Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

This creature is in my Red Cherry tank.
I realised the population grows when the tank aged.

I search the internet for a similar image.
The closest I can find is Aquatic Sowbug or Isopod.
But I can't really tell. This is the best image I got.

What do you think it is ? How can I get rid of it ?
It doesn't harm the shrimp but it annoying to see so many critters.

How big is it? Could be a seed shrimp (ostracod)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostracod

i don't think so. It look different.

This creature is 1mm long with 2 antennas and a couple of legs.
It has a slit in the centre that look like a clam.

It crawl on the walls of the tank and on the bogwood.

Does it actually crawl or just rest & swim? If you want to get rid of them, get a small feeder guppy, not a big female, just a small male. He'll suck these up in no time. Then you can take him back to the LFS or keep him for jobs like this. Once these are gone he may go after baby shrimp, so itis not a good idea to keep him in that tank.

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It is white and it stay on the wall of the tank and bogwood most of the time. If you poke it with a stick, it can swim away.

It feed on dead shrimp too !

And it is definitely not Ostracod (seed shrimp).

What characteristics does it have that make you say it is definitely NOT an ostracod?

There are some in a pond water tank I have here beside my desk and your photo looks exactly like an ostracod.

Here is a micrograph from another angle that nearly matches your photo.

Does Ostracod look black all the time ? Because those in my picture are white.

The micrograph does show a clam shape opening just like those in my picture.

I guess you are right. Thank you very much.

Yes, they can be different colors. The ones I have in the lab tank are lwhite or light tan colored.

Glad we could help.

thgng wrote:Does Ostracod look black all the time ? Because those in my picture are white.

The micrograph does show a clam shape opening just like those in my picture.

I guess you are right. Thank you very much.

Mine only look dark under the microscope. That is due to the poor lighting and low resolution of my toy microscope. Swimming in the tank they look white or light tan colored.

Which "toy" microscope do you have?

I have a QX3 which I plan to modify to accept some brighter light sources. The microscope itself is quite nice but they really limited it with the low quality stock lighting.

YuccaPatrol wrote:Which "toy" microscope do you have?

I have the Qx5. I took out the bulb underneath and the plastic diffuser, and I stick a 5 LED flashlight underneath. It really helps. I tried rigging something with a screw in fluorescent light bulb, but I just couldnt direct the light well enough. The focused light of the flashlight works good, but you need a hole in your desk or you have to hang it off the side a little which is awkward.

Had quite a few of these in my tank. Vacuuming them out took care of most of them.

I love having them. I'm pretty sure my baby crayfish love them. Until my tank was properly aged and had loads of seed shrimp and copepods, I had no luck with babies.

I'm pretty sure my baby crayfish love them.

Do you mean they provide a form of food for the babies?