Hello,
I have a decently well established 2.5 gal freshwater bowl (~6 months old, seeded with substrate, rocks, and driftwood from a tank that had been set up for ~12 months). The bowl has no active filtration, just some moderate but consistent aeration and a PWC every 10 to 14 days. I only add a small amount of flake food at day 6 or 7, and the day after this PWC. I would like to grow some low maintenance but appealing plant(s), but as of right now I only use a single CFL bulb at 7000 degrees k and I haven't tried. I can ask this portion of the question in another section if needed, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for what plant might work well for this situation?
Anyway, there is a significant and constant amount of algal growth. For the first three months, I had nothing but two RCS (which are both still alive and well). I wasn't sure that they would thrive in a bowl with no true filtration, and no heater, so I wanted to start with just two and see how they handled it. They have done fine, but about 3 months ago I noticed a pretty significant amount of small opaque "bugs" running, and sometimes swimming, around the bowl. I am primarily looking for help identifying these creatures and their impact on the ecosystem. At first I thought I had copepods, but when looking at the pictures I could find and really studying them I don't think this anymore. The creatures I have are oblong (football shaped) with at least two short antennae coming out from the head. I can see a short-in-length dividing line running laterally from the antennae slightly into the body, which I believe to be the mouth opening. They swim pretty comfortably when they want to (not jerky or bumpy), although they prefer to walk most of the time. The largest of them are about 3 or 4 millimeters in length.
I was then leaning towards ostracods but I'm not positive, as everything I've read has stated them to be about 2 mm in length and for them to swim rather clumsily. Earlier today I was more confident in my ostracod identification and finally added 4 more RCS (I hope to eventually have a small low-maintenance and sustainable colony in this tank) as I am under the impression that they are harmless to the RCS breeding process.
I'm trying to confirm my identification of ostracods, confirm that they will not interfere with the breeding process of the RCS, and if anyone has the experience or information I'm looking for recommendations for a plant that I can grow with my current setup.
Sorry for the long-winded question, and thanks for the help.
I have a decently well established 2.5 gal freshwater bowl (~6 months old, seeded with substrate, rocks, and driftwood from a tank that had been set up for ~12 months). The bowl has no active filtration, just some moderate but consistent aeration and a PWC every 10 to 14 days. I only add a small amount of flake food at day 6 or 7, and the day after this PWC. I would like to grow some low maintenance but appealing plant(s), but as of right now I only use a single CFL bulb at 7000 degrees k and I haven't tried. I can ask this portion of the question in another section if needed, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for what plant might work well for this situation?
Anyway, there is a significant and constant amount of algal growth. For the first three months, I had nothing but two RCS (which are both still alive and well). I wasn't sure that they would thrive in a bowl with no true filtration, and no heater, so I wanted to start with just two and see how they handled it. They have done fine, but about 3 months ago I noticed a pretty significant amount of small opaque "bugs" running, and sometimes swimming, around the bowl. I am primarily looking for help identifying these creatures and their impact on the ecosystem. At first I thought I had copepods, but when looking at the pictures I could find and really studying them I don't think this anymore. The creatures I have are oblong (football shaped) with at least two short antennae coming out from the head. I can see a short-in-length dividing line running laterally from the antennae slightly into the body, which I believe to be the mouth opening. They swim pretty comfortably when they want to (not jerky or bumpy), although they prefer to walk most of the time. The largest of them are about 3 or 4 millimeters in length.
I was then leaning towards ostracods but I'm not positive, as everything I've read has stated them to be about 2 mm in length and for them to swim rather clumsily. Earlier today I was more confident in my ostracod identification and finally added 4 more RCS (I hope to eventually have a small low-maintenance and sustainable colony in this tank) as I am under the impression that they are harmless to the RCS breeding process.
I'm trying to confirm my identification of ostracods, confirm that they will not interfere with the breeding process of the RCS, and if anyone has the experience or information I'm looking for recommendations for a plant that I can grow with my current setup.
Sorry for the long-winded question, and thanks for the help.
