PlanetCatfish.com

Hello,

I was cleaning my freshwater tank today and noticed this little dude swimming around, pretty sure it was in the filter media. I looked at http://www.planetinverts.com/what_is_th ... arium.html and it doesn't look like any of those.

It is small (2mm or 2.5 mm) appears to have a bunch of legs on its underside and sometimes tucks its tail in and swims a bit but it mostly just walks around on the bottom.

I haven't added anything new to my tank in a good 2-3 months or so. And it's very cold winter here, so it's not like it came in from outside!

The picture isn't great. It was the best i could get without a microscopic camera, but perhaps if someone already is familiar they'd be able to recognize it.

Can i put it back into the tank or is its newly discovered life short-lived?

Thanks in advance,

Kat

research amphipod, that should shed some light on your mystery
and yes you can put him back into the tank he is harmless.

I saw some of them, but they didn't look like mine... that said, i don't have a microscope, so I'll take your word for it! Thanks!

Looks like a scud or Gammarus shrimp. Sometimes they're frozen in packs of bloodworms. There are a few little critters that can survive freezing that show up with commercial frozen foods.

Hi all,
If it is flat from side to side it is probably a "Scud" (Gammarus) or similar Hyalella etc, if it is flat top to bottom, it will be Asellus.

I have a lot of Asellus in some of my filters, and in all the tanks. They are very similar to Cherry Shrimps in food requirements and are totally fish safe.

cheers Darrel

Thanks for your replies!

Funny - i had a tiny sense that maybe it could have come with the blood worms which would have been the only "new" thing that I added to the tank recently.

Appreciate the replies!

Kat