HELP extremely tiny white bugs???

[dirtbomb]

hey guys most likely some of yall have encountered these before.
the best way to describe them is they are a very small white spec maybe the size of a grain of sand. i tried very hard to magnify them but they very small-. i sprayed down the area with rubbing acohol i think it killed most but some are coming back. Do yall think these are mites ? if so what should i do? i can see them crawling around plants but they are mainly gathered on some clay pots.

thanks yall

[james67]

sounds like mites to me.

in a tank, and depending on the type of mite, i would leave it alone unless they start showing up in quantities that could negatively affect the animals.

james

[Pumilo]

Sounds like mites. Mites are everywhere and sooner or later, every viv will most likely end up with mites. Generally, it's no big deal. I do strive to keep them under control in your cultures.

[TropicalDartFrogs]

I agree with Pumilo. Just watch your cultures as they'll be a pain in the butt if they get to your food production.

[james67]

Originally Posted by TropicalDartFrogs

I agree with Pumilo. Just watch your cultures as they'll be a pain in the butt if they get to your food production.

they are in your food production now. i can almost guarantee it.

james

[dirtbomb]

thanks guys. i had a hunch they were mites thats probaly also why the alcohol didnt fully kill them all i read that mites are considered hard body and wont really be affected by the alcohol.. okay cool. no worries for me then since i decided this tank wont be for any animals.

[KeroKero]

Are they more round or long? Gathered around your plants rather than around your FF cultures makes me wonder if they actually are mites (springtails are also a possibility - they are longer than they are wide typically and not all jump), or if they ARE mites, of the thousands of species are they predatory mites that may want to go after your FFs (like some of the other posts have assumed) or if they are mites interested in your plants instead (which is something a plant grower fears just as much as a FF producer).

Take a look a plant pest pages to see if they look like any of the same critters.

[Hornet]

I'm going against the grain and i'm going to say spring tails, only tiny white things i've ever had are spring tails, mites tend to be brown

[KeroKero]

Yeah, white bugs on the pot around plants sounded like springs to me too which is why I brought up the shape... but mites do come in a rainbow of colors. Then again... so do springs! That's why the shape can be important... generally the springs are about twice as long as they are wide, while a mite will be more even and look round... or at least rounder. I regularly have little silver and white springs around, and a number of times I've had to do a double check to make sure they aren't mites (especially if they don't hop when I blow on them).

Even if they ARE mites, you'd still have to figure out what they feed on... plants? fungus? insects? That can determine if they are worth dealing with or not.

Even if they are mites, that doesn't mean the frogs won't eat them... it's just not a good thing when there is a population explosion and the frogs can't get away from them. After all, one species of PDF had a toxin traced back to mites, and another is supposed to have mites as a big part of it's diet in the wild...

[dirtbomb]

hey guys after long examination and cross referencing and straining over them with a magnifying glass, i strongly believe they are not spring-tails. they look mostly like grain mites. should i be concerned with them? is there any safe way of dealing with them? this viv isn't for animals but it does have some nice plants in it lol.

thanks guys im going to try and read about them