Bugs in my tank

[prettywolf]

Their really small and white and kind of ovally looking... they seem to hang out mostly on the gravel but also on some of the silk plants that I have and they seem to swim around a lot... my fish don't eat them that I've seen but then again im not always around the tank. I couldn't get any pictures of them because I don't have a proper camara and only have the one on my phone which won't take good pictures. What are they? And will they harm anything in the tank?

 

[joy13]

There is several things it could be hopefully this will help
What's that bug? How to recognize them
Once you are able to identify it you can find out how to deal with it or even if it needs to be dealt with.

 

[blackomen]

Oh gosh, I'm glad I haven't seen any of those things in my tank. Kinda cool but some of those would make me worry even if they claim to be harmless. I don't know if it's just cause I pwc atleast once a week or cause I bleach my plants before I put them in my tank but I'm happy the only things I can see is what I've meant to put in there. Good luck, what are your water parameters and how often do you do a pwc? Do you bleach your plants when you get them or just toss them in you tank?

 

[prettywolf]

I haven't been able to check parameters yet. I'm doing water chages once a week but I might start doing it twice a week with these bugs to try to get them to go away.
The plants that go in there I make sure to rinse really well in vinegar and water. I haven't heard of using bleach to clean the plants before putting them in there I might have to start doing that.

 

[dkpate]

Make sure you get the bleach solution and rinsing part from someone too, cause bleach, as you know, will kill your fish.
Good luck! Did you check out that site Joy posted?

 

[jsoong]

Bleach can also kill plants ... pretty much all without stomata (like vals, hornwort, etc ... all the Excel sensitive plants) will be killed with a bleach dip. And if you don't neutralize the bleach fast enough (with dechlor), you can kill hardier plants as well. Potassium Permanganate is far safer for the plants & fish.

Personally, I don't go to extremes to eliminate critters. You are developing an ecosystem in your tank & you will find all sorts of critters in it in time. Almost all are harmless. It is far more interesting than a sterile jar with specimen fish IMO.