# Persistent little &*%$#@ buggers!!!



## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

I just did a little experiment with some ostracods that were proliferating in a tiny container of Monosolenium tenerum I was keeping aside. I removed all of the wort, and I sprinkled some alum right into the water. There were also little snails in there, which died within a minute of my adding the alum. However, it's been a good 20 minutes and the ostracods were hardly even stunned. They're still cruising about absolutely unphased! I added more, and they're still unaffected. What the heck will kill these annoying little buggers?

I've started treating my plants with relatively dilute alum solution before adding them to my newly-set-up tank with the hopes of avoiding the introduction of planaria and ostracods and whatever other creepy junk is living in my other tanks. However, seeing as how the ostracods are not affected in the least, I'm not sure what to do, and I'm not even sure if I've managed to remove all of them from my plants before adding them to my new set-up. When I soaked my dwarf lobelias, the itty-bitty limpets dropped off as soon as the plants hit the solution, so it's working to some degree... I also soaked my driftwood with some petit anubias attached, and a few baby ramshorns that I didn't see immediately fell off and died. 

Anyway, *short of* bleach-treating my plants, is there anything that can zap the ostracods? I really hate them and nothing will eat them, either. Will permanganate solution do the trick? I know peroxide will, but I'm afraid this may harm my plants, too. 

Thanks.

-Naomi


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## Texex94 (Jul 29, 2004)

*Potassium permanganate.*

One of the best ways to kill these little bugger, algae, bacteria, snails and other buggers is using a dilute solution of potassium permanganate. It will basically sterilize your plants prior to addition into a tank, but is pretty harmless to plants unlike bleach which can really blast a plant. I use a quarter teaspoon to a gallon of water, mix well (be careful you don't get this on the counter - it stains everything purple), and soak for 30 minutes. Should be enough to kill everything off.

Bailin Shaw


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

Texex94 said:


> One of the best ways to kill these little bugger, algae, bacteria, snails and other buggers is using a dilute solution of potassium permanganate. It will basically sterilize your plants prior to addition into a tank, but is pretty harmless to plants unlike bleach which can really blast a plant. I use a quarter teaspoon to a gallon of water, mix well (be careful you don't get this on the counter - it stains everything purple), and soak for 30 minutes. Should be enough to kill everything off.
> 
> Bailin Shaw


Can that mixture be used in a tank, or just the plants by themselves before you put them in?


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Hey, Bailin!

Good to see you here. Your name is familiar from the APD, but I haven't really participated there in a while. It's fun to have people from there joining this forum! Anyway, thank you for the tip! However, I wonder where I can find it, and would it be in crystal form or a concentrated solution? And how long should I soak the plants before I can be sure that the ostracods are fully wacked?

ALSO... (boy, I'm full of questions) if I were to soak my driftwood in permanganate solution (since my anubias are already stuck to it), will it turn the wood purple, and is there any danger of it leaching out any of the permanganate that it's absorbed into the tank if I don't rinse well enough after treatment?

FINALLY, :biggrin: is it safe to simply pour down the drain or does it require any special disposal method? 

Thanks. I don't like the idea of using bleach partly because of the lingering chlorine smell, and the fact that it seems a bit overkill. I'm not looking to completely sterilize the plant. I don't mind snails and stuff, but I do want to get rid of the macro-organisms that give me the heevie-jeevies (like the ostracods, hydra, planaria, etc.). The risk of stains doesn't bother me so much as the chlorine smell of bleach. 

-Naomi


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## Darkblade48 (Nov 14, 2004)

dwhite645 said:


> Can that mixture be used in a tank, or just the plants by themselves before you put them in?


You would definitely want to treat the plants outside the tank with the potassium permanaganate, as it's some powerful stuff.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Naomi, 

Ostracods are tougher than about anything. You can kill the adults, but it is about impossible, short of nuclear explosions, to kill the eggs. I have a little round-bodied species that I tolerate, because they usually don't do harm, but I also acquired on some plants a larger oval-bodied species that actively ate plants when they got numerous. I battled for years to get rid of this species, and have only a few plants in jars on the windowsill that are still infected with it. Their eggs are stuffed in cracks and they are resistant to just about any chemical, including full strength liquid bleach, concentrated hydrochloric acid, and borax laundry soap. Also, the eggs have staggered hatching times, some of them not hatching for over 6 months. That means that you can't float a plant in its own jar and change the water every week and get rid of all the ostracods before they they grow up and lay their own eggs. If all their eggs hatched soon, you could get rid of them. But the plants keep shedding baby ostracods after 6 months of water changes!. The only way I have gotten rid of the bigger ostracods is to keep the plants with guppies for a couple of years. Stem plants are easy---just pick the new growth in a guppy tank after a few months where you have not seen any adult ostracods. Stem plants can be freed also by growing them emersed, if, of course, they are cpapble of growing emersed. Crown plants are a lot harder. I have to keep them in the guppy tank for years before I can consider them free of ostracod eggs. If they send out runners, it can go a lot quicker. The new plants can be considered free.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Good grief!!! That's not good... I posted about this over on the APD a few years back, and somebody mentioned a product called "Dimlin" which is used to eradicate fleas. It works by inhibiting the formation of the carapace, so it doesn't actually take effect until the pest attempts to molt. Of course this would also affect shrimp and anything else with a chitin exoskeleton. 

I guess if I see the ostracods pop up a few months from now, I'll look into my options. For now, I'll just have to "wait and see" and take the best precautions I can. Thanks, Paul. Glad you were able to get the bad ones out of your planted tanks. I'm not sure which ones I have, but I just hate them. It's like having flies in the house  .

-Naomi


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Hey Naomi!

I guess fish don't eat these things? I've never seen one myself-- Can you posts a pic?

Are these the little things that look like a piece of gravel that run around the perimeter of the tank at light speed? Just curious as to what could be so annoying and I've never encountered it... :|


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Fish do eat them but not with any gusto. Often they take them in and spit them back out. I only keep guppies, and the guppies don't do much to the big ones, but after a month or so, most of the big ones seem to be gone. Guppies mostly take their toll on the population by eating the babies.

They are round or oval. They are crustaceans and have a bivalve type of shell like a clam. They can pull their legs into the shell or crawl around. They swim with their antennae. Females store the sperm from the male in a little pocket that has no connection with the female reproductive system. The sperm actually has to swim out of the pocket and into the water and then into the reproductive tract opening to fertilize the egg. (This came from Dr. Tatiana' Sex Advice to All Creation, by Olivia Judson, a fascinating book, full of evolutionary biology and weird sex)

The little round ones are ubiquitous. They don't seem to eat plant leaves, but they do chew the root hairs off of water sprite and Java fern roots, making it harder for these plants to get their nutrients. The bigger oval ones actively chew on the edges of plant leaves. They can eat crypt leaves right down to the midrib when they are numerous. Guppies never quite get rid of all the little ones, but, fortunately, they have gotten rid of all the big ones for me on several occasions, although it did take about two years before I could feel sure that crown plants were free of eggs. Guppies keep the population of little ones at low levels---too low to eat root hairs on plants with roots in the water.

I found out about the resistance of the eggs when I had an aquarium where the big plant-eating ones had stuffed a lot of eggs between the silicone and the glass all along the edges of silicone that held the sides, bottom and ends together. I had drained the tank and let it dry for several weeks. then I put on rubber gloves and scrubbed it with (1) Concentrated HCl---18 molar, right from the bottle. (2) full strength Liquid bleach after a rinse, of course. You don't want to mix acid and bleach. The acid drives off chlorine gas, enough of which can kill you. (3) 20 mule team Borax, I scrubbed the tank with just a bit of water and a lot of the borax and let it dry for a few days. Then I rinsed thoroughly and filled with water, and in a week or two the ostracods were baaaack! Persistent little buggers, indeed!!
source of picture: www.ecoangle.org.uk/ ecoanglers/pond%20survey.htm


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Paul, 

You're crushing every little iota of hope that I'll ever be free of these irritating things  . Well, we'll see... So far, I don't see anything in my 2.5-gallon tank, but it's been less than 2 weeks. Time will tell...

Hey John! I think those things that "move at lightning speed" are something else. Ostracods "cruise" in a very smooth manner. They're not so fast that you can't suck them up with a turkey baster mid-cruising. I know what you're talking about, though. They're black, almost look like they have little "wings" and they really are lightning-fast - like flies. Thank goodness I haven't had any of those in a while... 

Crazy the creepy critters that invade your tanks, sometimes, huh? Hydra, ostracods, planaria, various nymphs, leeches... Gives me the creeps just thinking about them. 

-Naomi


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

I have two tiny types of critters in two of my tanks. In the 40 there are some black specks that I see cruising around the bottom of the bucket when I'm cleaning trimmings or washing filter parts. In my 125 I have what look like white specks that flit around on the water surface.

Both of these things are no bigger than a dot "."

Any idea what they are?

/threadjack


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

Naiomi,

Not sure if you want to control them by adding any fish, but you might want to consider introducing a fish species that usually only eats live food and ignores flake. ..perhaps something like scarlet badises?


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

bharada said:


> I have two tiny types of critters in two of my tanks. In the 40 there are some black specks that I see cruising around the bottom of the bucket when I'm cleaning trimmings or washing filter parts. In my 125 I have what look like white specks that flit around on the water surface.
> 
> Both of these things are no bigger than a dot "."
> 
> ...


The "cruisers" on the bottom of the bucket are probably ostracods. The white flitters might be springtails. Are they *on* the water and able to jump like 50 times their body length? Those are springtails. I managed to skim them off and I haven't seen them in a long time. The younger ostracods will appear more white. The bigger ones almost look like they have stripes on their backs.

I think the springtails look like jumping dandruff.

-Naomi


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

gnome said:


> The "cruisers" on the bottom of the bucket are probably ostracods. The white flitters might be springtails. Are they *on* the water and able to jump like 50 times their body length? Those are springtails. I managed to skim them off and I haven't seen them in a long time. The younger ostracods will appear more white. The bigger ones almost look like they have stripes on their backs.
> 
> I think the springtails look like jumping dandruff.
> 
> -Naomi


I only see the black ones because I'm on the lookout for baby shrimp as I'm cleaning. I haven't seen anything in the tank that bigger than these specks.

As for the springtails, I should probably get a big brine shrimp net and try to skim them off.

Thanks, Naomi.


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## Error (Apr 16, 2004)

bharada said:


> I only see the black ones because I'm on the lookout for baby shrimp as I'm cleaning. I haven't seen anything in the tank that bigger than these specks.
> 
> As for the springtails, I should probably get a big brine shrimp net and try to skim them off.
> 
> Thanks, Naomi.


I have springtails, they don't seem to do much damage, and my killies have a fun time catching them. They're fairly ubiquitous anyway, trying to get rid of them is almost impossible.

I've had aphids in the past that destroyed my water lettuce, now THOSE are a P.I.T.A.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Gomer said:


> Naiomi,
> 
> Not sure if you want to control them by adding any fish, but you might want to consider introducing a fish species that usually only eats live food and ignores flake. ..perhaps something like scarlet badises?


I used to keep guppies in my ostracod-infested tank, and I'd often see them munch an ostracod, only to spit it out unscathed. They supposedly have REALLY tough shells that very few fish will ultimately find them appetizing. Any fish that *can* break through are probably too big to even notice something so tiny. Somebody suggested something from that family of fish that has the grinding teeth in the back of the throat. I'm not sure what fish this would include...

Today I moved some guppies back into the heavily-infested tank in the hopes that they will do something with the copepods (I think those REALLY teeny things with the pointy tails that hop along the glass walls and are really quick). Maybe they'll eat some of the baby ostracods, too.

I'd HATE to look at a sample of tank water under a microscope - I'd probably NEVER stick my hand in any of my tanks ever again!

-Naomi


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## Texex94 (Jul 29, 2004)

gnome said:


> I'd HATE to look at a sample of tank water under a microscope - I'd probably NEVER stick my hand in any of my tanks ever again!
> 
> -Naomi


Hehe. You're right about that. Lots of little buggers swimming around.

Anyways, sorry to get back to this so late in the game. I don't know if KMNO4 will kill those guys or not, but it sure does a number of other things like leeches, snails, etc. I treat my plants because of pond snails and I can see the snails "bleed out". This stuff is a very strong oxidizer - think along the lines of concentrated hydrogen peroxide.

To answer some of your other questions, KMNO4 can be purchased from Sears in the water softener section. At least, that's where I purchased it a while back. It comes as a dark black/purple crystal. Like I mentioned, be careful with this stuff. It stains EVERYTHING. (My wife still won't let me live down the big purple stain on the beige countertop of the kitchen. ) I still think a 30 minute soak is adequate. This stuff works fast - it kills snails, planaria, and leeches instantly.

As for the driftwood, I wouldn't go that route. It will soak into the wood and will leach into the tank over time. At really low concentrations, it can actually be okay for the fish. This stuff used to be used as a method to sterilze wounds on fish and treat various diseases such as gill flukes, infected wounds, etc. The fish would be dipped and then returned to the tank after a very short time. I've done this a couple of time, but only with limited success. You can get rid of this stuff down the drain if you have city sewage, but if you have a septic, this is a definite no-no. You'll wipe out the beneficial bacteria in the septic.

Hope this helps some. Even with what Paul has mentioned, you ought to give it a try. I don't know if this will work on the little pests or not, but you'll never know unless you try.

Good luck!
Bailin


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

*Grrrr.... &%$#*@!!!!*

One month... One LOUSY STINKIN' month of thinking that my little tank was bugger-free, and I just saw one! Chikushiyo!!! Chikushiyo!!! CHIKUSHIYO!!!!! (I hope there are no Japanese speakers, here :shock: ). I'd like to siphon out that disgusting little kuso, make it suffer (I won't expose you to my sick & twisted mind) and ... then...!!!!!!

I guess I wouldn't make a very good Hindu.

Oh well... On the bright side, I guess it's pointless to pre-treat my plants before putting them in this tank. One fewer step.

-a very p-oed Naomi


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

If it is the little round ostracods that made the reappearance, I wouldn't get too upset. They do no harm that I can tell unless they become really numerous, and with fish, then never get more numerous than an occasional one that you can find if you are looking for them. 

We would like to be gods to our tanks and have absolute say over who can live there, but, reality and life always bring us down a notch. That is why it is always interesting to be a biologist. We have bacteria living in our cells, and, if we were able to get rid of them, we would die in a minute. We call them mitochondria, and they do cellular respiration for us. Most of us have mites living at the bases of our eyelashes, and they have no effect at all, as far as anyone can tell. We have bacteria in our intestines that make several vitamins we need. We are all one big happy family, although I really would like to get rid of the leeches I have in one tank. I do want to draw the line at leeches! Yuck! 

I once had a student who, after having had a month or two of biology about cellular respiration, diffusion, osmosis, etc., burst out one day and said, "All this stuff may be going on in algae and muck and stuff, but it's not going on in me!" So sorry! Yes, it is. 

I once tried a Siamese fighting fish to get rid of ostracods, and while it was not able to get rid of them completely, it did keep them at low levels. It would suck them in, and then I could see its whole head moving up and down as it munched them. Sometimes I could hear faint cracking noises. That must mean it has pharyngeal teeth.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

LOL - I could totally relate to that student :biggrin: . Who'd believe that the same E. coli that makes us deathly sick when we eat tainted and undercooked meats exists naturally in our intestines (different strain, of course)...? And when I see those magnified photos or footage of the bacteria in our mouths, makes the idea of kissing really gross. Most of us are alive thanks to those vigilant little white blood cells and the miracle of phagocytosis.

I know... All of these little creepy things have their place in the world - the one we live in, as well (unfortunately) as the ones we create in glass/acrylic containers. I wish I could put up a teeny little sign that says "ostracods, hydra, nymphs and wormy things NOT welcome" and have it honored. 

Anyway, I sucked up the one I saw yesterday with a turkey baster, put it in a cup and sprinkled some SeaChem Acid Buffer in it. The ostracod just stopped in its tracks and sank to the bottom of the cup. I felt a teeny-tiny sense of revenge, but I'm sure plenty more will appear in time. 

-Naomi


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Wow, having just read this, and several other threads about Ostracods, I'm getting worried.

I posted over on the Inverts forum that I have a shrimp-only tank in which I've found oval to egg-shaped ostracods. I thought it was "nifty" to watch them with a 10x glass as they buzzed around on the substrate. Now I'm thinking it might not be so fun, after all.

So some of them eat plants? Do they all? How can I tell if these are the horrific plant eating type? What does ostracod damage look like?

Hey pK, you seem to have a lot of experience with the plant-eating type (sorry to hear that). What should I be on the lookout for?

Also, I dont' have any betta, but would a few Threadfin Rainbowfish eat these guys? Do they have pharyngeal teeth? 

I'm trying to figure out if I need to act fast to nip this colony in the bud. 

Thanks for any input!
-Jane


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The bad guys are bean-shaped, instead of oval and have a little 'fin' or point at the end of their shell. if they get numerous, they eat almost any plants down to a nub. I would think that any of the fish that eat small snails, such as loaches, would eat them. Their eggs last for ever, unfortunately. I currently have two 15 gallon tanks that are infested with them. I may have thought of a way to get rid of the eggs. They lay their eggs where the silicone has a little overlap where it is not bonded to the glass. The overlap is one to two millimeters and is produced by the way manufacturers silicone the inner corners of the tank. It an ideal place for them to stuff their eggs. I have even watched them with a magnifying glass stuffing in their eggs. I can see eggs lined up from top to bottom along all the inner silicone applications. These ostracods are hermaphroditic, and so they all lay eggs, and if you have only one in the tank, it can lay fertile eggs. As I said previously, the eggs are not affected by any of the chemicals I have tried---full strength liquid bleach, full strength hydrochloric acid, borax, etc. The eggs also withstand drying and have delayed hatching times, so that, if they have been dry, and then they are covered with water, only a portion hatch, and the rest stay dormant. 

My plan for getting rid of them in an aquarium is to strip away all the inner silicone with a single edge razor blade, then thoroughly scrub all the inner surfaces with steel wool and a scouring powder, rinse, dry, and then re-silicone the entire inside along the eight places where the glass panes meet. I will have to remove the plastic top of the aquarium to make sure that I re-silicone all the way up. Sounds drastic, but it may be the only way. 

Oh yes, I will also have to boil the gravel and any trays or other equipment items, such as air stones, that were in the tank. If that doesn't do it, then I will have to admit defeat and buy new aquaria!


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Hey, Paul!

Before you go to all that trouble, you might want to make sure that boiling the gravel is going to be enough. When I started finding leeches in my 20-gallon tank, I was thinking of going that route to kill off the cocoons, but then I came across an article that discussed research being done on a particular leech (T. rude) whose cocoon can withstand harsh chemicals AND temperatures of up to 250 degrees *Celsius*!!! That would mean having to put it in an oven or kiln to guarantee that they were gone. While I can be certain that what I have is NOT this species (they feed exclusively on the contents of the nasal cavities of ducks), I would have to wonder just how heat-resistant leech cocoons *typically* are. And since I have no idea what species I *do* have, I'd have to assume that boiling is no guaranteed solution. I decided to leave my tank as is and add some guppies to hopefully eat the baby leeches. Thankfully, these leeches don't appear to have any interest in attaching to my fish. I think the guppies have been eating the babies because now I average about one leech sighting per 2-3 weeks. 

Unless you're using some really expensive substrate (like ADA or something), I'd just buy new stuff. I mean, it would be a major bummer if you went to all that trouble of cleaning the glass and applying new silicone, only to get a re-infestation from the gravel. Or I guess you could bake it in the oven, if that's possible. 

Did I start this thread? It's been so long since I've been bothered by ostracods. I guess the leeches put all other creepy-crawlies into perspective. But I've actually had ostracods "disappear" from some of my tanks. I think what may have happened is that since they had no opportunity to "outcross," with new genetic stock the population eventually crashed after a while. That's my theory. In another one of my tanks, they disappeared at the same time that BGA took over. But after I cleaned out the tank and added new plants, they came back. They were probably just dormant while conditions were poor.

Thought about trying dwarf puffers? Loaches may be too big to even notice the ostracods, or to find them worth the trouble of chasing down. 

-Naomi


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## carpguy (Feb 3, 2006)

gnome said:


> Loaches may be too big to even notice the ostracods, or to find them worth the trouble of chasing down.


There are some small loaches out there that are plenty interesting fish and about four inches full grown. I've got three little guys in my 30g (B. striata and B. histrionica/rostrata) and haven't seen a snail in there in four years. When snails come in on plants I toss them in the tank and I never see them again.

I've never seen/noticed these ostracods, but if I was going to look for a fish to kill them I'd start with small loaches. They're in the Carp family: they've got those pharyngeal teeth. They spend most of their day prowling around, sniffing over every surface with their little barbels: they don't miss much.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Naomi, 

Now you are crushing MY hopes! I didn't want to hear that because I have a leech problem in my 29 gallon. I did a bit of googling and found references to research on T rude at Rutgers. They are interested in the proteins that make up the cocoon of the leech. These proteins are resistant to 250 degrees C, but I doubt that the eggs inside the cocoons are as resistant. Hopefully, Ostracod eggs also are not resistant to boiling. There are thousands of different proteins and DNA, and all kinds of stuff in an egg. It can't all be resistant to high temperatures.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Oh, of course! It didn't even register in my mind... I guess the cocoon withstanding such temperatures wouldn't be the same as the contents surviving them. Hmmm... Maybe boiling the substrate would have worked. But in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't do it because the leeches are so few, now. As annoying as these little guppies can be, I guess their horrifically enormous appetites are good for some things. I do wish they could do something about ostracods, but it's probably to them like us trying to bite a macadamia nut out of its shell.

As for loaches (to eat ostracods), well, I'd get one in a second if the poor thing weren't getting stuffed into a 2.5-gallon tank. Even a sidthimunki would be too big for such a tiny tank. If it bothered me enough, I might try a dwarf puffer. I may get one anyway for a different tank that's getting over-run with pond snails. 

-Naomi


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## jimjim (Jan 25, 2004)

*Smorgasborg*

If it helps, I've used Black banded Sunfish occasionally to cut down on many an unnamed freshwater shrimp and swimming pests. Just dont feed them much. The only setback is "only use females" The males will dig up and build nests and your plants will spend most of their time at the surface. I believe Skunk loachs also like ostracods...Jim


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## Krisybabe9 (Mar 21, 2006)

Does anyone know if Angelicus loaches (B. angelicus/B. kubotai) are effective at eating up little buggers like leeches, snails, and o-cods?

I've read that they are more peaceful then other loaches...not sure though, no experience with loaches....yet


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Well, reading that bettas would be effective, I moved a little baby Sparkling Gourami into this tank. He's too small to bother the FW shrimp, but hopefully small enough to see and learn to eat the ostracods. These are oval, not bean-shaped, but I don't want to tempt fate. His body is 3/8" long, measuring 1/2" including fins. I HOPE he can see the little things, and that he has the requisite pharyngeal teeth!

I'll keep tabs on him, and if I get really desperate, I'll move the shrimp out, and put the little guy's parents in there - THEY seem to really know how to hunt!

-Jane


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## JLudwig (Feb 16, 2004)

gnome said:


> they feed exclusively on the contents of the nasal cavities of ducks


Thanks, now I have coffee on my monitor  It's almost like Douglas Adams' universe is reality at times - what an odd creature.

So ultimately the best advice is to keep trying to grow plants? Did any one of these pests get so out of control it was impossible to keep a good aquascape?

Jeff


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

LOL at Jeff! Back in college, I used to have Lab for my Parasitology class right before the dinner hour. That always made for interesting converstion with my friends, LOL!

It sounds as though the plant-eating ostracods, the bean-shaped ones, would wreak havoc on an aquascape. But the oval/egg shaped ones seem to not be doing too much damage. I do have some pinholes in the Bacopa australis in that tank, but it may be a potassium deficiency. New growth is pristine, and the other plants look good. Usually with any sucking or gnawing insect, the tender new growth is what gets hit the hardest. Think aphids eating the petunia buds, or thrips damaging new growth on african violets. 

So Baby Sparkling Gourami is either not keeping up with the ostracod population boom, or simply not eating them. I barely looked into my tanks all week, but this weekend he's looking plump and spunky, full of attitude as he came to inspect ME, as I inspected his 5.5 gal tank. He's obviously eating SOMETHING. Perhaps there are fewer ostracods. I'll give it more time. 

And PK, I just made the connection of WHO you are - and I've just joined AGA, and bought the Archive DVD, so I'm looking forward to reading your articles! You must be a whirlwind of energy, to re-do the silicone in your tanks, boil the gravel, etc. I've been meaning to re-seal an old Metaframe tank for going on 2 years now. *sigh*. 

So how about Potassium Permanganate? Is this effective? I'll have to re-read this thread (again). My mind is like a sieve lately.

-Jane


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

An update - Baby Sparkling Gourami is looking very colorful and well fed, and there are almost no ostracods in the tank any more! I went away for another week, and its been a few weeks since he first went into that tank, so I think he's the reason for their scarce numbers now. I had to really look hard to find two, whereas before I could easily count ten in a small area. I attribute it to him and his pharyngeal teeth *grin*!

So now I'm thinking of moving him into the tank with the planaria problem - the Danios sp. 'Burma' don't even seem to see the planaria, and I have shrimp in there which I'm hoping to breed. 

I think this little Sparkling Gourami is becoming my tiny Exterminator!

However, I've now seen a few ostracods in my Bumblebee colony tank, but I don't want S. Gourami in THERE, as there are also baby bumblebee shrimp, who could probably fit into his mouth. 

Another dilemna.
-Jane


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Larger catfish, (not corys) will devore them, freshwater puffers, loaches, any mid size scavenger will eat them. They will also starve if the water is clean and not muh of anything is settled on the gravel. I have never found them to be the least bit detrimental though. They are even less obtrusive than pond snails because they do not eat plants. I find them rather interesting.


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Hi Robert!

well, I have snowball shrimp in that tank, which is why I didn't want to introduce any botias or larger catfish. I need to feed the shrimp in that tank, but the ostracods also swarm the food. 

There seems to be a "background" level of them now, but I'm also missing a snowball shrimp! Lil' Sparkling is SUCH a hunter, I can't help but suspect him - if the shrimp molted it would be vulnerable. 

Does anyone know if Threadfin Rainbowfish would keep the ostracods at bay? They seem to ignore the Cherry Red Shrimp in the tank they're in right now. 

Thanks!
-Jane


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## alphacat (Apr 26, 2006)

*Olympic Mudminnows*

Hey there-

in the course of my amateur native fish studies I came across the Olympic Mudminnow, whose diet includes ostracods. Colder water is a must though, since they're native to Washington state.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Ooooh! What a cute little guy! Reminds me a little bit of a bumblebee goby, except without the "angry face."


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## 247Plants (Mar 23, 2006)

Are those available in the hobby yet? I might like to get my hands on some......


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Jane told me about this thread so I came over to have a look (this site is HUGE and I'm still trying to find my way around). Very interesting thread! I had no idea ostracods were so tough!

I have ostracods in all of my seven tanks and many ponds. I have some tiny round ones, some of which are see-through, and some of which are yellow with black markings (adults and juveniles maybe?). I also have the dreaded kidney bean shaped ones with the "point" at the end of their shells in very large numbers. In fact, one of my tanks has only snails, planaria and kidney shaped ostracods living in it (apart from the plants of course!). The tank has been running for six years and the ostracods are still going strong, despite the tank having been drained and moved about five times. The first twice I moved the tank it was without water for a while and most of the adults died but new babies soon hatched, and with lots of food they soon grew into a healthy colony again.

If you haven't already guessed, I love ostracods! I think they are pretty, interesting and useful. If you think that's weird, it gets worse. I also like Hydra, planaria, aquatic worms, all kinds of snails, copepods and anything else that is small, lives in freshwater and is non-parasitic. I'm overjoyed when some new creature arrives on newly bought aquatic plants. I am actually _envious_ of the people on this thread who have leeches (I'm still waiting for some of those to set up home in one of my tanks).

Anyway, I have all these creatures and more in high numbers in my tanks, and I have never seen any plant damage. By high numbers I mean that when I look into my tanks with a torch at night, every single millimetre of every surface is crawling with things (by the way, if you think your tank is critter-free, just try looking into it at night - you might be surprised to see what comes out after dark). My tanks have soil substrates, are heavily planted, heavily fed and very lightly stocked with fish if they have fish at all, so the creatures don't bother eating my live plants because they have plenty of other food. My tanks don't have any artificial water movement so the creatures are very essential for cleaning plant leaves and circulating the water. The fact that they are healthy and breeding indicates good water quality. The more tasty ones (not the ostracods obviously!) also provide food for the fish to catch. On top of all that they are fascinating to watch (I wish I had a microscope so I could get a really good look at them). I have never had any problems with over population - in each tank there is a comfortable balance between available food and creature numbers.

Well, the point of all that was to say that if you like ostracods, they _can_ co-exist with live plants if they have enough other food to eat. Of course, it may be that there are some types that are voracious live-plant-eaters and the kidney shaped ones I have are different, but then again many people have problems with snails munching on their plants while others like myself have millions of snails with not a holey leaf in sight. If you don't like ostracods it seems they are very difficult to eradicate, so why not try feeding them? You might end up liking them once they start eating fishfood and stop murdering your plants. As they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

From Alex.


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