harmless, but there are a few that can be a risk to fry and shrimp, like hydra and dragon or damselfly larvae. Your mystery bug isn't one of those, just mentioning them as potential transfers from plants grown in outdoor ponds or tubs :)
 
The second bug at the end, I have no idea I'm afraid! I wouldn't be too alarmed by it, all kinds of critters and micro-organisms wind up thriving in our tanks - but you're right to want to ID them.

The worm things are easier, pretty confident that they're detritus worms. Those aren't harmful to the tank or fish, they live in the substrate and nom their way through the mulm, helping to break everything down. But if the substrate isn't getting cleaned as often as it needs, or there's something like an uneaten chunk of algae wafer on the substrate, they sometimes wind up climbing the glass to eat that food - and all the excess organics in the substrate has caused a population explosion in the worms, so people see them climbing the glass and freak out, having never known they were there! The flake food collecting there is likely why you've spotted them now.

No need to try to eradicate detritus worms, since they're normal and helpful. But seeing them does mean it's time to step up substrate cleanings, and check if you're perhaps over-feeding.

I notice you have duckweed though, any chance that any of your plants were grown in outdoor ponds? Sometimes creepy crawlies (thinking of the first bug I mentioned here that I can't ID) wind up in our tanks that way. Many harmless, but there are a few that can be a risk to fry and shrimp, like hydra and dragon or damselfly larvae. Your mystery bug isn't one of those, just mentioning them as potential transfers from plants grown in outdoor ponds or tubs :)
Thank you. On another thread someone mentioned detritus worms being white? Are they in different colours?

I only recently began gravel vacuuming since I didn't even know about it at first then I read it disturbs the tank too much, I also always thought plants use up the gunk at the bottom. But now I just do it during water changes anyway. Its hard to remove the bio rock, the ornamental barrel and the little pots, each time and also to vac around plants without pulling them out or disturbing them so I don't always remove them, only once a month.. But I vacuum once per week and since I'll be treating for parasites now, I will vac to remove dead things. However, do you think I should remove ornaments and bio rock to vacuum under them and around properly weekly?

The duckweed was from an eBay supplier who said it comes from aquarium, not pond but I've had pond duckweed in there before unfortunately as I didn't check properly the seller information when I was tired 😖

IMG_20220602_144835.jpg


IMG_20220602_144849.jpg
 
the grey things on the lid are probably just a type of aphid and are harmless. I used to get them on my tanks too. Sweep them into the tank and let the fish eat them, or leave them be, your choice.
 

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