drx300

help,i have these bugs on the glass at top of my tank and laying on top of the water,the tank got cloudy about a week ago for no reason,the fish seem fine,but if you look close you can see little larvae about 3/16th of a inch long,swimming to the top,and once they get there i think they turn into flies,kinda like mosquito's but not,just little flies,how do i get rid of these things,there is lots of them and i dont want them in my house,and i dont want them to hurt my fish,can you also explain how they may have got there its a new tank,4 months old,75 gal with 2 oscars and a couple algae eaters,any help or answers will be greatly appreciated...thank you

Gunnie

All I can think of is you have planaria in your tank. I don't know that they turn into flies, but they are little white worms you can see on the glass of the tank. All the fish you have in that tank are big waste producers, and when the water quality isn't what it should be, you sometimes see these worms. They are feeding on the waste in the substrate. A good vacuuming of your gravel should get rid of them. Also, look at your tank maintenance schedule and see if you are cleaning your tank as much as you should. I have 2 oscars and a large pleco in my 100 gal. and at a minimum, I must clean all of the gravel, and take out at least 50% of the water each week to keep it clean enough for a week. I have had planaria in that tank in the past, and unless I did these large water changes and massive cleanings, I would get them again.

drx300

i cant tell about any color and i dont see them on the glass,they seem transparent,they are pretty small,3/16 of a inch might be genorous,but thiey deffanately turn into a winged bug,im sure i need to change my water and clean gravel more often,will these hurt my fish?till i get em out,any other ideas

Gunnie

I don't think they will hurt your fish, but hopefully you will be able to get rid of them with a few water changes and gravel vacs.

MamaM

I have the same little flies on one of my tanks, too!!* They congregate on the glass beneath my light, and I've found them floating in the tank as well.* We were gone for 6 days, and today I found little worm-like creatures or larvae in the tank.* (This is the tank with my 4 otos.)* The other tank has never had any problems like this!!!* So I moved 2 danios from my first tank, and they've eaten most of the little wormies!!* I need to kill the rest of the flies on the glass cover, though.* So how do I prevent the flies?* Where are they coming from?* They don't bother my first tank, so I am just as confused as you are about yours drx300!!!

Oh, and BTW I do weekly water changes/deep gravel vacuuming of at least 30-40% in each tank, and this tank only has had Otos in it for the last 1.5 weeks (had danio fry that hitchhiked on a plant for a few weeks before that). So I am curious if the flies are related to planaria or if they are something else.

Thanks!
Sharon

sirdarksol

I have no idea what they are, but I can tell you that they aren't the planaria. Planaria are a type of worm. They're such simple creatures that you can cut them in half and get two of them. You can cut the head in half and get a two-headed planaria. There is no insect larva that I know of that can do that.
What you're seeing might be a regional insect that breeds in water. I live in Minnesota, and there are hundreds of different types of insect that start their lives in water and then become winged insects. In most cases, the insects aren't harmful to fish. It's usually the other way around. The exception is the dragonfly, but if these are dragonflies, they're really tiny, and dragonflies can only hurt fish that are small enough for them to eat.