Critter ID please!

[Kompact]

Hey y'all!

Woke up to a bunch of these white, oval-shaped critters on the glass. I'm not sure if they're copepods, as I have copepods in the tank and they look nothing like them. They're not snail eggs, as these critters do move. In the attached picture, the blue critter is what I think is a copepod, and the red is the unknown organism.

Please help! Thank you

 

[blaxsun]

Can't tell. Maybe amphipods?

 

[Kompact]

Can't tell. Maybe amphipods?

Maybe. They're multiplying quick!

 

[marcmen]

I these everywhere too!! Even on the backs of my snails. Does anyone have an idea?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like a mix of pods and collanista snails

 

[Tired]

White dots on glass can be all sorts of things. If they scoot around erratically, they're probably copepods. If they move smoothly in fast, relatively straight lines, maybe ostracods? If they move very slowly, they might be baby collonista snails. If they don't move at all, probably spirobids.

 

[Kompact]

White dots on glass can be all sorts of things. If they scoot around erratically, they're probably copepods. If they move smoothly in fast, relatively straight lines, maybe ostracods? If they move very slowly, they might be baby collonista snails. If they don't move at all, probably spirobids.

Definitely not spirobids, have a few of those in my tank and they look nothing alike.

If it's any of the other things you mentioned, should I be concerned or are they all relatively safe?

 

[Tired]

They're all good. Copepods are beneficial and nearly impossible to avoid, ostracods are fine, and collonistas are a cute, harmless little bonus. Collonista snails reach the size of a BB pellet, at most. They mostly come out at night, and they eat algae. They breed readily in aquaria, so they're quite common throughout the hobby. If you don't wind up having any, and meet someone who does, you should get some.