Pet Information > ASK Experts > Pet Fish > Freshwater Aquarium > bugs in freshwater tank

bugs in freshwater tank

23 16:14:16

Question
QUESTION: I have a 100g. aquarium with 2 large Jewel African cichlids, 1 large Electric Yellow African cichlid, 2 blood parrots, a large pleco, rubberlip pleco, and a corycat.  I perform gravel vacuuming about once a month and clean the Fluval filter at the same time.  The water stays about 75 degrees.  
The problem: I added several plants from a petstore to the tank about a month ago.  I noticed yesterday tons of tiny brown bugs on the back wall of the aquarium where I had removed plastic plants that are suctioned there.  When I knocked them off the wall and into the water they floated on top and jumped around the surface of the water, some also climbed back up the wall.  With nothing for them to hide in, the fish started eating them, but there are still a lot of them left.  I called the petstore yesterday and with looking closely at their plant tank, they determined that they had the same tiny brown bugs as well.  It's safe to say the bugs came into my tank with the plants from the petstore.  Any idea what they are or how I could get rid of them (before waiting for the fish to eat them all?  They seem to have lost interest in them since yesterday)?

ANSWER: I wonder if they are water fleas/beetle... do they look like a beetle or are they more worm like???? how many legs do they have, how many body segments are there...  You could try to treat the tank with flukes tablets... but if the insects are crawling above the water line ... then the medication wouldn't work too well.  Are any of the fish affected by the insects?  let me know... dave

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: that's how I described them to a friend...they looked like fleas the way they were jumping around.  They're definitely not worms.  It's hard to tell exactly what the body looks like, but I'd say there is one main round body and a round head.  I would also say they look something like mites.  And to be honest, they are just too small to see how many legs they have.  I don't believe the fish are effected by them whatsoever.

Answer
We get thse bugs in the store from time to time with the feeder fish that are just like you described.  Here is a website that has come pictures and information on water fleas...

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.u