White Water Fleas?

[jpedersen024]

Hoping someone here can shed some light...

I have a 5 g salt (28 sg), green water tank running with a sponge filter for amano shrimp zoes. Nothing else in the tank. Shortly after putting some algae covered leave cuttings in there to float (from my 55g freshwater) I noticed teeny white dots floating with the current. Within days the tank is TEEMING with the things. They seem to fill the water, and they zip around independantly when I shut off the filter. Slightly tear drop shaped... like little white water fleas. Overnight last night (literally) they CLEARED my green water. I can now see through it clearly. Only a green tint left.

What have I got??? Where did it come from?? How do I ensure I've gotten rid of them before I have the next batch of eggs hatch?? I don't know that they would harm the shrimp, but they obviously love the phytoplankton culture that I worked very hard to keep growing!!!

Would it have come from my freshwater plants? I am wondering if they're not rotifers... I had put a frozen cube in there a while back (weeks?). I had thought frozen = dead... am I wrong? I've never seen a bloodworm come to life?!??

Can anyone help??

 

[rhysiboy]

they are copepods calm down brilliant source of natural foods.

 

[SkiFletch]

Probably rotifers or copepods. They wont harm your shrimp

 

[jpedersen024]

Ok, all fine and wonderful.... the natural food bit, except that they have decimated the one food source that I worked SO hard to grow - my phytoplankton filled green water! And since amano zoes are microscopic, I've only seen green water listed as a food source for the first month. I'm guessing these little bugs would be too large. My 'food source' is probably going to end up in the toilet while I scrub out the tank. I have to try and get another batch of dark green phyto growing quickly as the next batch of eggs will be ready for it in a few weeks.

Already resigned to starting from scratch with things again.... but where in the world would these things come from? I need to keep them OUT of my system next time, and can't for the life of me figure out where they would have come from...??

 

[SkiFletch]

They could be resting dormant in the LR

 

[jpedersen024]

I'm assuming LR is lava rock? None in the tank. It is a bare bones (no substrate even!) quarantine tank that has been converted over to house the little guys temporarily until they can handle freshwater.

Hence my confusion. no where for anything to hide. ONLY added a few plant leaves from my freshwater tank, phyto culture, ferts, and a cube of froz rotifers.

I can only assume at this point that the rotifers were not all dead... perhaps dormant... eggs...?

Where's CSI when you need them..???

 

[AndyS]

LR is live rock, but as you say you dont have any. Yep, frozen = dead, there are no (to my knowledge) marine animals that can survive a long stint in a freezer, expecially if they have been cubed already