strange creatures in sump!

[West1]

What do you feed the tankmates? I am a strong believer that Pellets is a big reason for little bugs or certain parasites in the tank... and some pellets make your water smell like Massivore does.

Myself, when I feed pellets I take out my sponges and rinse them off as I think thats where most of the crums will get caught. Thats probly just a "Me thing". I do get some little jumping bugs in my sump that hang out at the surface... where the water and walls meet (I have to stare for a couple seconds then I see them). I notice they multiply when I feed pellets and start to die off when I dont feed pellets

If there is flys, I would assume they are nesting in the sponge due to moisture

All is JMO

 

[FUEGO]

I used to get those tiny flies in my system when I would bring in my pond fish for the winter. Larvae must have made their way into the aquarium along with the fish. Is it possible your rays were raised in a pond prior to being shipped to a distributor? Dropping the water PH down to an acidic '5.0' would kill them off from my personal experience.

 

[AngusJB]

massivore is the staple for all my inhabitants so it seems likely this is the cause. I was just curious as to what they were. Cheers

 

[West1]

Have you tried looking at the surface of your water? Im almost positive you have the little bugs I do. I tested it on my grow out tank a while back when I noticed them in my big tank. I had never ever used Massivore in my grow out tank and once I was 100% positive there was none in the grow out, I started to add Massivore and Cichlid gold for feedings... sure enough, about 4 days later they popped up and I had not transfered any fish for this whole test. From what I know of they are harmless to the fish (would assume the same goes for the flys)