Tiny White/Clear bugs Everywhere

[Ladyamc]

Hello,

There are hundreds of tiny, tiny white bugs in my Texas Cichlids aquarium. They crawl all over the glass and throughout the rocks. I just did a 30% water change yesterday and check both the Nitrate and PH of my aquarium. Both turned out avg. These little bugs are not crawling on my fish, though they seem to annoy him (but so do the plants and filter tube. hehe)

Are these harmful? Even if they aren't is there an easy way to get rid of them. It looks as though the fish tank has a bad case of chicken pox.



- 7 year Old Tex Cichlid
- I'm not sure on the exact values of all my fish tank params, but the Nitrate and PH turned out to be average (after the water change)
- 30gal tank that's been set up for at least 2 years in this location.
- I have a Whisper 60 Power filter
- I have one 7yr old Tex Cichlid in the tank. He's about 11inch long (soon to be upgraded to a much larger tank)
- 30% water change and semi gravel vacuum (every month or so)
- Had this fish for 7yrs
- Nothing new has been added
- No change in what I'm feeding him (lg floating cichlid food)

 

[r_nichols7]

That looks like copepods... as far as i know, the only safe way to rid the little pests without harming your fish is to do pwc's @20-30% daily or every other day and syphon them out at the same time. But google copepods first and wait to hear from a moderator with more experience. Hope all works out.

 

[Scalare]

PWC's are the only safe way to rid the tank of them, they're not harmful to the fish, in fact in most cases they are good fish food so don't worry, but I guess they look unsightly, the water changes will clear them.
Good Luck.

Copepod - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pete

 

[Ladyamc]

OK, thanks! I'll keep doing the PWC's... hopefully I can get rid of these guys soon.

 

[spoonman]

CopePods in freshwater? Didn't know they lived in fresh.

 

[Scalare]

Yep!! they live in FW & SW, click on the link in my post above.

Pete

 

[r_nichols7]

Question is... how did they get in the tank??? Some say from your tap water, others say the food you feed the fish???????? In either case, try to use RO water. Yes, they are not harmful to your fish but will devour snails... if they came from your tap water, hope you drink RO water as well... good luck.