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Bugs found in filter cartridge?
I was going to use the filter cartridge from my cycled tank and use it in my new tank, but when I took it out of the filter there were bugs crawling around on it. I'm 99% sure they were daphnia (water fleas). How did they get into my tank? I've never fed any of my fish daphnia before.
My tank is freshwater and I don't feed them live foods. I have no idea how they got there.
4 Answers
- Gary CLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Daphnia could have come in on plants, or there is a small chance there could have been "resting eggs" of daphnia in some frozen or dry food (even in freeze-dried food) that hatched out. There may have been other daphnia in the general tank, but the fish would have eaten them.
Daphnia is a great fish food. To make sure that (or something similar) is what you have, put one or two of the bugs in the tank to see if the fish eat it. If they do eat it, shake the rest of the daphnia loose from the filter cartridge as a treat for the fish. Then there shouldn't be any danger in using the old filter cartridge for the new tank.
- ?Lv 41 decade ago
If your tank is a marine tank these are either amphipods or copepods - they get sucked from the liverock into the filter media. They can live in the media and often prefer it as it supplies a good source of food.
Your cleaner shrimp will love them! They are a staple part of a young cleaner shrimps live, and normally they mean your water parameters are pristiene.
If they are freshwater I'm not too sure how they would have gotten in there unless you are feeding live brine shrimp or blood worms, or some other food ...
