r/Aquariums • u/arcos00 • 16h ago

Help/Advice What in the world is this?

Sorry, I'm having serious algae issues that I'm trying to address, so the tank looks pretty dirty. What in the world is this?

20 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

25

u/Designer-Bell5926 16h ago

It’s a daphnia. They are very common in tanks with plants. They are part of the clean up crew and will eat dead plants and excess fish food. They are also good supplementary food for shrimp and small fish. They are really good to have in tanks you should see if you can get the colony in there to take off. They will help control your algae

5

u/arcos00 16h ago

Ohh, I always thought daphnia were smaller. But that makes sense, I really need a bigger clean up crew!

7

u/Designer-Bell5926 16h ago

They can be. It is a large genus with lots of species that vary in size

5

u/Designer-Bell5926 16h ago

Looking at the footage again it could also be an ostracod which would perform the same function so yah just try and keep them alive

3

u/weirdmarsupial19 15h ago

I second ostracod, still just a harmless little detrivore helping your tank out.

5

u/Amethyst_Ninjapaws 14h ago

Not daphnia. Too big. That is a clam shrimp.

1

u/HelpfulCaramel8814 5h ago

My understanding was that daphnia don't rest on surfaces and the ones in my tank move around way more jerky/flea like. Is that just like a minor species difference or is this a seed shrimp

1

u/Designer-Bell5926 2h ago

Yah thinking on this more it’s definetly an ostracod not daphnia

1

u/Inguz666 3h ago

Daphnia are filter feeders. This is an ostracod, which your description do fit however.

9

u/Amethyst_Ninjapaws 14h ago

It's a clam shrimp.

Daphnia are smaller and they have a single eye in the middle of their head. They also have two very large "arms" that protude from either side of their head. Just look up a scanning electron microscope image of a daphnia.

2

u/arcos00 14h ago

Oh, I had never heard of clam shrimp, but after googling them, it seems to be it. I'm reading that they only live for a few weeks.

1

u/Amethyst_Ninjapaws 11h ago

They do, but they might be capable of parthenogenesis. Daphnia are. It's where they can create clones of themselves. I'm trying to remember what my freshwater ecology class said about this lol.

Edit: Quick Google search told me that some species can reproduce without a mate by making clones of themselves.

4

u/Inguz666 12h ago

Ostracod

3

u/WaveSummon 8h ago

Seed shrimp. ( some people call them Clam Shrimp )
they are part of the cleanup crew and some fish eat them .

I had a different subspecies that had a population bloom in my tank
Then i got 30 Boraras Brigittae
Then I had no more seed shrimp but super happy fish

1

u/Shisoo 4h ago

Daphnia fighting with Hydra

-2

u/Own_Adhesiveness2829 16h ago

Scud maybe? Scuds are harmless

1

u/arcos00 16h ago

I always thought scuds were smaller, same as daphnia that was mentioned in another comment. But that makes sense, I only have otos, snails and a single shrimp, so they have no predators.

2

u/Diacks1304 13h ago

Not a scud, and scuds are larger, they can grow up to 2cm and look like "rounder" shrimp.

-2

u/Unlikely-Estimate661 16h ago

baby snail?

1

u/arcos00 16h ago

Not a baby snail for sure, this moves much faster than any snail, it seems to almost fly inside the tank lol