# visible creature



## unknownuza (Mar 3, 2004)

Alright so I'm watchin my cichlid tank the other night when i see this little creature slowly crawling on a decoration. I don't know if it's a worm or what.. it had six legs and its tail was a whip like structure with three ends. Any help on to what this is.. It was about an eith of an inch and it was clear to white in color.


----------



## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

i don't know, but it sounds like maybe a ghost shrimp that survived a feeding or something?


----------



## Powder (Nov 24, 2004)

you may have hydra in your tank thats what it sounds like to me if u search on hydra one of the members killed them by raising tank temp to 110 f but he took all his fish out ( obviously) and i think it worked do a search and u will find out how to rid your tank of them


----------



## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Yeah that was me

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=68347

Not sure if hydra crawl however, mine were all stationary in place except for their swaying arms. Whatever you have sure does sound disgusting though


----------



## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

It's not hydra. Probably copepods... Did it look like this?










There are many different species of copepods so it might not look exactly like this one.


----------



## jonscilz (Dec 2, 2004)

damn...thats crazy looking... since were on the topic and i didnt get awesome answers when i posted... what do you think millions of REALLY small white things that crawl on the tank glass and float in the water are... so small i can barely see them but they definately move on the glass and theyre everywhere...


----------



## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Those are nematodes (small roundworms) that are commonly mistaken for planaria (flatworms). It's a sign that you have a lot of detritus or food in your tank. Safest way to get rid of them or significantly reduce their numbers is to reduce feeding, increase your water changes, rinse out your filter, and do a thorough gravel vac.


----------



## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

DonH said:


> It's not hydra. Probably copepods... Did it look like this?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Damn Don, I had those in my tank when I kept goldfish at 7 years old, those things gave me nightmares at that age


----------



## unknownuza (Mar 3, 2004)

thanks everyone for the help but it does not look anything like what is in the picture, I can rule out hydra if they dont crawl because I watched this guy for like 20 minutes move from a decoration to a plant and work his way all the way down the plant into the gravel. This thing is sick. I am going to post a picture from paint if i can. It couldn't possibly be a bloodworm that survived somehow could it? cause it really looks like a young mesquito or something. I know a frozen bloodworm growing into a larvae is pretty far fetched


----------



## Fido (May 21, 2003)

thats freakin weird...never seen it before. how often do you do water changes again? Help don!


----------



## unknownuza (Mar 3, 2004)

I mean my water conditions are fine I tested them yesterday. I do 2-3 a month from 25-50% of the water. I also have an emporor 400 and a penguin 60 on it and it's a 55 gallon tank. My barred midas has a slight case of ich so the temp is around 83 right now and I added salt, hopefully this gets rid of anything unwanted in the tank.


----------



## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

i always thought the particles that float around in the tank were dust or airborne stuff that was sucked in by my filter?

a while ago i saw this little white thing, a maybe 9mm long and wiggly, only saw 2 of them, this was a while ago though, havnt seen them sence


----------



## jonscilz (Dec 2, 2004)

lu... take a realllllyyyy good look at the glass in your tank near the gravel surface and especially places where your filter/powerhead blows against the glass... if you have good eyes you might see tiny white colored specs that are actually crawling. ive had my current tank setup for over 6 months and never noticed them until a few weeks ago and i definately know theyve been there for a while. once you see them you see them everywhere. ahhhhhhhhhh!


----------



## Yarbles! (Oct 23, 2004)

unknownuza said:


> it had six legs and its tail was a whip like structure with three ends.
> [snapback]865566[/snapback]​


If the whip like tail was like one long tail split into three, I bet its the larva of a mayfly. 
Sorry, no hyperlink or image, but do a search online, and check out mayfly larvae. 
I had one for awhile, caught at a local stream.


----------



## Cichlidae (Aug 14, 2004)

Mayfly Larva


----------

