My Tank Has Water Fleas!

[Sasha]

I just noticed these tiny fleas on the side of the glass in my tank! There are hundreds of them just above the surface and every time the fall into the water they jump back onto the glass. Does anyone know what these insects could be? They look like tiny water fleas or something. The tank just completed the Fishless Cycle and I don't know if that has anything to do with their arrival. My other tank cycled a few months ago with the same cycle and there was no fleas. I'm guessing that they are harmless to the fish, but where did they come from? I haven't added any live plants into the tank yet, only a few large stream rocks and a piece of wood thet I used in the tank before but boiled it before use. I'm a little hesitant to add fish into the tank now. Any advice?

 

[cometcattle]

Did u boil your stream rocks? Maybe there were eggs on them.

 

[Sasha]

I boiled the large smooth rocks that I found near the ocean and stream for several hours before introducing them into the tank. I used these rocks before in the same tank before I cycled it again, so I don't know where the insects came from. I had the same exact problem last year with the same tank after it was cycled, so I asked in Petco and they said they were insects that came with the live plants. Then, all of a sudden the fleas just disappeared but now they reappeared again. Nothing was added into the tank besides gravel (that I washed several times) a few decorations (I washed really good also) and pure ammonia.

 

[cometcattle]

That is so strange!
Ever feed your fish live daphnia (water fleas)? I googled water fleas and it said the egg develop unfertilized, so all I could think of was that some of the eggs stuck to the underside of the plastic rim on the top of your tank or the hood.

Sorry, I'm really grasping.

 

[Doggfather]

i was thinking you could have fed water fleas too...but the eggs probably came from those rock you found. How they survived the cleaning though, i don't know.

Is it spring/summer where you live?

 

[smithrc]

we did a fishless cycle on the office tank.. we went on holiday for a week and came back to a coliny of tiny water fleas... the new fish loved them.

There was one peice of bogwood that was covered... everything elso was clear...