HELP! What are these little bugs ?

[adrianna]

I recently noticed this little bugs in my 20 gallon tank, they came about two weeks ago but there was only a few . Yesterday I noticed there were quite a few more in the tank. i thought they were copepods , but I'm not sure anymore... Could someone let me know what they are and how to get rid of them ? ...that is if they are harmful . Also since I've start seeing more, the nitrate level has shot up. I did a 20% water change today and it has went down a little but isn't where it should be... Thanks in advance for any help Also I've attached a few pictures . Thanks again !

 

[Wyomingite]

Howdy!

Few basic questions. Have ya added any live plants? How 'bout driftwood? What fish do ya have? Are these little critters free-swimming or do they just crawl on the glass and substrate? How high are yer nitrates? That may be a coincidence, but it could be they are feedin' on algae or something else that increased in conjunction with the increased nitrates; I'd be surprised if they actually caused the nitrate spike.

Hard to say, they're so small. I've had similar lookin' little critters appear in a coupla my tanks in conjunction with increased algae growth. I really need to get a microscope.

The critters that have shown up in my tanks didn't last long once the algae was again under control. I added duckweed to absorb nutrients and reduced lighting on the tank a coupla hours a day. This is in tanks that had 5-10 ppm nitrates to start with and no fish in 'em, which is why I'm thinkin' there's a connection with the algae. Once fish were added, they disappeared. Tetras, danios, barbs, and small cichlids loved to munch 'em.

Ya didn't mention how high nitrates were, but get 'em down as low as possible. I target 10 ppm and am not happy unless they're less than 20 ppm.

WYite