# Ostracods, the invincible tank destroyers!



## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

I think Ive identified the "bugs" that Ive found in my 5.5 gallon and now my 10 gallon. They are actually a crustacean, also known as seed shrimp. The pictures online don't look as dark as what I was seeing, but that may just be because my microscope isn't all that great.

Their bodies are incased in a shell that they can open and close, so they are protected from many things, like the bleach I tried to kill them with. The really cool thing about them (and this me being entirely sarcastic) is that they have drought resistant eggs! That means, they can die and dry out, but their eggs, tucked away under their shells, will live and wait for the right conditions to hatch because they can carry water in their shells for quite some time! They can feed off of organic material, but can also be predators. There are around 8000 species of Ostracods and somehow I must have ended up with a predatory species because I cant see any other reason as to why my betta died only 3 days after finding them. Apparently they will attack in groups to kill much larger victims. One of the species that lives in the ocean has actually been reported to have attacked a human! They also can reproduce without a partner by just cloning themselves. Poor Apollo didn't stand a chance 

It seems that I was doomed from the start. They can kill fish, reproduce on their own, cant be killed with chemicals, and can have eggs that will survive out of the water and still be viable much later. Its like they are indestructible! 

The only thing I can think of that may kill them is boiling water. But how can I use boiling water to clean the tank, heater, and filter without breaking them? 

This is not my picture, but it shows how they can open their shells to hold in water or release eggs, or just completely take over 2 of my tanks, etc.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Boil the water and put it into your tank. You can try and take the filter apart and place that in a pot of boiling water. Except your pump of course. Replace filter cartridges. As for a heater, I would suck it up and get a brand new one. You can try boiling it. Then again what if it doesn't take care of the problem? Just a thought...

Curious - how in the world did your tank get infected with them to begin with? Was it a hitch hiker on your fish or plant?


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

I had all the plants and fish in that tank for about 6 or 7 months, so I don't think they were carried in that way. I haven't added anything new to the tank since the last plants I added so long ago. So I really am at a loss as to how they got in this tank and not the other that is in the same room. 

I am afraid of the boiling water cracking the glass in the tank because of the sudden temperature change, the same with the heater because it is also glass. 

I know they are protected from most toxins because of their shells, but I don't think the shells would save them from boiling water and its all I can think of. So Im hoping this works.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

what amazes me is i am constantly seeing people that have not actually been in the hobby that long plagued with creatures and diseases that i have never seen in all of my 40 years in the hobby..Ostracods....never heard of em...
there has to be a way to get rid of them..


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

If you don't count the 2 or 3 years I had goldfish before I really got into the hobby, Ive only had these 3 tanks going on 9 months now and I never would have imagined something like this. Im really just stumped as to how they got in my tanks. I know how they got in the ten gallon (because I transferred them unknowingly thinking that the bleach had killed them all), but I don't know how they got in the 5.5. Its in the same room as my 29 and that tank wasn't affected. Both tanks were fed frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, both tanks have the same gravel, the same driftwood, and the 5.5 actually has plants that I transferred from the 29. 

Could they have come in on the frozen food? My dad was saying it would only take one bad worm or shrimp to carry one of them and that would explain why it was only in one tank and not the other.

Since Ive bleached the 5.5 and the plants twice, I haven't seen them return, but I may just clean the tank out with boiling water just to be safe. Im not sure how to disinfect the plants though because I cant put them in boiling water without killing them...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Huh Ostracods. Still, correlation doesn't prove causation. Your crustacean population explosion and fish death could both be related to some third cause. For example, a change in the water or a something smaller that ostracods eat.

I do love the idea of having your own microscope. I had to use my sister's intel Q-play to tell my fish had tapeworms. The discus nuts are starting to consider $300 digital microscopes to be standard equipment now.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

Its nothing special. It's actually a pretty cheap one that I got a long time ago and I've never really used it until now but it worked. I still might take a slide to school and look at it under the better microscopes we have there. I think my anatomy teacher would be interested in seeing it too. Then I can be sure that I identified them correctly.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Boiling water will probably crack your tank. Chems will kill them eventually. Orthophosphate based stuff works.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

How can I disinfect the plants without killing them? They aren't looking so great since Ive bleached them twice now.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

if they are as near indestructible as you say I would throw away all plants and décor, use what salty says and start from scratch and move on...
swallow the cost as if you don't eradicate the eggs completely they will be back and it will end up costing you as much in fish and maybe turn you off the idea of fish keeping


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

I've seen these guys before. They're pretty resilient to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold. Usually found in a tank/filter that hasn't been cleaned very well.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I agree with weedkiller. Toss everything out and start anew. Better safe and put a strain on your wallet than risk never getting rid of the problem.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i would get rid of the plants i guess ; but i would bleach everything else..
sorry but i just can't buy the idea that bleach cannot kill them...i am not sure that anything can live through a few hours of being submerged in a strong bleach solution..


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

I did weekly water changes with the gravel vacuum on the tank I found them in and I changed the water twice every other week just because the tank was a little over stocked with two otos and a betta. I also made sure the filter was always clean because I had to place nylon over the intake for the bettas fins and by the end of a week or two it would need unclogged. So Im not sure where they came from, but they showed up out of nowhere.

I would have thought the bleach would kill them too, but I left the tank and all the equipment soaking in bleach over night originally and they still came back. It was the same way after the second bleaching. 

The only problem with starting from scratch is that I have no money. The little I do have is being put towards finishing my hermit crab tank. Theyre going to need a heater before it gets too cold. Im going to ask around for tanks and things over the next few days. Im sure some of my friends and family probably have them laying around. It might take a while though...

I really don't want to give up on my plants yet...is there any way I can keep them alive, maybe in one of the tanks I wont be using again, until I can figure out if there is any way to save them?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

in doing a little research i found that only1 or 2 common species are a risk to fish as they may become parasitic in the gills..but not all will do that.so you may not have that species.hopefully so..only way to tell for sure is to send it in and have it identified...
good luck kid..i hope everything works out ok for you.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

Thank you  Do you have any idea where I might be able to send a few of them? I might take some to school because Im sure the microscopes in the anatomy lab are better than mine and I will be able to make sure they really are ostracods. Other than that, it would be nice to know exactly what species they are. I plan to do more research as well.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

here is something else about them..
http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/12809-my-ostracods/


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

you can try here..
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/maxillopoda/ostracoda.html


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Not sure if you said this already.. If they're swimming around at all, then they're not ostracods. Ostracods kinda crawl around. They're pretty cool underneath a microscope. You could always look into getting a female betta or some scarlet badis to eat them.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

They were definitely crawling on everything, but they were also floating in the water, I don't know if they were really swimming though.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

There are many sorts of ostracods. Some swim, some crawl, some...flop around. Some look like little clams, some look like spiders. They're a large group.
Some even glow in the dark!


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

I didnt have the glowing ones. That might have been neat to see.


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