# Something is eating my decoration



## tonying (Mar 6, 2008)

I've got a 10 gallon "experimental" tank without frogs. I like to try out plants and such in it. It has a water feature (also an experiment of a sorts) in which a small waterfall pours over a root I bought in an aquarium store. The water is turned on 14 hours a day. For the past weeks, I've noticed a number of tiny black and white bugs crawling on it and increasing amounts of fine sawdust gathering all over the root. I suspect that these critters are eating it. The bugs cannot be seen anywhere else and they're not touching any plants. 

Do you have any idea what they might be? I can try to get some photos but they're so tiny that I would need much better stuff than I got to catch them on film. Even with a big magnifying glass I can barely make out their features. The black ones look round, like dots. The white ones are more elongated. The black ones are about 1 mm across and the white ones are about 2 mm long. 

I've already introduced a small hunting spider (i.e. a species that doesn't use a web to hunt) but it doesn't seem to take much interest in these critters. Right now my plan is to get one or two indigenous predatory beetles to see if they can deal with the problem.


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## tonying (Mar 6, 2008)

No suggestions?

As an addition to my previous post, I should perhaps clarify that the critters are most likely not eating the root per se but rather making tunnels into it. I can see very small holes in the surface of the root that look like tunnel entrances. The sawdust gathering on the root also frequently have an irregular very thin tubular shape, a bit like a very small worm. It looks like something dug into the root and then the sawdust accumulated into these shapes.


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## tonying (Mar 6, 2008)

If anyone else finds her-/himself in a similar situation, it may be of interest to know that a Pinguicula Weser placed close to the location of the critters seem to be a good way of decimating their population. I have a P. Weser next to the root where all these little bugs are located, the plant is just coming out of winter dormancy and its large leaves are now growing out to replace the small winter leaves. In three days, I've seen these new leaves become cluttered with dozens of small dead bugs. The plant is probably attracting and killing them in its usual fashion. It's not enough to get rid of all of them but it has reduced the population a bit as well as nourished the plant.


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## andy83 (May 31, 2006)

I really have no idea what you're describing off of the top of my head but here is a good website to try and help you identify it on your own.

http://bugguide.net

Carnivorous plants are pretty awesome aren't they!

Good luck,
-Andy


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