# some sort of tiny mites ????



## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

hey there i was just chking out my tank and i have lots of frogbits among some other plants in my 35 gal tank , i have noticed some ssort of small kind of mites or something walking along the top of the frogbits , water change was done last nite , do it on weekly basis dont have my water parameters at this time but the last time i chked they were 
amonia- 0
no2-0
p.h 6.4
no3- 0
not sure what i should do should i get rid of the frogbits should i treat the tank , i will see tommorwo about taking a pic but my cam is not that great 
would appreciate any help thanks again 
tom


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## Aquatic Designs (Apr 2, 2006)

Those are most likely aphids. Very common pest. Hard to remove with livestock. Only known way to remove them without using a chemical that will no doubt kill your fish. Is diatomacious earth. You can buy some from your local fish store or garden center. 

Sold as diatom media in the LFS and insectagone in the garden center. Make sure it does not have a scent added. You want just the plain type. 

You sprinkle it on the leaves. It's a powder.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Is there any reason to risk treating? I've had these in my FW tanks forever and they do no harm...


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Me too.
They're aphids. When they're stressed they release a sugary substance.. so worst case scenario they're a delicious crispy sweet treat for a tetra somewhere if they fall in. 

Biodiversity is your friend. If it's not on your fish, I say yay to that gammarus, planaria, ramshorn snail, etc.


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## lora (Mar 12, 2006)

They are harmless, small fish eat them. When doing water changes, siphon some water off the very top of the tank to get rid of some of them. Ladybugs like to eat them as well. If you ever get Ladybugs around your tank, it's because of the aphids.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Could also be springtails, every planted tank I ever kept had these little critters walking/floating on the surface. If you look across the surface from the side, do you see any of them jumping around? If so, it's probably springtails (Collembola).

They live off dying/damaged leaves of plants floating on the surface. Cool little critters, there are desert species, grass/plains, water species, even ones that you can find living and hopping about on *snow*.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

I have seen these on my mature tanks eating algae off the glass top. 
Aphids.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

I've often had springtails on my frogbit. They come and go and are harmless.

I've occasionally had aphids on emersed portions of plants. Just rinse them off into the tank. They'll drown and/or fish will eat them. You can also crush them with your fingers. Overall, they're unlikely to set the frogbit back any unless it's coated with them.

Aphids secrete sugar continually. They suck plant juices, which are much higher in sugar than protein, so they have to consume a lot more sugar than they can use. This 'honeydew' secretion is why ants farm aphids and why a heavily infested tree will drip sugar water onto your car and patio furniture which gets colonized by ugly black mold.

I'd be extremely cautious about using diatomaceous earth from a garden center anywhere near fish. These products are often enhanced by the addition of natural plant-derived materials like pyrethrins or rotenones, which have been used for centuries by indigenous people to poison fish so they can catch them readily.


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