[Yip812]

Hi all, new here! I am in the beginning steps of setting up my 5 gallon Natural/low tech tank. So instead of buying plants, I decided to harvest some from a local pond. I looked up the "rules" first and took only what I recognized that was legal, so that's not the issue. But, after getting the plants home, and rinsing them a billion times, there are tons of aquatic bugs. I'm thinking leave them, since the pond I got them from was doing fine and had it's own eco-system, and these bugs were part of that. There are so many different kinds.

So, what do you think? Beneficial? I will only have a few fish, probably white clouds. Will they harm the fish? Will the fish keep them in check?

There are snails too, little tiny ones, and I don't want to kill the snails.

Dawn

 

[zer0zax]

I always have crazy little bugs in my aquarium, they always show up (especially cyclops)! Even if you didn't collect pond plants, chances are snails and bugs will hitch hike into your aquarium by store plants anyways. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in...

IMO the main thing to look out for is predatory bugs, like water beetles and dragonfly larva, anything big. Cyclops can damage tiny fry from what I have read, but if you have any tetras or larger fish they should keep the population in check. Little water bugs (barely visible) make great fish food and fry food, if you have a healthy balanced aquarium you might not have to feed newborn fry at all, the aquarium will!

Welcome to APC:yawinkle:

 

[mistergreen]

bugs are fish food
you just have to worry about parasites since bugs and snails are carriers.
Set up your tanks for a month before introducing fish. That way the parasite's life cycle hopefully will die off.

 

[Yip812]

Okay, thanks!

I noticed some that were tiny, between 1/2 and 2-3 mm, and looked like shrimp. They move like shrimp and if you get close enough you can see they look like them. Is it possible that I have tiny shrimp? Or just a shrimp-like bug?

I live right next to a saltwater lake that has red brine shrimp and no fish, so I can get endless brine shrimp just by walking down to the lake with a fish net.

There's one fish now, a phantom tetra.

Dawn

 

[mommyeireanne]

Sounds like you may have scuds. I bet there are dahnia, water insects and all sorts of things. I agree with MrGreen, set it up and watch it before you put anymore fish in. This will have the added benefit of getting you past the 'newly submersed soil' issues like ammonia spikes, too. It's pretty hard to avoid disease even from LFS now, but if you run into problems later, a UV filter is great. You'll find mixed feelings about snails, but they will make their way in, even in phyto-sanitary certified plants. If you don't mind, then you are ahead of the game! White clouds are supposed to love live foods. Good Luck!

 

[aquabillpers]

I noticed some that were tiny, between 1/2 and 2-3 mm, and looked like shrimp. They move like shrimp and if you get close enough you can see they look like them. Is it possible that I have tiny shrimp? Or just a shrimp-like bug?

Hi,

They well could be fairy shrimp. Fish love them, but in my experience they don't do well in warm water.

In the wild many species live in vernal pools, where they complete their live cycles in the month or so that they have before the pools dry up for the year.

Enjoy your bugs! Often they are more interesting than the fish.

Bill