Micro unknown creatures detected

[kyle0901]

Hello all, I had my supershrimp tank set up about one month ago with your helps and it all went well since. But yesterday when I was observing their movements I found something that is quite concerning. I saw white creatures as small as tiny specks of dust swimming around at the bottom of my tank, hundreds of them, so small that they can easily go unnoticed, but they are definetly alive and thriving. I think they came with a rock that I recently put in my tank, should I be worried or will my shrimp feed on them?

Another issue was that my shrimps don’t seem to be very active ever since they moved in. They are all alive for sure but seldom swin around, most of the time they prefer to hide under rock or out of my sight, and few have red color, they stay transparent almost all the time. Is this normal or did I do something that made them uncomfortable? Thank you.

[Super Jess]

If you turn on a light above the tank do the specks move upwards towards the top of the tank? Maybe some copepods came in on your rock. They are harmless and won't bother your shrimp.

It could be that your shrimp have so much food they don't need to move around much to feed. They'll just sit around and graze, lol. As long as they are doing "grabby hands" while they are stationary, they should be ok!

[kyle0901]

Not really, they just move in random directions, like creatures would.

[Super Jess]

That sounds really interesting, hope someone has seen them before. If you're not prone to motion sickness you can compare yours to the ones in this video: https://youtu.be/WSNVbHlhI9c

There are different types, and they are really tiny.

[kyle0901]

Thank you, I am not quite sure those in my tank are copepods, they seem much smaller than in the video. In fact, they are too small to appear in a photo. I can’t see any heads or legs except that they are moving and there are great number of white dots down there. They are about the smallest size visible to naked eyes. Single creature would not pose any threat to the shrimps but I fear that they might oneday grow out of control and overwhelm other life forms with sheer number. Right now I don’t know how to deal with them without also harming the shrimps.

[Varanus]

Whatever they are it seems unlikely they will be able to compete with the supershrimp in a low nutrient environment. So its probably best to leave the tank alone.

[Nellyville41]

Buy a magnifying glass and take a picture with it.

[mike.d]

I have them in my tank too. They're harmless.

Mine are super small, barely visible, I'd say about .25 mm to .5 mm, maybe less. They swim in a jerky motion. Stop on the glass for a few seconds. Then jerky swim away.

I looked them up years ago and identified them at that time, when I had a freshwater shrimp tank. I can't remember what they're called now. (It wasn't copepods or amphipods.) When I looked at them with a strong magnifying glass I could see two tiny crab-like claws. That's how I ID'd them.

Found it! See this link:
http://planetinverts.com/what_is_that_b ... arium.html

Mine are daphnia.

[Super Jess]

Found it! See this link:
http://planetinverts.com/what_is_that_b ... arium.html

What a great link! Thanks mike.d

[Mustafa]

There is no need to worry about whatever microorganisms you have in your tank. Whatever they are (they could be one of a large number of species), they won't be harming your shrimp or taking over your tank.