Bugs?

[KLKelly]

The planted tanks been set up for a month.  Nothing in it but hair algae (all my fault) and plants.  The plants are for the most part thriving.  Something is eating holes in the leaves and the elodea is dying off but everything else is doing good.

I only have pond snails as life in this tank or so I thought.

There are tons of white things that look like copepods from the sw tank.  Do these exist in freshwater tanks also?  They swim in the tank and crawl on the glass.

[Dorrie]

I think the pond snails are the ones to blame for the holes in your plants. When I collected them in a small 3 gallon (I though I had gotten rid of them all, but they're back in both my tanks ), I put in a few plants to avoid feeding them and the plants were positevely destroyed in about a week or two. It started out with holes, then the ends of leaves being cut off and then the only part of the leaves left were the middle axis...

I'm sorry I can't help you with what the white thingys are though...
You could check out the link in this post: http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=27618.msg183821. (The pictures are really not that bad )

[littlelil]

There are tons of white things that look like copepods from the sw tank.  Do these exist in freshwater tanks also?  They swim in the tank and crawl on the glass.

i've been told yes, the same bugs in SW tanks are the same as the ones in the FW tanks. I often have them in my newt & turtle tank when they are not squeaky clean. They are different kind though, i think. The SW bugs have like, heads when they get bigger, but the FW bugs just get long and stringy. They are NOT harmful to anything so I doubt they are eating your plants. They eat waste like poop and old food.

[Nerine]

pond snails LOVE LOVE LOVE plants!!

[dan2x38]

Vacuum the gravel and do large water changes. The snails are eating the plants because there is no fish food or poo... yes they eat poo... If you are not keeping the tank clean the white thingys are likely Planaria. They are a whitish flatworm with an arrowshaped head. The link doesn't have a picture Kerrie... Can post one if you like? You can treat the tank with H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). I used doses of 1 tbsp were 5g. Each day did a large WC replaced the H2O2 for 4-5 days. It will kill the Planaria and take care of the pond snails. It will dry up their egg nests and weaken their shells. By vacuuming the gravel you suck out any decaying matter that pests will live off of.

[KLKelly]

Thanks - I've really messed up with this tank.  So much going on that its been extremely neglected. 

I can't post pics of them.  They are the size of a tiny bug as small as a flea or smaller.  I've seen planaria - these things aren't worm shaped. I wonder if Jungle Parasite Cure tablets would work?  I'll put in a slice of zucchini to get the snails out.

Right now it has 50%city/50%well water in it.  Will the plants be okay with a few changes of just well water?  GH10/KH14/PH8.3 or will this kill them off?

[dan2x38]

You have pretty hardy plants. They should be OK. The temp should be matched close as you can with a few degrees. Are the bugs just of the sides of the glass? Sure their not baby snails?

[KLKelly]

They swim and land on the glass. Take it you've never had a ton of them in your tanks

I'll get the guts to look up some of the bugs mentioned.  I hate bugs but looking them up is scary. There are some ugly bugs out there.