# aquatic beetles



## sunflower (Apr 5, 2006)

I just sent up a 29g NPT 3 week ago. At the moment there are small beetle-like creatures that are crawling all over the gravel. They are oval shaped, translucently green, and tiny (about 1mm long). They move extremely fast. I wonder what they are and if I need to control their population. The only other inhabitants in the tank are red cherry shrimp, MTS, and some other hitchhiker snails. I plan to add fish later.

Thank you for your help!


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Cyclops could be what they are. Fish like eating them 

You don't need to control their populations, they are probably just feeding on wastes in your tank. A few Wcs would reduce their numbers by reducing their food if you really don't like them.


----------



## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

The creatures you are describing could also be ostracods (another type of tiny crustacean). How exactly do they move around? Cyclops dart suddenly from one spot to another. Ostracods whiz around in the water but they move smoothly and it is not difficult to follow their progress with your eyes.

Whatever they are, they are most likely harmless little things that will make your tank more interesting to watch! Here is a website with some photos and descriptions of Cyclops and ostracods.

From Alex.


----------



## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Miss Fishy said:


> The creatures you are describing could also be ostracods (another type of tiny crustacean). How exactly do they move around? Cyclops dart suddenly from one spot to another. Ostracods whiz around in the water but they move smoothly and it is not difficult to follow their progress with your eyes.
> 
> Whatever they are, they are most likely harmless little things that will make your tank more interesting to watch! Here is a website with some photos and descriptions of Cyclops and ostracods.
> 
> From Alex.


Thank you so much for this link! I've always wondered what these little creatures were called.

Cyclops are pretty easy to identify, but I'm not quite sure about ostracods. Here is an animated gif of little critters in a nano-tank (lillaeopsis & some algae in a jar):








My guess is they're ostracods since they seem to flow about in a smooth manner, but all I can say for sure is they're tiny.


----------

