Green Water Critters ?

[Autumnsky]

So I have a grow out bucket I leave outside in nice weather.

It got moved by a family member into an area that got too much direct sun and got hair algae. So I moved it back to a shadier area (which still gets a little sun a couple weeks ago) and now found I have a bucket teaming with little critters. Not mosquitos, lol.

My question is if I take a scoop of the green water and critters, will it ruin my nice crystal clear tank. Or am I better off netting them to feed to my CPD's, Green Neons, Chili Rasboras and Scarlet Gem Badis (with Neo shrimp)?

A lot faster to scoop up a cup than net.

 

[toddnbecka]

Whatever critters you scoop up and put into the tank will be munched long before they have any chance of multiplying sufficiently to cloud your water.

 

[Autumnsky]

What about the algae water, should I just scoop out with a cup, pour through a dense fabric net. The water is slightly green now, more yellow greennot like pea soup or an algae swamp. Would the green water be a food source as well.

Would the liquid part or even the slurry from pouring in the water from the cup in the new, be a problem to cause the water in the tank to turn "swampy" looking?

I have such beautifully clear water in the Edge 6.6G, I am scared to add algae particles into it.

 

[toddnbecka]

Green water is green because it's loaded with Euglena, a protist, not actually algae. Anything not caught in a brine shrimp net is going to be microscopic, too small for fish to notice (unless they're really tiny fry.) Cloudy water in a new tank is usually a result of a bacterial population imbalance that clears up as it sorts itself out. Adding a cupful of green water and assorted critters won't throw your entire tank out of balance. What sort of filtration are you running? A simple air-driven sponge filter will usually maintain crystal clear water IME.

 

[Autumnsky]

Green water is green because it's loaded with Euglena, a protist, not actually algae. Anything not caught in a brine shrimp net is going to be microscopic, too small for fish to notice (unless they're really tiny fry.) Cloudy water in a new tank is usually a result of a bacterial population imbalance that clears up as it sorts itself out. Adding a cupful of green water and assorted critters won't throw your entire tank out of balance. What sort of filtration are you running? A simple air-driven sponge filter will usually maintain crystal clear water IME.

Stock equipment 12G Edge, Blue Velvets, CPD's and Green Neons and 6.6G Edge tank, a handful of Fire Red shrimp, Chili Rasboras and Scarlet Gem Badis, 2 babies and one adult. Established for almost 1 year for the 12G and 2.5 years for the 6.6G as a shrimp tank. As a side note, I have 10 baby CPD's in QT right now too. Plenty of Ramshorn snails and Trumpet snails, Malaysian and Floridian (from Florida).

 

[Fishfur]

Green water does often have a lot of Euglena in it, but it can also have any of several species of single cell algaes, like chlorella or nannochloropsus. Pouring single cell algae into a clean tank will temporarily cloud it but the filter will soon remove most of it.

Very tiny fry eat single cell algaes when they first finish their yolk sacs. They also eat bacteria, other protists and infusorians. The critters you have in your 'soup' are ideal food for fish, and especially for very small fry, like CPD fry are. People actually culture this stuff on purpose to feed fish.

I'd try to avoid getting any of the filamentous [ hairlike] algaes in the tank, as they might take up residence, but the critters will be eagerly eaten. Those that don't get eaten right away, being aquatic, will survive and thus, not pollute the water.

They'll get eaten later, and while some may well succeed in reproducing, so long as there are fish to eat them, numbers should never get high enough to cloud water. Most of the cloudiness is probably single cell algaes and euglena, as was said.

 

[Autumnsky]

Green water does often have a lot of Euglena in it, but it can also have any of several species of single cell algaes, like chlorella or nannochloropsus. Pouring single cell algae into a clean tank will temporarily cloud it but the filter will soon remove most of it.

Very tiny fry eat single cell algaes when they first finish their yolk sacs. They also eat bacteria, other protists and infusorians. The critters you have in your 'soup' are ideal food for fish, and especially for very small fry, like CPD fry are. People actually culture this stuff on purpose to feed fish.

I'd try to avoid getting any of the filamentous [ hairlike] algaes in the tank, as they might take up residence, but the critters will be eagerly eaten. Those that don't get eaten right away, being aquatic, will survive and thus, not pollute the water.

They'll get eaten later, and while some may well succeed in reproducing, so long as there are fish to eat them, numbers should never get high enough to cloud water. Most of the cloudiness is probably single cell algaes and euglena, as was said.

Good to know, I kinda wish I had a microscope handy .

Do you think mosquito larve eat them too. I went to get some yesterday and there were much fewer of them and there were some Mosquito larve, which netted out. I know they are good for fish too. (though there are planty of them and don't really want to raise mosquitos. will have to make sure ai got them all and put a net on it

 

[Fishfur]

Mosquito larvae eat a lot of things. Algae & bacteria are among the things they eat. They make excellent fish food, and if fish eat them before they become skeeters, we all win .
Fish will also eat the pupae of mosquitoes, as they are not hard, like some pupae become.

 

[Autumnsky]

That was fun!

I had the mosqito larve netted in a different spot as I wasn't sure about the algae cells yesterday so I plopped them into a tank with a full grown Betta and a Diamond Tetra, and the Betta which I thought would jump on it like a maniac swam right past 2x! The Diamond Tetra only had to notice them wiggling and sucked it up fast!, then found another and looked like it was gonna start doing flips, it was so happy, and then shot down and found the 3rd!

Pretty rewarding experience, especially since they won't be biting me! I am going mosquito larva hunting in a minute. I know they wouldn't last a second in my Angel tank!

 

[Fishfur]

I wish I could find some skeeter larvae. Of all the live foods I have given a certain picky Betta fish, skeeters were by the far his fave. But living in the city, on the tenth floor, means they are hard to come by.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I have been trying to purposely culture mosquito larvae in a 5g bucket in my yard. I started it off with conditioned tap water, some fish food, some leaves, and an algae covered rock. It's been about a week and so far no larvae! I read they feed on green water, and the water just turned green yesterday so maybe that means momma mosquitoes will start to recognize it as a good place to lay some eggs soon
I'm excited to give my fish their first live food!


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[jetajockey]

Around here they spawn in any kind of standing water (even something like a soda can), so keeping them away is harder than getting them to show up.

 

[Khuligirl93]

With how many buzz around me when I step outside, I'd think that too! (I'm in Kansas City). I've been very surprised that they haven't found my bucket yet.


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