I have a 5 gallon tank that has been running for around 12 months with no fish just plants, no water changes just topped up evaporation. Id say there are 1000s of these seed shrimp in there and the tank is absolutely spotless. I now class them as my pets 😂
We have a sizable pond in Calgary that gets drained before each winter then fills with snow melt the following spring. In the early years, we spent quite a bit of money on natural additives like barley straw extract to try controlling the string algae that would grow soon after the snow melt. A few years ago, my wife bought some aquatic plants to dress up the pond perimeter and, unbeknownst to us, also contained some of these little critters. Before long, they multiplied and multiplied to a sizable and visible colony across the entire pond. Day after day, we saw them munching on dead leaves and other debris. The best part was their affinity for the string algae too. Before long, we were able to enjoy a pretty clean and clear pond without much more additives. They are not very prolific or active during the cooler early spring so we still use some of the extract and barley straw but once warmer weather arrives, they have become very reliable little janitors. We didn't know what they were until my wife asked another gardening and pond buddy who referred us to a marine biologist who then suggested we look up ostracods. They seem to be pretty hardy and can reliably survive our cold winters. These cute little guys have become valuable allies and a welcome sight for us each summer.
I’ve been looking at my ones underneath my microscope and they are so cool! I have two different thriving colonies. My betta loves them and I find him nipping at plants like herbivores do. He has learned that plants occasionally mean tasty treats lol. They live inside his moss balls primarily and he is going blind (diamond eye) so he just keep the population under control instead of hurting it. Occasionally I can see them hopping through the tank and it’s so cute. My peaceful community tank with endlers, shrimp, and salt and pepper cory just had a population spike. I love watching them with my microscope Clip-on on my phone as they dig through the sand and gravel. I think my endlers should be big enough to snack on them but I think most consumption of seed shrimp will be accidental when the endlers are nibbling on plants and algae. My nerite snail hasn’t laid any eggs but if it does, I will be interested to see if the seed shrimp work on them
So i noticed a friggin' huge ostracod in my neocaridina shrimp tank about a week ago, this thing is about 3mm long, 2mm+ in diameter, slightly green in color with a few darker spots on the outer shell. Took me a couple of days to figure out exactly what it might be, i assumed it was a seed shrimp at first by its nature, but the size threw me off lol. But after closer examination & further research conducted, i now am certain there's no threat or out competition for food, so i have now named said seed shrimp/ostracod, Dave the 1st, king of the ostracods. (There's only 1 in the tank, so it seemed appropriate to give him the highest rank) 😂
As a Celestial Pearl Danio breeder, I can say that I have these and other micros in my fry tanks, I do NOT believe that they are a danger to eggs and or fry.
I have a seed shrimp experience to share. I wanted to culture some green water for daphnia. I got a jar, added aquarium water, and set it in a sunny windowsill. I added a small piece of briefly boiled zucchini (courgette). After some time passed, perhaps a couple of weeks, I noticed tiny black dots moving around on the glass of my green water jar. They were seed shrimp that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, thanks to leaving the veggie food in my jar with nothing much in there to eat it.
Trying to isolate a culture of daphnia, but couldn't catch them with my pipette. So now I'm culturing seed shrimp instead. I didn’t know what they were, but looked like something my tiny fish would eat. Now I know what I have on my hands.
@@seanlee8237 I am not sure about that. Some types of fish will however this is also subject to the species of the seed shrimp in your tank. Some are smaller than others... it is a hit and miss :(
Your video was very informative, and much more put together than others regarding the seed shrimp. I've had my tank for little over two years, and what is in the tank has been in it since day one. The snails and Amanos have also been in the take about two years. A couple months ago I noticed the seed shrimps floating around the water, but not sitting on anything. Since then the seed shrimps have double and now are on the leaves and glass that have algae growing on it, as well as between the pebbles. I don't clean my tank like they say you should, or mess with the RO water except to add more because of evaporation. You are correct, all thing will balance themselves out according to resources. I learned doing too much to your water is going to require you to continue doing the "balancing act" unless you let the ecosystem do its thing. Yes letting the tank do its thing will show crazy levels, however, in time the water parameters, with minimal interaction, will balance itself. I'm now waiting for the seed shrimp to figure out they are eating themselves, probably, into hibernation, saying that for it does not look like you can destroy them.
I thought I new a bit about biology until I heard about these Ostracods the other day. Immediately Googled and RU-vidd them - wow, fascinating. 1000's of species and can live virtully anywhere there is water, and as said they have been on earth over the 5 major extinction avents. They are now vying with tardegrades as the toughest life form on mother earth !
They survived massive extinction events and living in space… meaning they are indestructible, good luck getting rid of them haha. They are kinda cute though. Great video, thanks!
Very helpful video, I was trying to figure out what these tiny things were in a new tank set up (no fish yet, only plants). I got a lot of the other photos you showed at the beginning. After watching this, I know they're seed shrimp and not to be too afraid of them. Really interesting about them surviving the mass extinctions, too! Thanks! 🙂👍
So, I had to comment on here due to my most recent issue with seed shrimp. They had completely taken over my Crystal Red Shrimp tank and my shrimp started to die a couple of days ago. When I tested the water there were basically no minerals in the water (which I add and monitor very closely). My theory is the seed shrimp used up all of the minerals. So, they might be fine in a lot of instances, but that is definitely something to keep an eye out for. I had found your video when I had no idea what they were, and am glad I now know what seed shrimp are.
I have been using platies to control my seed shrimp numbers, and it works wonders! If my platies eat them then guppies and mollies almost def will too.
Thank you! I just found some in my daphnia colony and was wondering if I should try to destroy them. I won't now. Diversity is a wonderful thing and in my opinion it is one of the things that make having an aquarium so interesting!
Yup... Seed shrimp is a problem for shrimp keeper or breeder... Yes, bleach will be your solution, but not the egg. They laid their egg in the soil or near your glue tank... So when you restart your tank they will appear again some days... In fact my friend make an experiment with insect pesticides, and yet, the seed shrimp still appear in his tank.. as a Taiwan shrimp breeder say "try to love them, if you can not eliminate them.. " seed shrimp quote of the year..
I'm totally amazed at your huge research, man. Incredible!! As per my tank, guppies don't eat them, a pair of penguin tetra did for some amount. My seed-shrimps eat decaying dwarf sag., jungle val, anubias, cryptocoryn, food left overs and dead fish. But they are also eating my fresh dwarf lily!! So far I know, dwarf puffer fish would definitely eat them. I'll let you know when I try.
Hello Sukhdev, thank you very much for your kind words and for your input! Please keep us posted with your future finding as they are quite interesting. ;)
Water Worlds just WOW. like they said, the research you’ve done is crazy. I noticed these little guys in my aquarium recently nesting on the moss and swimming around LiKe thEy oWn tHe pLaCe and your video gave me all the information I needed, thank you for helping me to understand that these tiny prehistoric bugs are important friends for my aquarium. plus, I’ve noticed my betta chasing some but they seem to be too fast for him haha.
Subscribed #100 , I have been looking for seed shrimps here in Toronto for a while now ever since watching Micheal Langerman on RU-vid. They seem to assist in the aquarium maintenance and provide snacks to the guppy fry.
Hello Bobby, they are my favorite clean up crew for my aquariums. Once established their numbers will diminish and you will hardly notice them. It takes around 10 months for their numbers to peak in a tank and then drop. Try the local facebook aquarium groups in Canada, for sure someone will have some. :)
Thank you so much for this video! It was very informative and I could finally see what this crustacean is in a real-life set-up instead of just pictures that don't give us much of what is like.
I am aiming to create a self reliant aquarium. Where i only need to do water changes. Seed shrimp seem like another good type of species to add ontop of my current detritus worms. Good nutrition for fish.
Great video! I inadvertently brought home some ostracods in some dry soil from the everglades (contained within the rootball of a cypress sapling). They were coexisting nicely with a population of guppies for several months in a mini cypress-pond pot until I introduced a spatterdock plant. The ostracod population crashed shortly after and I cant find any now. I also pulled the spatterdock. Maybe this is due to an o2 drop due to a depletion of algae from the spatterdock coverage? Nothing observable happened to the guppies except a reduction in the number of regularly occurring fry. I didn't feel great to learn that ostracods have survived all 5 mass extinctions only to be killed off by me...
Heheh! That was what I thought as well because some people are actively trying to eradicate them from their tanks and are unable to do so. Your input is very interesting. Since the guppies are fine your assumption must be correct. At least this is what I would think.. Perhaps in the future someone else can further comment on this one..
Difficult to say how it happened, but I doubt it is due to oxygen drop or the guppies would have been affected as well. In any case, they aren't completely eradicated. There are eggs in there somewhere. Matteroffact, that's very likely how you got the seed shrimp in the first place. They lay their eggs all the time. When conditions are right their eggs will hatch and produce more. It will just take a little time (about two weeks to a month). However now that the culture has been reduced significantly, the guppy fry might prevent them from becoming as prolific as it was before. If you notice any, I would recommend separating some of them in a dedicated culture to prevent the delay in between crashes like that. Also, check your tank carefully because it's possible that you may have introduced some other kind of predator or problem into your tank that may also be harmful to your fish. If so, it's best to find out as soon as possible.
@@dsmith8263 Thanks Smith! I will definitely keep an eye out for any more. Your'e spot on about their origin. The original population of seed shrimp hatched about seven months ago when I flooded a pot containing sand from a seasonally hydric area in South Florida. It surprised me to see them swimming around afterward. My tank is really just a large, flooded plastic planter with a cypress tree growing out of the center. I introduced the guppies after the seed shrimp hatched for mosquito control. The pot is unfiltered and topped off every day with technically distilled water (collected from A/C condensation). The only change I've noticed since the seed shrimp "departure" is a gradual reduction of water clarity but no other critters (that I can see) that may have been introduced by the spatterdock. I'll certainly keep an eye out. Thank you again for your reply-
Haha! I really love my seed shrimps. They are pretty much everywhere and I really like the way they feed on uneaten food. I use a syringe to remove them from my shrimp tank and feed them to my betta... 😋
Agree, they actually help a lot cleaning dead plant and dead shrimp in my tank that I didn't need to worry it get sting, but since I introduced a betta, I couldn't find them anywhere anymore, sad
I havent fed my tank since January 2021, I think the whole food chain in side my tank, was regulated by them and the red cherry shrimps, and the ember tetra.
Okay, thank you so much! I just found two in my tank, didn't know what they were and started researching in a panic. Thank you for calming me down a bit! ^_^°
I had this in my aquarium that I converted into a terrarium. I used part of the gravel in other small terrariums, but when I wanted to see what would happen if I flooded it because there was only moss and a stubborn plant in it, after some time i found out that those things were also in there even after I cleaned it with boiling water and cleaning agent
Thought I was tripping the other day I went to do my morning check up on all the tanks and my girlfriend's kitchen tank had what I told her was a ....and my words exactly..."a god damn under water lice critter!!!" Now I know what it really was She panicked and did a water change and rock clean lol
They are not carnivores but they are omnivores, with a preference for detritus... so they are ideal waste cleaners, just the same as shrimps, seed shrimps and shrimp alikes, like scuds (and triops) they occupy the same ecological niche and thrive on whatever organic waste material they can find, even rotting wood... Scuds are more agressive though, and even though scuds can be kept together with shrimps, if you are breeding shrimps you will lose part of your shrimp eggs to the scuds... But in theory, alñ of these critters can be kept in the same tank 😄
I've seen them crawling all over snail eggs, combing through them with their appendages. It's very likely that they were eating them, or the jell that surrounded them.
On getting rid of their eggs: ‘they are able to withstand subzero temperatures, pesticides, UV light, CO2 overdose, even radiation.’ Looks like if you want to get rid of them, you need to completely nuke the tank and start over with new substrate, new plants, new fish. Or, you can let them self regulate.
In western Oregon these critters suddenly appear in large numbers in seasonal waters sometime around early March, in bodies of water ranging from drainage ditches to cow hoof prints or even a bird bath. Smaller and less elongated than those in the video, they are mostly orange, with a smaller population of black ones.
Yes! Mine are orange also! Just showed up in my pond and started eating everything and before I knew it all I could see was those things floating thru the water everywhere I looked
I just added some more plants to my filterless nano scape and found a several little critters. I think I might have a couple of seed shrimp and some of the others. There aren't many, but they're fun to watch!
How was it possible for them to just all of a sudden be in the tank? I’ve never understood that, does anyone have any info that’s pretty basic? Lol thanks
i completly agree. seed shrimps auto appeared in one of my plants only tank. since then i move my algae covered plants to seed shrimp tank and within a day algae is gone. but i have seen them eating xmas moss anyone have any similar obervation for seed shrimp and moss?
Hi Ashish, in the big breeding tank I only have (for now) java moss and peacock moss they are growing without any issues from the seed shrimp. I will actually add some in the future and see what happens as this sounds interesting. Perhaps they like the X-mas moss taste!
I have a question, would it be bad to release a large number of my seed shrimp babies back into the river where I first collected them? I'm thinking in terms of helping the environment because of how beneficial they are in removing algae and bacteria. Could i slowly keep adding my nursery babies back to the original ecosystem to help clean the water ways?
@@Water.Worlds Well I keep platys, kuhli loaches, hillstream loaches, rasboras, blue eyes rainbowfish and endlers so maybe they can help out with the balance in the tank? Like eating the many babies of seed shrimps if I feed my fish only 3 times a week. Also if I add scuds they can all help each other to keep the balance in the tank.
Seed shrimp don’t eat my egg snails. Maybe when I pop the eggs they do. I did have some tetras in my shrimp aquarium, they ate them then eyeballed baby shrimp so they were moved.
I've watched my female betta hunt and eat these seed shrimp many times. She hunts and eats anything that moves in her tank, besides a large lumbering Nerite snail.
I think depending on the species, some might go for the plants in absence of other food source. I found that the ones I had loved my Eriocaulon Crimson King and is now gone...
Mystery solved. I have planted bowl. And recently purchased new plant. And discover 2 tiny blueish beans swimming chaotically and attaching to stones. As long they are not harmful I will leave them there.
What is the first one at 38 seconds??? I think I have one in my tank. I can see like very tiny spiders in there and they like to jump on top of the water too 😳
Amazing video! I discovered them in my tank today and I took 3 out to breed them as a food for fishes. Guppies try to eat them but have a hard time finding them.
That is an interesting project! For sure they will become a snack for the guppies! You will not have an issue breeding these guys, they are super easy to keep and breed. :) Let us know how it goes!
Idk about them being indicators of good water parameters. I'm halfway through cycling a tank and a few days ago I noticed a single ostracod... now there's like 5 or 6 adults and I can see multiple babies darting between strands of Java moss. They're straight up thriving but my ammonia still hasn't reached 0ppm and the nitrites are still pretty high.
There are many types of seed shrimp and for sure some tolerate the extremes better than others in their. A good example are the cherry shrimp and the taiwan bee shrimp. The cherry shrimp can take a punch however the taiwan bee shrimp are extremely sensitive as compared to the cherry shrimp.
someone scammed me by selling me "daphnia magna" for such a low price but after bringing them home, they were in fact seed shrimps. I was mad of course but I kept them before and they clean up so well, plus they're in a betta tub which'll keep 'em in check >:')
I am not sure how but I believe I have seed shrimp in the water I have plant in. Mine seem little more rounder than what you show in the video. How did they get in my water?
@@Water.Worlds Thank you. The thing is that my plant is not new and not for tank. It’s just a regular house plant cut and put in water. I was going to put the plant in soil but I noticed something moving in the water which were the seed shrimps... they are quite cute so I have that jar of water with a plant in for them only.
My comment is whats the clear nucleus ones i see u show both and u say its signs of a healthy aquarium u show in ur video of the ones i have not the bugs but the clear nucleus looking cell guys im trying to identify them im curious as i just noticed them
Nvm i found out their limpets. Phew harmless and great for aquiruim i have so much benificial organisms in my tank i see a new one and worry.. dang my tank must be really healthy.
I've had an explosion of seed shrimp in my tank. I wouldn't mind them but it appears that they have been killing my ramshorn snails. I hope i can get them under control soon before i lose all of my snails
This is an interesting observation. Eventually their numbers will drop overtime and stabilise but this will take months. Can you please keep us posted on the issue as this might help others facing the same issue with seed shrimp and ramshorn snails? Perhaps if they are less present in the tank they will be able to find sufficient food and leave the snails be. Just a thought... In the meantime, try removing the snails for now. The snails are hardy so they will be ok even in a small container. Also try to siphon the gravel to remove as many seed shrimp as possible.
@@Water.Worlds thanks! I've been removing them during water changes as well as using a turkey baster for in-between. Still not entirely sure if they are the cause of my snails dying but they are eating the snails when dead.
@@MeDonkin The seed shrimp if something is yummy or if they are hungry they will swarm on that thing like vultures. If they are not actively eating the snails most likely they are not the cause. Check the acidity level of your tank. If it is acidic this makes their shells weak and cause their deaths in the long run. Perhaps there are traces of copper in the water causing them to die. An indication of this will be the death of shrimp as well if you have any in the tank. Hope this helps a bit. :)
The seed shrimp eat pretty much everything in the tank. If the carrot is left for too long in the tank, my best guess is that they will go for it... unless they do not like it. Shrimp will go for it for sure!
I think the newborn fish are too big for them to eat. They don't really hunt but if something dies in the tank, they will eat that (some shrimp will too).
I've yet to see them eat any living creature even baby shrimp. However they will eat anything the second it dies. Similar to OP's story, I had a tetra die but couldn't take it out right away. Came back a few hours later to do so and it was 90% eaten already. Decided to let them finish it, by the next morning it was 100% gone. They eat and breed like crazy but seem to stay along the substrate layer. Agree with OP there as well, probably better to learn to live with them.. At the very least they will help keep a tank running with less maintenance
That is very interesting. Perhaps that it is the case. For sure they do not pose a threat to the snails and my guess is that they do like their slime too. I do have Ramshorn snails so I think I will put the to the test in the future. Thanks for sharing :)
@@Water.Worlds I keep pond snails with my seed shrimp and they don't seem to have any problems whatsoever. They make a good cleaning crew team. But I haven't been using moss in my tank. Mostly just anacharis because it grows somewhat fast and drops lots of detritus for the crew. Although in one of my cultures I have noticed the leaves are disappearing. Not much seed shrimp in that tank so I didnt suspect that. Suspect that it may be some microscopic organism I cant see because I haven't seen the seed shrimp or snails eating the healthy leaves but Im not always watching that culture.
I have 5 very berried shrimp and a enormously numbered population of seed shrimp (still in the population explosion phase), and I've not seen them interfere with shrimplet hatching so far.
Found these in my tank. It's a new tank with very little in there. They appeared at the same time I started seeing some mosquito larvae. Could they have possibly hitched a ride on/in a mosquito?
Will they eat snail eggs/babies???? Somehow I think these are all of a sudden all over in my snail breeding tank and I am stressing out. Hard to tell if it’s these though there so small just swimming everywhere and then sticking back to the glass :(((
I have lots in a breeder box and haven't seen them attack eggs or fry. Don't know about snail eggs though, my stupid danios keep eating all my snail eggs (I'm actually trying to breed bladder snails).
I bought a culture from ward labs but they seem to be a different species of seed shrimp seen in this video. Did you buy these? Anyone know where I can procure some?
Hello Jerrod, mine came as hitchhikers with a java moss portion purchased a while ago. There are different types of them. If you want to get another species you can try on local ads or on facebook groups, I am pretty sure other hobbyists will give them to you for free. :)
Hi Aaron, they came with some plants that I bought a while back and I now have them in all my tanks. They are a great clean up crew however a bit annoying when on the glass right in front of you.
@@Water.Worlds cool. Fair enough, but I think they are pretty cool. I have yet to get them as hitchhikers :(. I've been trying to find some to introduce lol. Have you ever had experience with Clam shrimp?
Hello Babak, you are correct, the setup is with akadama. I do know that gradually more and more breeders are now switching to akadama if not for completely bare-bottom tanks. I used to have the fluval stratum in the caridina tanks.
