RCS Tank - Possible Disease?

[morpheus]

Was not sure to put this thread in inverts or diseases...

This is the best picture I could get. tonight I noticed dozens of "white specs" moving on the driftwood pieces in the tank. The specs are very tiny, but definitely moving. You can see them in relation to one of the adults and a nerite in the tank.


shrimp.jpg

I never had RCS before, so for all I know those are just very tiny baby shrimp, or it could be some type of parasite. The white specs are not localized to the wood and can be seen on the glass too.

The reason I say possible parasite is because my wife did definitely spot a hydra unfurled on the wood too.

pH - 8.0
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate - All 0 ppm

I started with 10 adults, but definitely do not have 10 now I suspect. my wife already had plans for a better camera and is picking it up tomorrow, so I can get a much clearer shot and magnified with her lens should nobody have any ideas off this pic.

Thanks in advance

[morpheus]

I think my father-in-law is on the right track...

he suggested they may be a type of Gammarus as he had those on his driftwood in a fry tank. I did a small gravel vac and found one Gammarus in the gravel swimming around (about 2-3 mm in length and gray in color). He said they are harmless, and larger fry or some fish in there will keep them in check

he suggested a gourami to eat the hydra, but I cant put those in there with the RCS.

[kv9tb]

Don't know if this link will help you any or not, but I keep it in my favorites, just as a reference. Hope it helps out some!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=40061

[troy tucker]

I have seen these things. In my red cherry shrimp tank. I always called them copepods but more like seedshrimp.
What do you feed your shrimp?

[morpheus]

Don't know if this link will help you any or not, but I keep it in my favorites, just as a reference. Hope it helps out some!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40061

Thanks for the link, I did come across this page when searching for my specimen but didn't find it on there. Definitely was a good reference though as it had a good pic of the Hydra I saw

I have seen these things. In my red cherry shrimp tank. I always called them copepods but more like seedshrimp.
What do you feed your shrimp?

I really don't feed them much of anything. the shrimp seem to just eat off the plants and the fluval sponge I have slipped over the filter intake. I do occasionally throw in a few shrimp pellets, but I think I am down to 3-4 adults now, so I don't really throw them in anymore. maybe the pellets weren't being finished in the beginning when I had the 10 adults

[morpheus]

whatever they are...i dont think they harm anything. the small white specs are probably seed shrimp, but there was that one adult gammarus shrimp. so may be two different things

i noticed over the weekend the shrimp in the picture is definitely berried. hopfully its a start to repopulate. only question mak is if the fluval spinge covering the filter intake is fine enough to stop the shrimplets from being sucked up. plenty of plant cover at the bottom though

[mnemenoi]

They grow and thrive in pumps as well, we had a nice colony going in the Fahaka Ehiem filter