Small bugs in aquarium

[Emcatfish]

I currently have a 30 gal planted tank with moderate lighting and only two small rasboras.

I just noticed that there are some fast moving bottom dwelling bugs or larvae of some kind in the tank. They look a lot like pill bugs, probably 5mm in length. I noticed 3 of them but it is hard to see with all the plants.

What are they and how can I get rid of them? I'm open to getting a larger fish that will eat them. And more importantly will they become winged things that can leave the aquarium?

Thanks!

 

[wesleydnunder]

Look like freshwater amphipods. Not harmful and interesting to observe in their own right. Lots of fish love to eat them.

Mark

 

[Rbishop]

you may want to do a good substrate cleaning and cut back on feeding....

 

[Emcatfish]

Thank you, looks like I'll just leave them be. And yes you're absolutely right, the tank is a total mess after a very tough move (where I sadly lost the majority of the fish I had for years) and some subsequent neglect. I actually don't feed, many may be upset by this but the small bioload of fish live off of baby shrimp and snail eggs etc. Working on getting it back into shape which is when I noticed amphipods.

I'm considering replacing the gravel entirely, though I've never done this with an established tank, just because it has been so hard to clean. Do you think it would be worth it?

 

[MeganYiun]

I had bugs years ago. I put some oscars in there and that pretty much handled itself haha. They resided in that tank too

 

[rufioman]

Clean up the substrate and monitor feeding, like bishop said. It will give them less to feed off of. Your larger fish should take an interest to them, though they may be too large.

$0.02