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Springtail Eruption! (collembola)

discusdan

discusdan

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2013
Messages
302
Hey all.

I was doing a water change tonight When I noticed a lot of sand like dots all over the aquarium glass, At first I thought it to be nothing more than grit/sand that had somehow managed to get high up on the aquarium glass.

However after closer inspection I could see the things moving!

There must be thousands of them! and they are tiny! a quarter of a mm at most.

After doing a bit of research I think they are collembola (springtails)

I've read that they are harmless to fish and acutally act as food for the fish but I dont like the look of them and I want them gone, If there where just a few I wouldn't mind as much but they are every where!

I cant see them in the water or crawling on any plants, they are mostly floating on the water surface or on the glass above the water line.

Question is where have they come from? I didnt notice them last week and the only thing I've added to the aquarium recently was a couple of new plants, (guess that answers my question?)

Next question is how do i get rid of them? I've read its extremely difficult to completely remove them?

anyone else had them?

this is the best picture i could get.

cwCcbPZ.jpg
 
If you have fish in there you can reduce feeding which will encourage them to nibble off the springtails. You can also syphon them out with airline attached to a rigid skewer/rod like you would with pest snails, or get the credit card out and treat them to a crush.
 
free fish food nice lol im sure your fish will take care of the prob if u give them a little time and stop feeding for a few days :)
 
Those look like mites rather than springtails. Still harmless and the cure is the same - reduce their food supply and the numbers will decline.
 
cheers for the replies chaps.

Not sure if they are mites, from what I've seen mites have more rounded bodies? they are so small its hard to get a good picture, the one above was taken with a 100mm macro lens.

I'm going to give the hood of the tank a good clean as I think they are feeding on algae that has accumulated under it.

Maybe time for that rimless tank :)
 
The point is, it doesn't really matter. Both are harmless, but if you want to reduce their numbers, cut back on their food supply.
 
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