Copepods?

[Dako]

I went down to a nearby river and to my surprise there were no fish just these weird little copepod things? I was considering catching some in spring to start up my native tank but there were way to small and fast to catch with my net. They would have been coming from the same water as my fish but I'm still not sure

 

[Gill Blue]

shouldn't be a problem, but you never know. I've caught native bugs and snails out of my folks pond multiple times trying to establish them in my tank. my fish keep eating them though.
there are an invasive form of daphnia around here now, they're covered in little spikes so the fish can't eat them, I wouldn't want them in my tanks.
I also raise daphnia as fish food, and have tried adding amphipods trying to get them to breed in my substrate. they have, but not so you would notice.

 

[warmouth]

I went down to a nearby river and to my surprise there were no fish just these weird little copepod things? I was considering catching some in spring to start up my native tank but there were way to small and fast to catch with my net. They would have been coming from the same water as my fish but I'm still not sure

I used to feed my sunnies, creek caught Scuds that later I would breed. The little shrimp like critters are really nutritious for you natives, and my Green sunfish loved them.