Freshwater Bugs Identification and course of action needed    7/26/19 Good Afternoon. I have a 100 gal freshwater tank with male peacocks, giant danios, and Synodontis petricola. Tank is established with canister and sponge filtration, lightly planted, and no new fish have been added to the tank recently. Parameters are good, a little high on nitrates but adding extra water changes. I found a number of extremely small critters just above the water line that appear to be feeding on a flake of food that stuck to the side of the glass. They move around a good bit, appear to fight with each other, but I just would like to know what they are and make sure they are no threat to my tank. The photo enclosed is very magnified. Thanks, Cindy. <Hello Cindy. These are probably members of the Collembola, colloquially known as Springtails. They're completely harmless, and as you observe, feed on organic detritus in damp areas. Most aquaria have them, but sometimes they do 'bloom' if there's a lot of food for them. If you regularly wipe down the glass above the waterline, and avoid overfeeding, you can control their numbers, But in all honesty, I'd ignore them! Cheers, Neale.>

Worm, Larvae, or other?    3/14/16 Hi There, <Matt> Just finished cycling a Fluval Edge 6 gallon aquarium after 4 weeks. I cycled with pure ammonia from Dr. Tim's Aquatics dosing 4ppm each day the ammonia read 0ppm. The tank is planted with Helianthus callitrichoides, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Vesicularia dubyana, and a few Aegagropila linnaei. I dose with Flourish Comprehensive weekly and Fluorish Excel daily with 12h/day lightning by means of my Finnex Planted+. The plants are all growing wonderfully. There are also some snails that hitched a ride on the Java Moss <http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aquarium-plant-profiles/114960-java-moss-care-sheet.html>  I purchased from my LFS <http://www.fishlore.com/fishdictionary/l.htm#lfs> , which I don't mind at the moment. <Okay> I have yet to perform a water change <http://www.fishlore.com/fishdictionary/w.htm#waterchange>  and will do so after I figure out what these pests are. First here are the water specs to get an idea of the conditions: pH 7.0 DKH <http://www.fishlore.com/fishdictionary/d.htm#dkh>  4 dGH 4 NH3, NO2 0ppm NO3 80ppm (as I said, have yet to do a water change <http://www.fishlore.com/fishdictionary/w.htm#waterchange> !) <You're disciplined!> They <Who? The worms I'll assume.> have definitely proliferated in the past few days (probably due to increased nitrate concentration), with most coming out at night and wiggling erratically at the top of the tank. Few also float in the water column during the day. The majority are translucent with some varying with brown specks. The supposed worms appear to be segmented, which leads me to believe they are of the Annelid phylum or are larvae of some kind <Likely so> and therefore not Planaria, but then again I could just be seeing things. Maybe they are some sort of Dipteran larvae? <Can you send along a well-resolved pic? The two groups of invertebrates can be discerned on close inspection> Please let me know! Thanks, Matthew <Please read here re identifying these groups: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwwormidf.htm and http://wetwebmedia.com/FWAqInsectF2.htm Bob Fenner> Re: Worm, Larvae, or other?    3/14/16 Oh yes! The most important part of the email was omitted! Here is a photo: <Ahh; these appear to be insect larvae. I'd vacuum the gravel to remove them. Bob Fenner>

Re: Worm, Larvae, or other?    3/14/16 Thanks for the help IDing them! I am planning on getting a school of 6 cardinal tetras, so I hope they will find them to be a delicious treat. <Which? I'd remove the larvae as stated... They may turn out to be fish eaters, or flying about your house... BobF>

Nematode worms       6/19/15
Dear WWM crew,
I happened upon your site following several searches to try and identify the worm-like creatures I found on the bottom of my outdoor swimming pool. I realize your site is for aquarium enthusiasts, but your specialists seem really knowledgeable about worms and larvae, unlike most of the drivel I find in "Yahoo Answer-like" web postings. Could you help identify the fast wriggling creatures in the attached video, <insect pool larv.mov> and recommend how I can get rid of them? They inhabit a 100ft long outdoor swimming pool for recreational swimming and most users would probably not like to share their swimming enjoyment with these creatures.
Thank you for your expertise!
Best regards,
Marc de Beer
<There isn't enough detail to say what sort of "worms" these are, whether annelids, nematodes, Nematomorpha or insect larvae. Nematomorphs are pretty common though, and generally harmless to us since they infect different sorts of animals. Unfortunately, chlorine levels in pools are not normally high enough to kill the durable eggs of some "worms", and insect larvae may appear repeatedly because the flies, mosquitoes and other species can come to a clean pool and lay their eggs there. In short, there isn't a one-shot chemical solution to these. Net them out, and in particular, remove potential hosts as quickly as you can to prevent possible reinfection -- typical hosts for Nematomorpha are insects including flies, crickets,
beetles and so on. Cheers, Neale.>
<From the motion of the animal in your MOV, am pretty sure this/these are insect larva/e... See WWM re. Bob Fenner>
Re: Nematode worms       6/20/15
Thank you so much!
<Welcome>
Best regards,
Marc
<Simple chlorine shocking procedure will very likely rid your system of these larval insects. BobF>

Help in identifying plant eating larvae 6/18/2013 Hi, This morning i found a larvae eating my plants. Can you help my identify it <Mmm, an intermediate form/metamorphosis of some aquatic insect> my water plant shop reseller haven't seen this in the past. Its about 1 inch long, and transparent.(not green like in picture) when i removed it from water, it shrank and lost its internal water. I don't have any fish in the tank yet. I started it only 10 days ago. I assume it was a hitchhiker on one of the plants and therefore i can expect more. <Likely so> If so, i want to know if its dangerous to fish as well as eating my plants.... <Best to poison, remove... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwaqinsectfaqs.htm i was planning to add fish in two weeks but would like to do a water treatment in advance if necessary. <Yes, I would. An acetylcholinesterase inhibitor... As you'll read... an insecticide. Bob Fenner; fresh out of time> thanks David

Re: Help in identifying plant eating larvae  6/19/2013 Thanks for your quick reply. acetylcholinesterase inhibitors which are insecticides can be dangerous to my plants ? or biological filter ? Its an organic phosphor molecule ? how should i use it ? <... please learn to/use the search tool, indices on WWM: Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/organophosphatefaqs.htm and related (arthropods) here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwcrustdisfaqs.htm Which companies sell them for aquarium purposes ? Tetra ? Sera ? Seachem ? What is the safe dosage for a 120 Liter aquarium. should i wait a few weeks before taking this drastic measure and see if i have more of these pests ? <I wouldn't> i am not in a hurry . though my two daughters are impatient to see fishes swimming in the tank :) sorry for throwing all those questions on you. Regards, David <No worries. Just short of time today. BobF>

Planted Tank, fish sel. for pest control 11/9/11
Dear WWM,
Usually this would concern marine topics, however I do have a 20 gallon freshwater planted. My goal when I purchased it was to make a tank that would be almost self sufficient, obviously it needs water added on occasion due to evaporation and flow provided, my end product has a small heater, and filter, and standard light (also receives ample sunlight). Stocked with Micro Sword which is growing across that tank; Amazon Sword that has more than doubled in size and number of leaves; Argentine Swords which grow and are a nice back drop, Java Fern slow growing, and what I believe to be a Ludwigia peruensis that likes to loose leaves every time new ones grow in.
I also have two Apple Snails, Six Ghost shrimp that keep having babies whom I can never find. I would assume this is due to the free swimming larva encountering the filter. One common Pleco. I also have gnats that like to land and die in the water much to my dismay. Is there a fish I could get that would not have a high demand or be over-whelming to my tank that would eat the gnats and algae? The algae I already identified to be Green Spot Algae rather than a non-photosynthetic type. Thanks.
Bryce
<Depending on water temperature and water chemistry, something from the killifish or livebearer groups would seem most appropriate here. At low-end tropical temperatures, Florida Flagfish can make excellent algae eaters.
They're territorial but not especially aggressive. Other pupfish-type Killies might be used depending on their availability in your area.
Livebearers are good for tanks with moderately hard to hard water. Alfaro cultratus is an exception, doing well in soft water, though it is difficult to breed and eats mostly insects rather than algae. On the other hand, Limia nigrofasciata is an excellent algae-eater and unusual enough that passing on excess fry is easy to do. The Dwarf Mosquitofish, Heterandria formosa, would be an excellent choice for your tank, being so small it'd have minimal impact on water quality unless you kept hundreds. Naturally, you could go with plain vanilla livebearers too, such as Endler's. Just as an aside, the Plec has no place in this tank and will cause trouble before long; neither will it do much/anything to hold back algae. Replace with an Ancistrus instead; these are smaller, reasonably good algae eaters, and very easy to keep. Otocinclus might be an option too, but they're delicate, dislike warm water, easily starved, and often die within a few months or a year of purchase. Cherry Shrimps are much easier to breed, and they're also more colourful, and in my opinion the best all-around shrimps for most tanks. Do bear in mind that Green Spot Algae isn't going to be removed by any fish. To deal with this algae type, you want to adopt a preventative approach, perhaps through a combination of physical removal of what you have now, Nerite snails for scraping away new colonies before they start, and the use of fast-growing plants (ideally, floating plants) to inhibit algal growth. Cheers, Neale.>

Yellow Bugs in Tank -- 8/20/09 <Hello Tiffany, Lynn here this morning.> We have a 40 gal tank that's well established, 4+ years. <Freshwater, saltwater, or brackish?> About two weeks ago I noticed some tiny yellow bugs on the glass walls hanging out above the water line. If I go to touch or remove them they hop or jump out of the way, either to another spot on the wall or on top of the water. I can't see any in the water. <Okay> I tried to take a pic but you can't see them in the picture. Approx. size of salt grains. Population has gotten larger this week. What are they? <Most likely nothing bad, but I need more information. I need to know the water type and anything else you can tell me to describe the 'bugs'. If you have a magnifying glass, get that out and take a good look at one. Tell me what you see. I can appreciate how difficult it would be to get a photo of these little guys, but if you're able to, please send it along!> How do I get rid of them or prevent in future? <Again, they may be completely harmless, but I imagine you could wipe out quite a few by taking a quick swipe across the glass with a clean, plain white (one with no dyes/designs on it), paper towel. For those on top of the water, get another piece (or length) of paper toweling (just a bit longer than the tank is wide), grasp both ends and drag across the surface. That should pick up quite a few as well. Repeat as necessary.> I just spent an hour or so reading through posts and can't find anything on yellow bugs like this. Hope you can help... Tiffany J. <Take care, LynnZ> Help with ID query, please? 8/22/09 Hello Bob and fellow crew members, <Hey Lynn!> I need a hand, please. I answered a query the other day titled "Yellow Bugs in Tank - 8/20/09". The querior had great numbers of tiny yellow bugs hopping all over the glass above the waterline. In the reply, I requested more information, including water type, and received a follow-up today. Ends up, it's a FW system and I have no idea what the little bugs might be. Has anyone run across these before? I placed the query in the FW folder. Thank you so much for your help! Take care, -LynnZ <Will respond. BobF> Re: Help with ID query, please? Thank you so much, Bob! -Lynn <Thank you Lynn. B> Re: yellow bugs in tank Sorry its freshwater, only has 4 fish in the tank, I've been wiping every other day with plain paper towel to no avail. The sentence in the original email should state, I cannot see any swimming in the fish tank, only some occasionally on the surface of the water when I try to get rid of them. I can't get a close up picture of them b/c the camera keeps trying to focus and zooms out to do so. They appear to have 6 legs and 2 antenna's each. <Ahh, a good description... These are almost doubtless insects of some sort. The adults have "flown in" to reproduce in your aquarium> And their body shape reminds me of the bugs you build in the game called cooties! <Heee!> IE it has a few segments and the butt section is kinda heart shaped. Tiffany J. <Wiping these off the edge with clean, white, non-scented paper towels should rid your system of them over a short while. Bob Fenner>

Re: yellow bugs in tank -- 08/23/09 I've been wiping them off every other day for a couple weeks now with no success. Is there anything non toxic to fish I can use like maybe vinegar? <Not Vinegar, aka Acetic Acid... there are organophosphates that are sold at times/places as "remedies" that are toxic to Arthropods mostly, but I would not "stoop" to their use here> I even tried to let them dry up about two weeks ago <Mmm, look to screening the room windows and tank top... new adults are "sneaking in" and reproducing in your tank> when I changed the water and waited over 2 hours to refill the water after wiping the walls down till they were dry and letting them sit that way for the 2 hours. thanks for the help or any ideas! Tiffany J. <BobF>

Fly Larvae in Turtle Tank, shoo fly, shoo 6/29/2011
Dear Crew,
<Hiya! Darrel here>
I have a problem with larvae getting into the filters.
<I hate when that happens>
I know there's been questions like this asked but normally they describe white circles or worms that swim around in the water and are parasites.
<A parasite swimming around in the water sounds more like my brother-in-law on vacation in Hawaii>
I know that the larvae grow up to be some type of flying insect, not sure what kind but they look almost like fruit flies. So here's the deal:
<OK>
I have a year 1/2 old Red Eared Slider who resides in a 20 gallon aquarium with a waterfall type filter and a real log.
<Real wood gets really waterlogged and grows real fungus eventually. An alternative might be some sort of rock or plasticized wood often sold in aquarium stores for tank decoration>
There have been dark black-brown worm-like larvae crawling on the filters when I clean the tank every week 1/2 - 2 weeks. I'm not sure when they start to develop but by the week 1/2 point there is normally one or two types of flies surrounding the tank;
<Sounds attractive, huh?>
While some may be getting in from outside and being attracted to the heat lamp, the larvae have been growing on the filters for a couple months and the filters have been replaced every time I've cleaned them. Do you know what this could be caused by?
<Yes>
He eats Omega One Adult Turtle Sticks and the filters seem to have a type of rock in them and are white rectangles.
<Ceramic cells that encourage bio-filtration>
I'm not sure of the brand at this time.
<Many brands '¦ same stuff>
He was found in a pipeline in a steel mill and rescued by my half-sister's dad who gave him to us.
<Thanks, Dad!! That was really nice of you.>
Thanks for your help, and sorry if this has been asked already!
<No apologies necessary, Courtney. It happens all the time>
<The answer is most likely that you've never fully killed the eggs, so some hatch and pupate before you even notice and in turn mature and lay new eggs.>
<So here's what I'd do: Take Piper ('cuz you'd name a turtle from a pipe Piper, right?) out of the tank and find him a new place to live for a few days. Someplace warm and DRY. We're going to keep him out of water except for 15 minutes a day when you put him in a shallow container of water with a bit of food. He'll eat & drink and hopefully he'll poop. If he poops in the container water, which you're flushing - any eggs in his digestive tract will be eliminated from the cycle. If he poops in his dry box, the eggs will likely not hatch anyway, but you're still cleaning that up daily.>
<Meanwhile, leave his tank intact. Water to the regular "full" level and maybe even an inch more. Add 1 cup of chlorine bleach per approximate gallon of water. Even a bit more is OK as long as you can ventilate the room so no one breathes the fumes. It's important that you leave the filters on and running during this process. What we want to do is kill the larvae and eggs everywhere -- inside the tubes, down in the impeller -- all the places you'd never reach with even the most thorough cleaning. After 24 hours, you can drain the water, break the system down and clean everything. Rinse, use soap and water, rinse again & then set it back up.>
<Let it run clean & sterile for another 3 days, then put Piper back in. Chances are that you'll have broken the larvae cycle>
<How was THAT as an answer on a scale of 1 to 10???>

Ftn. leeches?? 12/17/10
I have found small red worms that strongly resemble ones discussed on these two pages http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/tapewmfwf.htm
http://www.viaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?1679-Callamanus-worms-%28red-worms-from-fish-s-anus%29-Problem-Solution
in a freshwater outdoor water fountain (with no fish). When I go to change the water every other day or so they float up and are swept out of the fountain and into the flowerbed. Birds use the fountain to drink and I imagine that mammals use it at night. I have red wriggler earthworms and decollet snails in the yard also, but never find them in the water fountain.
My questions are;
Are they harmful to birds, cats or skunks etc?
<Can't tell with the information presented... All Leeches are parasitic...
can't/don't live long w/o hosts. Do yours show segmentation, suckers?>
If they are harmful how do I eliminate them?
<Simple bleach>
Is it possible to 'dose' the water to prevent their return?
<Depends on the source...>
I don't currently have a pet but when I did she did drink out of the fountain, when I get another will I have to prevent it from doing this?
<Doubtful>
Thanks, Pam Kelso
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Re: leeches?? 12/18/10
Thank you for the reply. In rummaging around the internet after I sent this to you I think that I have identified the culprits. They are midge fly larvae, bloodworms.
<Ahh! Quite common to have such insects w/ aquatic larval stages using water features opportunistically. And not a disease issue>
Because I clean out the fountain every few days I never saw them at maturity and they were always small and non-segmented. I know that we have midge flies so I think that solves it. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.
Pam Kelso
<Welcome. BobF>

Damselfly nymph 10/10/10
Greetings!
I have a 20g long shrimp only tank with a medium-fine gravel substrate, planted with Sagittaria, hornwort, java fern (medium density). 2x 18w bulbs, nothing out of the ordinary. Housing maybe 20 RCS, 15% water change weekly. pH ~ 7.6, all chemistries 0. I have found myself a damselfly nymph (am led to believe is this, and not dragonfly, due to longer, more slender body). Question is, are they detrimental to RCS population? I have removed one I saw (is roughly 1' long), do not see others. Is this a 'keep eyes open for more and take out as needed' deal, or something more drastic? I don't want to break this tank down for this. Any advice appreciated.
Brandon
<Brandon, Damselfly nymphs are predators, and they will eat very small animals of all types, including fish fry. Whether they can actually kill an adult shrimp is questionable, but they might take juveniles. Of course Damselfly nymphs do need to eat *something*, so unless you're providing suitable live or wet-frozen food for them -- they suck the juices out using their jaws -- it's probably best to move the nymph to a pond nearby. They're neat animals, and the adults are beautiful and in some cases endangered. One last thing, Damselfly nymphs are distinct from Dragonfly nymphs in having three breathing tubes at the tail-end of their abdomen, structures that Dragonfly nymphs lack. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Damselfly nymph 10/10/10
Indeed a damselfly nymph then.
<Good.>
I have moved said nymph to another location, but in the absence of naked-eye visible ones, is it likely there are more?
<Unlikely. This is indoors? Unless you have damselflies flying around your home, it's most likely this one came via plants or live food, both of which can be cultivated outdoors or in large glasshouses where damselflies might be buzzing about.>
I suppose it's just a keep watch, remove as needed affair?
<Yep.>
Probably half my shrimp are berried at various stages, so I don't believe population-wise the nymphs will pose an issue, unless they appear in large numbers. Just keep eyes open and remove PRN?
<Pretty much. They're such neat animals, you might even choose to keep one as a pet. Some remain in their nymph form for months, even a couple of years, depending on water temperature. I've used forceps to feed them wet-frozen bloodworms, and various small live foods such as glassworms will be taken, so they aren't difficult to maintain. Cheers, Neale.>

Mysterious white worms (in a freshwater tank) 3/10/10
Good morning!
I am a first time WWM email user. And I find your website tons of help! I have a question. This morning I cleaned my fish tank and I saw tiny white worm-like creatures on the glass of the fish tank.
<Likely free-living nematodes and planarians. Not in themselves dangerous, but a sign that this tank gets too much food and not enough cleaning, since they feed on uneaten fish food (among other things). In most tanks you might find a few, but not enough to notice. If there are obviously lots and lots of them, then you have a problem.>
Also while I was using my siphon I stirred the gravel a little bit and 1-2 inch white worms and my angelfish and guppies started to have a feast, when I looked in my bucket I saw 50 maybe 100 of them and I'm worried. They swim in kind of a S shape and when they stick to the glass they move kind of like an inch worm. Kind of creepy.
<Just nature mopping up the mess you're making. Like cockroaches in a kitchen.>
I also tried a parasite med. But. I don't think that worked ;(
<Why would it? These aren't parasites. More significantly, trying to kill a bunch of animals in your aquarium means you're going to end up with lots of decay, and that means poor water quality. Imagine if you killed off a nest of rats with rat poison, but just left the bodies to rot. Bad. The correct approach here is to ignore the worms, and instead control their numbers so the population dies back over time. How do you do that? By limiting the amount of food they get to eat. Feed in sensible amounts, don't overstock your tanks, and remove uneaten food at once.>
Thank you for your time helping me!
<Cheers, Neale.>

Worms 09/04/2008 Hi I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank it is a fairly new tank only been up for about 7 weeks.. I just got done battling ick on my swordtail fry and then today I noticed these brown worm looking things on the glass of the tank near the top ,but they were not in the water at the time I found them they were actually just above the surface.. I wiped them off but not sure if they are a worm or some type of insect larvae.. I have attached 2 photos, not the best because they are very small.. I tried looking it up myself but all I can find is references to white worms which these are not white.. Are they harmful? I already did a 20% water change while vacuuming the gravel today.. Thanks Trish <Hello Trish. The "worm" in question appears to be an insect larva. Certainly to my eyes it seems to be segmented and possesses small appendages of various types. In other words, a maggot. No immediate threat to the fish, but a good sign that there's a lot of decaying organic material somewhere in or around the tank. Otherwise the parent fly (or whatever) wouldn't have laid its eggs here. So time for an early spring clean! Cheers, Neale.> Re: worms 09/04/2008 Thank You.. I did vacuum the gravel out today after finding the worm like things.. and there was a lot of food in the gravel.. I didn't realize I was overfeeding , I only feed them once a day but I guess I need to cut down on the amount I am giving each day.. Thanks so much for your speedy response. Trish <Hi Trish. Overfeeding is easy to do, and much more difficult than to under-feed! Remember the two golden rules: Firstly, little but often. Snacking is better than gorging. The fish are more likely to eat all the food, and they'll also extract more nutrition with less wastage. Secondly, use the minimum quantity, and it should all be gone within a minute (for the average greedy community fish). Remove anything leftover; a turkey baster is a great tool for this, allowing you to pipette out stuff without buckets or getting your hands wet. Cheers, Neale.>

Bugs in tank 4/27/07 I have a 50 gallon tank that we fill to about 47 gallons because we have a fire-bellied toad. Recently, I have seen tons of extremely small darker colored bugs jumping along the surface and sitting on the tops of our lily pads. <These aren't bugs (i.e., not Hemiptera) but some other type of insect, most likely collembolans or some other very primitive, moisture-loving insect.> The problem is that they seem to really be bothering our toad because he tries to stay in the water most of the time now. <Sounds very unlikely. Collembolans eat decaying plant matter, and pose no threat to a toad. This is a case of two things happening at the same time, but not actually being related. Check water quality, humidity, whether they have enough land, scary things like loud noises, etc.> What can I do to get rid of these things so he will not be so miserable and what could they be. <You can't get rid of them any more than ridding your garden of ants. They're harmless so don't worry too much. If you truly have a plague of them, then consider what they're eating: if there's lots of food for them, they'll multiply; if the tank is kept clean, they will die off or move elsewhere to find food. You have populations of these collembolans all over the house, particularly the kitchen and bathrooms, where it is warm and damp. At night especially they "spring" about looking for new resources, and it sounds like your toad-arium has just what they want.> Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kimberly Boling <Cheers, Neale>

Worms In The Aquarium/Flies In The House 1/8/07 Hello, I am a fan of your site and have always been able to figure out what was going on in my aquarium by looking at your pages but I'm now having an issue that I can't find any info on. I seem to have tiny worms growing in my aquarium, which eventually mature into tiny flies. Do Planaria do this? I don't think so. I have looked around on the web and cannot seem to find any info. A friend of mine has noticed white spots on her aquarium, which I would imagine to be Planaria, but she says she also has noticed tiny flies around her apartment. I do not have white spots in my aquarium and the worms themselves are not white, but more of a reddish brown colour. I have already begun daily water changes and gravel vacuuming as suggested for removing Planaria. I have also cut back feeding. Just wondering if any of you could offer any suggestions as to what these little creatures might be. I have actually witnessed the transformation from tiny worm, to tiny tadpolish thing to finally a tiny fly sitting on top of the water right before my very eyes. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you for your time. Amy < There are many insects that have an aquatic stage to their life cycle. They could have come in with the gravel, plants or the food. The aquatic stages can all be killed with Fluke-Tabs. This medication will kill all the invertebrates in the tank.-Chuck>

Oscar question... insects on light lid 12/29/06 Hi, <Greetings> My name is Nicole I ran across your site while searching for an answer for something going on in my Oscar tank. I have two Oscars, they are both around 7 inches, I've had them for several months. They are also in a 75 gallon tank with a bottom feeder. The past month I have been noticing little bugs on the light lid, inside of their tank. All of their levels are fine, I change their water weekly sometime bi-weekly. Both of them are healthy, they eat plenty they love each other. I just can't seem to figure out what are these bugs, how are they there, why are they there, and how to get rid of them. I don't want my fish to get sick. Please help me! ~Nicole M <Mmm, likely an "outside" insect... I would simply wipe these off with a damp, plain paper towel when you see them... They should "go" with such maintenance in a short period of time. Bob Fenner>