Spider LIVING in my tank???

[shrimpy4]

So every now and again I need to fish a dead ant out of my tank. Today I saw the wierdest thing. It looked like a spider clinging to the inside of the tank, underwater. Not floating dead. I thought maybe it was just stuck there, but I sucked it into a pipette and the thing is definitely alive, and seems perfectly happy underwater.

I can’t see an air sack, but is this some sort of fishing spider? I have no idea how long it’s been in there, I hope it wasn’t eating the shrimp larvae.

[QsusieQ]

I don't know if it's because of the angle, but it almost looks like a tick. A quick google search says they can possibly live under water for 2-3 days

[Super Jess]

Looks like a tick to me, too KILL IT WITH FIRE

[shrimpy4]

Gross, it probably is

[Mustafa]

Yep, definitely a tick.

[captobvious]

Looks like a water mite, careful it could be preying on your juvenile shrimp.

http://lifeinfreshwater.net/water-mites/

[Varanus]

Looks like a water mite, careful it could be preying on your juvenile shrimp.

http://lifeinfreshwater.net/water-mites/

The long front legs and flat body look a lot more like a tick to me compared to the water mites that are pictured, plus that article states water mites live in freshwater, not brackish. Seems a lot more likely that a random tick picked up by accident by a person or pet ended up wandering into the tank and simply hadn't drowned by the time it was found (I've heard they can survive for days submerged).

[shrimpy4]

I’m pretty sure it was a tick, probably a deer tick based on other pictures I’ve seen. Those are common for where I live.