What is this parasite looking thing!?

[Kuebeecee]

I have a 55 gallon relatively heavily planted tank. I’ve had all kinds of weird hitchhikers coming in on plants - snails, shrimp. A while ago I noticed detritus worms hanging out against the glass, buried in the gravel.

Today I noticed something totally out of the norm. They are white, parasite looking creatures. They look like bugs. They are staying the same areas as the detritus worms. Looking around the tank, I don’t see them swimming or anywhere else except buried in the gravel along the glass. Are these something I should be concerned about? (They look concerning to me!)


It was a bit difficult getting a clear picture. Hopefully this will suffice. You can see a size comparison to the ramshorn snail above. They are probably the size of a grain of rice I would say.

Thanks for any info!

 

[carsonsgjs]

They look like scuds to me.

 

[86 ssinit]

Yes they do look like scuds. But big. Could they be nymph larvae?

 

[Kuebeecee]

They look like scuds to me.

Hopefully they come into range for the corys to eat then.

 

[StarGirl]

Can you get a clearer pic?

 

[Kuebeecee]

Can you get a clearer pic?

It’s tough but here’s another one.

 

[86 ssinit]

Yes those are scuds.

 

[Kuebeecee]

Yes those are scuds.

Will these become a problem? I stir up the detritus worms occasionally and the fish have a feast on them. I’m assuming I can do the same with these guys?

Now that I know what they are I can do a little more research but it would appear they are harmless? (Unless you have shrimp?)

 

[86 ssinit]

Yes they will be eaten by anything that can catch them.

 

[SparkyJones]

yes, looks like scuds. tasty critters for the fish, but going to be hard for the cories to reach them with that substrate. Scuds would be harmful to shrimp but fine for everything else. I'm sure if the cories had access to them they would eat them most likely, and they probably do eat some of them at night when they come out to the surface, but hard to get all of them really.

if you wanted rid of them, you could try a disk of zucchini over night, a couple times a week with the lights off, this may bring them to the surface to feed on it and then your cories can pick them off, and worst case if the cories won't eat them, you can net them out in the morning with the zucchini and give them the hot water or freezing water treatment before discarding them in the trash. vacuuming seems to reduce their numbers some in the substrate, but it doesn't get rid of them completely. there would also be a trap for the scuds, like a plastic soda bottle they can get into but not shrimp, snails or the cories. and then put zucchini in there and catch them like that. the trap scenario is good in that it limits escapees and you can see what it catches a lot of things that might have gone unnoticed in the tank, baby snails and other critters, a lot if things can't resist some zucchini. LOL

In high numbers they can damage plants by eating them when they run out of the stuff in the substrate to feast on.

 

[Kuebeecee]

yes, looks like scuds. tasty critters for the fish, but going to be hard for the cories to reach them with that substrate. Scuds would be harmful to shrimp but fine for everything else. I'm sure if the cories had access to them they would eat them most likely, and they probably do eat some of them at night when they come out to the surface, but hard to get all of them really.

if you wanted rid of them, you could try a disk of zucchini over night, a couple times a week with the lights off, this may bring them to the surface to feed on it and then your cories can pick them off, and worst case if the cories won't eat them, you can net them out in the morning with the zucchini and give them the hot water or freezing water treatment before discarding them in the trash. vacuuming seems to reduce their numbers some in the substrate, but it doesn't get rid of them completely. there would also be a trap for the scuds, like a plastic soda bottle they can get into but not shrimp, snails or the cories. and then put zucchini in there and catch them like that. the trap scenario is good in that it limits escapees and you can see what it catches a lot of things that might have gone unnoticed in the tank, baby snails and other critters, a lot if things can't resist some zucchini. LOL

In high numbers they can damage plants by eating them when they run out of the stuff in the substrate to feast on.

Thanks for the advice! I actually don’t mind the random things that have been appearing in my tank. As long as they aren’t harmful I don’t mind - it’s fun having a massive eco-system at work in there. I love watching the fish eat the detritus worms when I get them up to the surface. It’s free treats for them!

The corys just had some babies - they are about two months old now. There will be an army of scavengers down there on the hunt! I was thinking about cutting back on their feedings if they are able to eat up some of these things.

 

[SparkyJones]

Yes. They really should eat them if they can get to them and like I said they probably are at night which is why you don't see the scuds around the tank and only in the substrate. Scuds will eat anything though and happy digging around in the gravel where it's safe, but can be drawn out with the lights off with a piece of veggies like squash, zucchini, pumpkin, banana peel, they eat basically any detritus or algae and aren't picky.
You can probably do that a couple times a week with kitchen veggie scrap and bring out some to feed the cories. There's probably also a lot down in the substrate based on the pictures of the side by the glass with 1,2 , maybe 5 all in one shot. Probably hundreds down there at least.
This guy on YouTube has a video he raises them for food for his fish but same kind of collection and harvesting principle.

If you don't mind them, yeah, free fish food!