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Are decaying Wisteria leaves OK to leave in tank?


travellife

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I'm reluctant to remove decaying Wisteria leaves on the bottom because the shrimp appear to love grazing on it, including the babies.  This is a natural planted vase without any filtration so I'm concerned about too my leaf detritus building up.  I am not currently adding any food to the tank, there are also Anubias and Java Moss that they love to hang out in.

 

I wait until the leaves are very skeletal-like before removing.  Not sure what the white oblong things are on the Anubia stems.  They've cracked open and may be the white oblong things also feeding on the decaying leaves.  There is a picture of Wisteria leaves 5th from top in the following link.  Typically when the leaf reaches this stage I'll removing it if no one is grazing on it:  https://goo.gl/photos/45C4ZB4nDbunWsi46

 

Thanks for any feedback, this is my first shrimp tank/vase.

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The only "white oblong things" I can see on the anubias are new roots forming at the base.

 

Not sure how many shrimp you have in there, but if there's only 1 or 2 dead wisteria leaves I'd leave them for the shrimp to eat.  If you get more than that, the wisteria probably isn't getting enough light or water circulation and is dying.  That would definitely foul your water.

 

That being said, I've never done a vase or a bowl.  But a Walstead bowl with a few shrimp is on my Bucket List....

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Wisteria is healthy, just bottom couple of leaves drop off and decay as it grows. I'll try to post a better pic of the oblong things, they don't resemble planaria but I did see an eye on them. Definitely need a microscope, there are alot of tiny creatures showing up. Shrimp aren't fazed and seem to be happy, grazing on the plants.

travellife

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Here are a few good sites with pictures of things we find in our fish tanks (other than what's supposed to be there):

 

 

http://www.planetinverts.com/what_is_that_bug_in_my_aquarium.html

 

http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/healthdisease/122-worms-in-tank.html

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They are slow moving and were grazing on the wilted Anubia leaf the other day.  See the white oblong shapes on the upper green stem of the Anubia?  Could they be the same organism grazing on the leaves?  I've been looking at sites such as the ones you provided but still am not sure what they are.  They don't look like planaria, more like limpets which are supposed to be harmless.

 

036.JPG

 

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Do you have any snails in there?  Particularly nerites?  Nerite snail eggs look like that.  So do freshwater limpets, and limpets can have a dark spot on the back that might look like an eye...

 

Microscopes are expensive...  But cheap plastic jewelers loops can be had for only a few bucks.  :)

 

Limpets on glass:

 

Image

 

Nerite eggs:

 

Image result for freshwater limpets on aquarium glass

 

Even if you don't have nerites, they could be some kind of snail egg.  Some snails lay eggs in globs of jelly.  But others lay eggs that look like nerites.

 

Anyone else have any ideas?

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Good call on the Nerite. Could very well be, I do have one small Horned Nerite in the vase. Then again looks like the limpet too since I saw one black spot on the back of the organism. I have a magnifying glass and am trying to hunt down a jeweler's loop which is somewhere in the house.

travellife

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My money's on the Nerite!  She's guilty guilty guilty!!!

 

:D

 

The eggs won't hatch though.  They're one of those organisms that spend part of their life in freshwater and part of it in saltwater.  The eggs need to be in salt/brackish water to hatch. 

 

I just pick them off. 

 

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That's what I've read about Nerites, great little snails by the way, I also have a couple in my Fluval Spec V.  Sounds like a combination of Nerite eggs on the Wisteria stems and limpets grazing on the decaying Wisteria leaves.  Since neither will bother the shrimp that's a big relief.  Thank you for your advice.

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If you see a limpet, squish it right away.  I have a bad attitude towards those little rascals...  They're almost impossible to get rid of once you get them.  And you'll never be able to fit a loach in that vase LOL!

 

:)

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Ha! Haven't seen the "possible limpets" in a couple of days. I wonder if the shrimp ate them? Babies are pretty comical. They bump into one another when they're grazing the substrate and bounce away from each other. Wonder how well they can see.

travellife

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