# small black bugs...eek!



## Jdub777 (Jan 31, 2009)

first off, I'm typing this from my blackberry, so excuse weird punctuations and mispellings etc. OK so as the title says, I got these little black bugs all over the dreaded duckweed. They don,t swim, they're as tiny as apinhead and the freak me out, cuz they jump pretty well. What are these things and why don't my furcatas eat these things before I put my hand in the tank up to my armpits.


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## ex225 (Oct 26, 2008)

Check out: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/40061-whats-bug-how-recognize-them.html

Are they TINY TINY? If so, I'm pretty sure you have springtails. I believe they come in mostly brown or gray but can be black as well. I noticed these bugs too in my tank when I had a ton of duckweed. The duckweed covered surface stopped all water movement on the surface and made it a nice, moist environment for springtails to inhabit. BTW, I've never seen them in as much detail as the pic in the whats-that-bug thread. They just look like floating pieces of dust to me.

I knew right away I had springtails because I've known people who had infestations at their house, usually caused by water puddles around the base of the house or excess, trapped moisture somewhere like betwen floorboards.

These little guys seem to know when you're coming and can jump so fast it looks like they just disappear. I'm pretty sure fish will have a hard time catching them since they basically float on the waters surface and can spring away in no time. I've never seen my guppies go for them either, it's like they're too small to notice.

Good news is they are harmless, but can just be annoying sometimes. I got rid of the ones in my tank by clearing out a lot of the duckweed and creating more surface agitation. 

The only harm I can see from having them is if they find a moist environment in your home and decide to infest it. Harmless still, but most people don't like the idea of tiny little bugs jumping all around your walls. I've been to a house like that and sometimes it makes you itch just knowing that there might be a bunch of them already on you.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

those sound like springtails. they are harmless.

there are also dark gray aphids that seem to like water and will go after duckweed and other floating/emergent aquatic plants. these are not so harmless and can do a lot of damage to other plants. i would describe springtails as "TINY TINY", but these aphids are perhaps only "TINY"--a little bigger than a pinhead and more fat than springtails. if they are aphids i would recommend eradicating them by getting rid of all of the duckweed. if they are only springtails then probably no reason to worry.


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## Jdub777 (Jan 31, 2009)

Ok so these lil bugs are tiny tiny TINY.  I have never seen anything that small jump that fast. I noticed them,just as you have, that when my duckweed became an infestation,these lil things did too. Like twice a week I scoop out cupfuls of duckweed and constantly re-adjust my lilly pipe and powerhead for just the right amount of adjutation,trying to combat the spread of the dreaded duckweed. I may just give up and buy a duck, will that work?  thanks for the info guys, I was going to buy something like an "outbreak/cdc" suit to play with my fishtank.


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