What's in my fish tank?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jo-Anne W
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Jo-Anne W

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As I was looking at my saltwater fish tank, I noticed my little scooter blenny was completely flipped on his back and appeared to be near death. We assumed it was because he hasn't had access to brine shrimp lately(stores are out). However, I checked the salinity and the levels were high, which they never have been before. Also, there appeared to be small "bugs" skimming the top of the surface, about a millimeter in length. Now, we noticed that our Mandarin was very pale and looked like he was getting sick. We quickly got the salinity to 1.022 and scooped out as many of these "bugs" as we could get. They have a small orange head, a clear midsection, and a blue or black back end. From far away they look somewhat like spiders but up close they look more like mosquito. Does anyone know what these are?
 
i honestly do not know what those are, BUT what i was wondering while reading this is why 1.022? its kinda low for a reef which im assuming you have since you have scooter and mandarins. they generally feed off of pods... i dont think the bugs are your problem...also, swinging the SG like that probably wasnt the best idea.. .. you should find out why your SG got so high in the first place
 
More than likely if you have live rock, they are some sort of pod. Copepods, amphipods, and other "pods". Your mandarin needs these to survive in the tank. He will not survive on blood worms and pellets. This is the most common cause of faitality in manderins. Established tanks with an ample supply of pods for his dining pleasure.


Salt fish are very flexable when it comes to the salinity in a tank (as long as it isn't extream from (below 1.001 or above 1.035) The ocean isn't a constant salinity. Currents, fresh water additions and melting ice change these conditions daily. Just as the temperature changes from the currents.

Keep the bugs here. They are not going to harm your tank. Misquetos won't lay eggs in salt water tanks. More than likely what you are seeing are either cyclops Copepods or Springtails, Collembola (a hexapod) both of which are used as food for marine animals. Your manderan need these to survive.
 
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