tank bugs???

Question

ive noticed that there are little bugs in my freshwater fish tank. They are circular in shape and a white/creamyish colour. Ther are always on or under the gravel. I have no idea what they are. They dont attach themselves to the fish, and im sure that the fish are eating a few of them but there are still a fair lot present.
ive tried to reserch this on the inter net but most places say its water flea, but they look nothin like water fleas, and they move different to them, water flea seem to "hop" or "jump" around the tank, where as these bugs "zoom" along the bottom along the gravel, there movement is constant when they are movin, in that is looks effotless when they move, but they do say still alot . sorry for the confusing description, but any help would be useful, thanks alot.

Answer 1

well, that could be any one of several things but they are most likely the larvae of a small fly or gnat. As long as they aren't on the fish and the fish seems to be eating them they aren't a problem. They should be totally harmless to your fish and in fact a good food source. You can get rid of lots of them by vacuuming them out with a gravel vac. Of course, you might want to strain them out after that with a net and freeze them to use as fish food.

MM

Answer 2

Are you positive these are an insect? MM beat me to my "usual answer" of insect larvae, but these usually move by swimming in a "squiggly" motion and they are linear (like a white or red thread). And they're usually above the gravel surface.

From your description, it sounds almost as if these are planaria. They are usually darker in color, but can be white or gray. They "glide" over surfaces similar to a snail or slug, have a more "oval" shape and would stay in or on gravel or the glass. See photo: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/platyhelminthes/dugesiasm.jpg

These won't harm your fish and the fish will probably eat them. They do, however, indicate an excess of organic material (uneaten food or fish waste) in your gravel, because that's what they would feed on.

If you decide that this is what you have, I'd suggest more frequent vaccuuming of the gravel and watching that your fish eat all food within 2-3 minutes of putting it in the tank (revove any uneaten food after this time with a net and feed less in the future). By removing their food supply, the planaria won't be able to live in the tank.

If what you have is neither the planaria or insect larvae (like I've described), maybe you could post a photo or more description - do they have legs? obvious head/mouth parts? is the motion swimming, crawling, gliding, etc.? size?

Answer 3

I'm going with Magic on this one. As long as these bugs aren't attaching themselves to your fishies, they will be fine. These bugs can even be a tasty snack, like Magic said. Thing is, the fish need to realize this! I have tubifex in my pond, do you think my goldies will eat them?! They're too spoiled with all the good stuff I give 'em! These bugs of your are probably just a larvae of some type of flying insect.

Answer 4

If you can see nobs on the outer edges, legs, they may be fish lice. And they would be harmful to you fish.