Almost microscopic hoppy things

[Cactuspixie]

I just did another water change on my shrimp tank (the one I've been having ongoing deaths of what appear to be perfectly healthy shrimp) and this time, when I inspected the contents of the white bucket I siphon into (checking for baby shrimp) I saw some creatures I've never seen before. I figure they have to be either a) teeny weeny baby shrimp, or b) parasites that are responsible for the recent deaths.

They are SO tiny, that at first I couldn't see them- I just detected a rapid darting movement. They move so fast I'm not sure if they are even 'hopping' in the water. I noticed one that was larger than the others, but even with magnifying glasses I couldn't really describe them to you. I took a video of them, but they are just so small, they are hard for me to spot amongst the debris.

So I'm faced with two options- tip them back in the tank in case they're shrimp, or blitz the tank in case they're parasites.

Has anyone got a clue what these might be (even just a vague idea that will point me in the direction of further research? Thanks!

 

[Smcoyle87]

They are called ostracos and are harmless, however, they can easily infest a tank. I had a 15g tank that got overrun by them and ended up redoing it. :-(
'They' say that fish will eat them, but mine didn't. I hope you can find an answer!

Ostracod - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Cactuspixie]

They are called ostracos and are harmless, however, they can easily infest a tank. I had a 15g tank that got overrun by them and ended up redoing it. :-(
'They' say that fish will eat them, but mine didn't. I hope you can find an answer!

Ostracod - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you!
I recently purchased some java moss- they must have come with that. It's a relief to know they are not parasites, but darn! It was a lot of java moss and I distributed it amongst 5 tanks! Aargh :-(

As for my fish eating them- I'd probably have to starve them for a week to make them want to bother chasing down such minute morsels!