Tiny bugs gone out of control

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Dylamillr
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Tiny bugs gone out of control

Post by Dylamillr » Fri Feb 23, 2018 6:46 am

So I have been having this problem for about 2 months now, and I thought I had solved it until last week. I have already researched but have found similar results, but not really the same. Let’s go back to about 2 months ago, when I first discovered the problem, I go to clean the tank/put new food and water, but when I lift up the water bowl, I see literally hundreds of tiny white specs going everywhere, I assumed this was mites, as I had the issue before but this was to an extreme. They were EVERYWHERE (even worse now) so I do my best and clean everything, buy new substrate, all the methods to get rid of mites. The issue was gone until a few days ago, I hadn’t realized they were back because these were even smaller, you can barely even see they are moving. I at first confused them with dust or dirt specs, until I realized at least thousands of them were moving, and even worse, outside of the tank. I was watching YouTube on my phone and seen one crawling across the screen, so I assumed they had gotten onto my bed somehow, which the tank is right at the end of the bed. So now I’m here, wondering what to do, if you have any ideas, or I might just be over reacting? Is it normal? I was looking at other posts and the closest I could find was food mites. I would take. Picture but you really would need a microscope to see them in enough detail. Thanks and let me know what I can do.

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wodesorel
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Re: Tiny bugs gone out of control

Post by wodesorel » Fri Feb 23, 2018 7:30 am

It is food mites, they got into something that caused their numbers to explode though in my experience they self limit and the explosion only lasts for a few days. Cleaning does not work - these guy live in our homes and they come right back to the heat and moisture of the crab tank so you cannot get rid of them forever just by cleaning everything. My first explosion I sterilised the entire tank and three days after setting it back up they were back in large numbers. I have lived with them ever since.

To help it move faster, scrape off the top layer of sub, rinse off any decor in hot tap water, and wipe down the glass and the area around the tank with vinegar. If you have anything organic in the tank like driftwood or leaves, let it sit out somewhere to dry off, or bag it and freeze it. Food mites need a food source to reproduce. They can eat anything organic like cocofiber, cholla, crab poop, etc. Taking those away temporarily will help to squash the problem without disturbing the hermits.

Mine only got bad when I fed banana. I don't know what it was about just that fruit, but the only time I ever saw them in large numbers was when banana was on the menu.

Long term you can fight fire with fire and purchase predatory mites to eat the food mites. The predatory kind will eat everything they can find and then turn around and eat each other so they disappear when the job is done. They will also travel to hunt down any in the surrounding area.
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PinchersAndShells
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Re: Tiny bugs gone out of control

Post by PinchersAndShells » Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:33 am

wodesorel wrote: Mine only got bad when I fed banana. I don't know what it was about just that fruit, but the only time I ever saw them in large numbers was when banana was on the menu.
Ditto on the banana. I haven’t fed banana in months and while I know they’re there I don’t see them anymore.


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GotButterflies
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Re: Tiny bugs gone out of control

Post by GotButterflies » Fri Feb 23, 2018 4:45 pm

I bought the predatory mites, (early last year...), and haven't seen them since! :)
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Topic author
Dylamillr
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Re: Tiny bugs gone out of control

Post by Dylamillr » Fri Feb 23, 2018 4:53 pm

Alright thanks! I will try that out.


Jcac
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Re: Tiny bugs gone out of control

Post by Jcac » Mon Aug 26, 2019 3:16 am

Did you end up finding out what these were? I just found them inside and outside of my tank, and on the furniture. Any help is much appreciated, thank you!

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