I have found large numbers of tiny orange bugs floating on top of two of my Cichlid tanks. In a 55Gallon I have a Jack Dempsey and a few Green Terrors, and in the other 30Gallon tank there are three Convicts. Both tanks have a huge number of these little bugs in the water surface and the glass above the surface. I took one of the bugs and put it under a microscope and it looked like a bug with a big antenna / horn thing sticking out of it's forehead. These bugs can hop a couple inches side to side and on top of the water.I did a little research and read some about External Parasites. While the images of the bugs didn't match, some of the descriptions were similar.
Since finding the bugs, I have treated both tanks with salt, and plan to do it again very soon. These tanks seem healthy otherwise, and receive regular water changes each with their own salt. One of the female terrors just hatched a large number fry, and she has been defending them behind a rock since they hatched. None of my fish have any red spots, and they are all fat.
Ever since getting the Dempsey, he has always had a sort of mucus covering him and everything around him ( his rock, tubes, etc. ). I have read that may be a symptom of some of the parasites but he seems healthy and it doesn't seem to have an affect on the other fish. Is this normal?
Are there certain foods that could attract these bugs? Or are there certain Cichlid foods I should avoid all together? Both of my tanks have small plants. I also recently gave the fish some Silverside frozen fish food, is there a possibility that carried the bugs?
Since finding the bugs, I have treated both tanks with salt, and plan to do it again very soon. These tanks seem healthy otherwise, and receive regular water changes each with their own salt. One of the female terrors just hatched a large number fry, and she has been defending them behind a rock since they hatched. None of my fish have any red spots, and they are all fat.
Ever since getting the Dempsey, he has always had a sort of mucus covering him and everything around him ( his rock, tubes, etc. ). I have read that may be a symptom of some of the parasites but he seems healthy and it doesn't seem to have an affect on the other fish. Is this normal?
Are there certain foods that could attract these bugs? Or are there certain Cichlid foods I should avoid all together? Both of my tanks have small plants. I also recently gave the fish some Silverside frozen fish food, is there a possibility that carried the bugs?