And I thought fishless cycling was going to be boring.

[Salukie]

There's so much going on in my tank, I can't even believe it!

Fungus, algae, diatoms, copepods, nematodes, bloodworms, and snails!

My tank is crawling with all of these! Where did they all come from? The plants? The piece of shrimp I put in to cycle the tank?

The driftwood?

Man, will my cherry shrimp and tetras ever have a delicious buffet when I finally put them in there!

Now if this tank could finish cycling already!

[Salukie]

Diatoms!

I'm gonna see if I can suck some up in a pipette and look at them under the microscope.

[Salukie]

Copepod!

[Fresh2o]

The drift wood can "sprout" harmless fungus even after you've boiled it. Most likely those inverts came from the plants. Many users use a peroxide dip to rid plants of snail eggs and other hitch hikers. When my tank was cycling I saw a similar group of creatures. They are probably feeding off the shrimp as well.

[Salukie]

Bloodworm on the heater!

[Salukie]

Snail! I call this one Rambo!

[Salukie]

Snail eggs on a dead wisteria leaf.

[Salukie]

Originally Posted by Fresh2o

The drift wood can "sprout" harmless fungus even after you've boiled it. Most likely those inverts came from the plants. Many users use a peroxide dip to rid plants of snail eggs and other hitch hikers. When my tank was cycling I saw a similar group of creatures. They are probably feeding off the shrimp as well.

They look like they're having a grand old time!

I've got mopani driftwood which I heard is famous for producing fungus.

[Mebbid]

Looks like a crazy amount of life in the tank. I never noticed anything other than pond snails growing in my tank but then took my moss out to get some shrimp out of my tank and saw TONS of bugs come out of it. It was kind of neat.

[KTpoopenstein]

Originally Posted by Mebbid

Looks like a crazy amount of life in the tank. I never noticed anything other than pond snails growing in my tank but then took my moss out to get some shrimp out of my tank and saw TONS of bugs come out of it. It was kind of neat.

I'm a little scared to find out what might be lurking in the java moss I just acquired from eBay...numerous listings said they had snails so I stayed away from those but we'll see...it's only been in the tank a couple of days.

[Salukie]

Well, it appears I have hydra now, too! Can you see them on the driftwood?
They're probably feeding on all the copepods in my tank.

Now, I can see these hydra guys snacking on baby shrimp and tetra fry but can they harm full grown fish and shrimp?

I've got some brine shrimp whizzing around the tank now, as well (I've been trying to photograph one for 30 min now) and they seem fine swimming past the hydra. In their defense, those brine shrimp are fast little buggers!

I've also got tons of little white bugs crawling around on the glass. They're microscopic. Like half a millimeter. I can't tell what they are.

I can't decide wether I'm amazed or grossed out by all these things in my aquarium.

[Salukie]

Got a better picture.

[Fresh2o]

Originally Posted by Salukie

Well, it appears I have hydra now, too! Can you see them on the driftwood?
They're probably feeding on all the copepods in my tank.

Now, I can see these hydra guys snacking on baby shrimp and tetra fry but can they harm full grown fish and shrimp?

I've got some brine shrimp whizzing around the tank now, as well (I've been trying to photograph one for 30 min now) and they seem fine swimming past the hydra. In their defense, those brine shrimp are fast little buggers!

I've also got tons of little white bugs crawling around on the glass. They're microscopic. Like half a millimeter. I can't tell what they are.

I can't decide wether I'm amazed or grossed out by all these things in my aquarium.

It's sounds like a jungle in there!
I had hydra as well but they pretty have vanished. I think the hydra were feeding off of the Copepods and when the pods population dropped off, so did the hydra.
Hydra should not be a problem for fish and adult shrimp. For baby shrimp they could pose a threat.

Are you sure they are brine shrimp? The only thing that I am aware of that resembles brine shrimp in FW are fairy shrimps. Could the possibly be scuds/amphipods/Gammarus? Scuds swim and crawl and their bodies curl up under them.

I think the tiny white bugs could be seed shrimp or Ostracods. Harmless.

[Salukie]

Hey fresh2o!

Ostracods! As far as my eyes can make out, that's what those white bugs are! Thanks!

Now for the "brine shrimp", sheesh! I don't know anymore. I googled all those things you mentioned including brine shrimp and they don't look anything like them!

What the heck are these things? Weird!

I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow.

[Salukie]

Okay, so whatever this thing is, it appears to be molting. I caught a dead exoskeleton. You can't really see in the pic but it has 6 legs.

The live one was brown and had white "fuzz" (whiskers?) on either side of its head.

Any ideas of what this might be?

[KTpoopenstein]

Originally Posted by Salukie

Okay, so whatever this thing is, it appears to be molting. I caught a dead exoskeleton. You can't really see in the pic but it has 6 legs.

The live one was brown and had white "fuzz" (whiskers?) on either side of its head.

Any ideas of what this might be?

Lord that thing looks like something out of the X-files! How big is it?

[Salukie]

Originally Posted by KTpoopenstein

Lord that thing looks like something out of the X-files! How big is it?

Eek! Should I call Mulder and Scully?

It's about 8 mm long.

[Salukie]

OMG!! These things are sprouting wings!! There are tons of them on the water surface!

When I lifted the lid, A BRAND NEW MOSQUITO FLEW OUT!!!

I'm breeding mosquitoes! GAH!!

I'm freaking out.

[Salukie]

I found a whole nest of 'em!
Operation mosquito larva eradication has begun!

I can't believe that I thought these things were shrimp.

At least now I know what mosquito larva looks like.
This has been a real educational experience for me.

[Khazmachi]

Everything in this thread was pretty awesome until I saw mosquitoes ha ha. Just about the last thing I'd want to happened.