Is this infusoria?

[helene schoubye]

I sometimes observe these small moving particles in some of my tanks, – and I always assume its infusoria.
I actually have started trying to produce it myself (warm water on a leaf of salat for a few days), but I have
not seen it so clear as today, so I thought I would make a small video and ask here if I am right, that it is
infusoria and if it is really good or bad ?
This time it has come in a tank in which I had a couple of harveyi’s, – very heavy planted with javamoss. Last week I thought I had better clean it completely – and I actually then found 1 half grown new male, and 5 1 cm big juveniles and 2 or more very new and small fry…
There had also developed quite a lot of this green/blue algea which is not good, that was one of the reasons as well why I had to take a lot of the javamoss up.
Actually I then put half of the javamoss back in, but its now a lot less thick, ..
Today I then noticed this ‘cloud’ of small moving particles .. in the film they look quite big, but they are not really, – very small, almost like dustparticles, except they are alive. Much smaller than artemia nauplia. The fry seem to swim through them without anything bothering them.

[video]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aurn12LBVPs&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[Bernd Bussler]

Nein ich denke nicht das es infursorien sind, infusorien sind viel kleiner, nur als trübung zu erkennen nicht als einzelnes tier.

[helene schoubye]

Hast du irgend eine idee was es ist dann ?
Es ist ganz massiv im moment in diese eine becken ??
(Have you any idee what it is if not infusoria, it is very massive right now in one tank.

[Jakub Friedl]

Interesting. Try to use a microscope, even a very cheap one should make things much clearer.

[Volker]

I think it could be some kind of infusoria. I guess it´s more a definition problem what kind of microorganisms we call infusoria.
I have here some paracemium which are good visible and some infusoriamix which is smaller in size and more like a fog.
I did some research and read that in tanks with no technic and no watercirculation an extreme infusoria development can happen. An explanation was that you have first a high bacteria development and than their predators follow(infusoria).
As solutions were mentioned to put a source for watermovement in the tank and
the moving clouds will become less(?even disappear?) or to put in daphnia or cyclops which will also decimate the microorganisms or their foodsource.
But it´s the question if the fishes will give them the time to do their job.:)

[Peter Finke]

“Infusoria” is no precise biological term; it only means “microorganisms that live up in combination with water”. So it’s infusoria, of course. But the question is: which? And the more practical question is: Will they be useful or harmful? Will young Parosphromenus feed on them or will they be threatened by them? I don’t know. What do you observe, Helene?

[Bernd Bussler]

Von der Bewegung, sie sind leider nicht sehr gut zu erkennen, würde ich fast sagen das es Würmer sind? Wenn Helene Bettas hat sollte sie welche dazu setzen dann ist das “Problem” schnell erledigt, ausserdem wenn Paros in dem Aquarium schwimmen, noch dazu Jungtiere und am Leben bleiben muss man sich keine großen Sorgen machen. Infusorien sind mit einem mehrmals in der Woche durchgeführten Wasserwechsel schnell am Ende.

[helene schoubye]

Thank you all of you for answers.
My experience with is that this particular video is tanken in a small 12 liter tank in which I at the same time discovered 6 or more different size fry, from 1 cm to 0.5 cm, – and I dont think the ‘infusoria’ has just arrived yesterday. So I would conclude that it actually is not a problem – at least not a big one – to the small fry.
I must admit I see these kind of ‘clouds’ of moving particles sometimes in my paro-tanks, – sometimes they are much much smaller and might look a little bit like vineager eels, (but they are not) and sometime it like in the video – bigger and they move in ‘clouds’ – I saw today, that one such small cloud formed in front of the tank, looking like a tiny spiral or something ..
The fry swimm now in and around it, but dont seem to eat it.

I actually have tried lately to grow infusoria (with a green salat leaf in water, and pouring it into the tanks) – and after such a treatment I do now expect that there will be – also visible – infusoria. I do this because I often have these undetected small fry, and I never know when to feed them or not, so basicly I try to keep some tanks really ‘ready’ no matter what, concerning food supply for small fry.
But I had not done this to the ‘video-tank’, – but as I said this tank was really old and overgrown, and probably with a lot of old leaves that has rotten ..

[helene schoubye]

Here is another video.

In the middle you can see that I move the camera to the tank beside it, this also has the same ‘infusoria’ development, but here it seem they are smaller and not so dense. In this tank I also discovered two small ornaticauda fry, – and I have not fed these, so I think in a way the fact that there are small live particles in the tank is helping ‘undiscovered’ fry to grow up.

The fry is young harveyi 🙂

[video]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsw76bdUiwQ&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[Ralph Schmidt]

Hallo Bernd,

leider haben wir uns aus den Augen verloren. Da ich seit kurzem mich bei euch angemeldet habe, der Aretikel im Amazonas hat mich sehr beeindruckt, kpontaktaufnahme über diesem Weg.
Hast Du inzwischen wieder Paros. Leider habe ich keine mehr, nur noch verschiedene Betta ( brownorum-maulbrütend und schaumnestbauend, rutilans, uberis )
Ihr plant ein Paro-treffen in HH oder war es schon?

Kannst mich auch direkt unter schmidt_ralph_j_e@gmx.de erreichen

So long Ralph

[Author]

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