Diatoms and small white critters

[adadkins1]

I have been trying to keep my diatom problem controlled in my 5 gallon for a couple days by scrubbing down the inside of the tank. They are still on the gravel so I moved my zebra nerite in to hopefully clean up. Now I just looked in and saw these little white "bugs" on the tank walls. There are just specks, but I was wondering what they are and how to get rid of them.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Most likely planaria. Usually a result of over feeding and not gravel vac'ing enough.

 

[adadkins1]

Oops, do you think it may have to do with the fact that the tank is still cycling? They are in my betta's tank, and he does not miss any food. I will make sure to do more pwc's and gravel vac's.

 

[Shadowraven]

Can you provide a good picture of them with a more detailed description? I may be able to identify what they are then.

 

[adadkins1]

Can't really get a good picture of them because they are so small. They are tiny, about as small as a speck of dust. They don't move like planaria, it is more of a "walking" motion, like an army of small white ants in my tank.

 

[Shadowraven]

Are they only on the glass? They are inside the tank under the water right? I'm thinking that these may be copepods. I'll get a picture off my computer and post it in a few minutes.

 

[Shadowraven]

Here is some pictures. You may need a magnifier to see the ones you have at home better. I thought that isopods were a possibility too, so I added some pictures of them as well.

Mixed copepods (the small ones) and isopods (the larger ones)

A variety of copepod

Close-up of an isopod

Close-up of the copepod daphnia

If it is any of these, then they are completely harmless.

 

[adadkins1]

I believe they are some of those. There are large and small, I believe some may even be free-floating in the water column. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them and the diatoms? Thanks for the ID.

 

[adadkins1]

Now I have a type of white mold/fungus looking stuff growing on my cabomba. I don't know why I am having so many problems with this tank. What can I do to get rid of copepods, diatoms, and fungus?

 

[Shadowraven]

The copepods should go away on their own or disappear when the fish eat them. You're likely having so many problems because of water quality. You said that the tank is still cycling, so there are a lot of nutrients for the bad guys to eat.

Check your water parameters and see where you stand there. Be careful about vacuuming the gravel right now because you need the bacteria that are in it. Concentrate on water quality by doing 30-50% PWC to keep your numbers down. You may even want to take a look at the thread link below which has some good information about cycling a tank.

I'm not an expert on plants, but I'd say the cabomba is toast. If it has fungus on it, you need to get it out of there before it affects the betta too.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/the-almost-complete-guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html