small little things...

Question
hi,

i presently changed my fish tank water and i found this little thing about as long as my thumb nail with 6 legs and a 3 fined tail swimming in the bottom of my tank. it has brown spots up the side...

if  you could just tell me what it could be i would be very pleased. and also weather i should be worried about my good tank. as i have 2, found this in the smaller one.

thanks

chris

Answer
Hi Chris;

Do they look like very very small clear lobsters? They could be a type of glass shrimp. There are many different types. Here is a link to pictures of some;

http://tinyurl.com/262p3y

If that's what you have, they are totally harmless scavengers. They usually come in our tanks attached to live plants or in bags with new fish and we don't always see them because they are so small. Nothing to worry about.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins