# gnats in my tank?



## Matecho (Dec 16, 2013)

I was looking in one of my exo terra tanks today and saw what i believe are gnats in it. There was about 10 flying around the light. They looked about the size of wingless fruit flies but these were flying. Should I worry about this at all? It houses 3 azureus and has been running for 2-3 years.


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## greenthumbs (Nov 6, 2015)

I wouldn't be. I usually end up getting fungus gnats in my tanks at some point or another. They don't really bother the frogs, and if I'm not mistaken the larvae help with the decomposition of organic matter. They are also occasionally eaten by my frogs.


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## 55105 (Jan 27, 2015)

I occasionally see a few gnats but they usually all disappear after a while. Not much you can do. I'm considering adding pitcher plants.

I have to admit it does give a bit of a natural ambiance to see a few bugs flying/crawling around.


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

While harmless, fungus gnats bug the hell out of me. I don't even like seeing uneaten hydei hanging around. You can increase internal airflow in the vivarium. Fungus gnats are weak fliers and this will help keep their numbers down but won't eliminate the problem.

Those sticky paper fly traps and carnivorous plants like sundews, pitcher plants or nepenthes help OUTSIDE of the vivarium. Nepenthes are the only carnivorous plants suitable for vivarium conditions but they get big! Some tropical sundews that don't require dormancy could live in a vivarium, but they won't withstand frog tramplings and it's debatable if the sticky mucus on them is harmful or not to frogs.

I have this guy next to my tanks. It's been hacked back twice and it becomes a 3ft+ bush in the summer. Pitchers are usually redder but it's been outside until this week.


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## abIngenui (Oct 14, 2015)

Fungus gnats are harmless, but their larva can pose a major problem for plant roots. While they normally eat fungus and are associated with decaying material, they can eat already dying roots. Thus the maggots are a major vector of root rot in tropical plants. I haven't had a problem with root rot in my vivs, but they are the bane of my existence for my plant collection. Currently killing the buggers off with nematodes. Already lost two citrus and a cacao.

But my frogs like to jump off a high ledge, catch the gnats in midair, and land into the ferns below. Provides some enrichment, I guess. They can't really establish themselves when the frogs are hunting them mercilessly


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## TheHarlequin (Dec 11, 2015)

abIngenui said:


> Fungus gnats are harmless, but their larva can pose a major problem for plant roots. While they normally eat fungus and are associated with decaying material, they can eat already dying roots. Thus the maggots are a major vector of root rot in tropical plants. I haven't had a problem with root rot in my vivs, but they are the bane of my existence for my plant collection. Currently killing the buggers off with nematodes. Already lost two citrus and a cacao.
> 
> But my frogs like to jump off a high ledge, catch the gnats in midair, and land into the ferns below. Provides some enrichment, I guess. They can't really establish themselves when the frogs are hunting them mercilessly


I agree. The larvae are known to be harmful to plant roots, and they can quickly overpopulate. I accidentally brought a few gnat larvae into my apartment last summer with a sample of Collembola I caught in the wild. Within a few weeks, they were in everything - houseplants, invert cultures, and frog tanks.

I've heard that some people have success treating them with BTI, but it didn't work for me. I had to break everything down, sterilize with boiling water, rebuild my frog tank, and restart all of my invert cultures from purified populations. Needless to say, I'm _very_ careful now to not let them get started again.


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## daryl34 (Feb 24, 2007)

My pumilio, and thumbnails eat them no problem.


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## stang2000 (Oct 6, 2015)

I thought I was only one getting these darn things. Call it silly but i used vacuum to suck most of these guys up when there are too many. They are so slow they get sucked right up... lol.


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## RabidSimian (Sep 25, 2015)

You can always introduce certain species of predatory mite. They may explode in population at first, but should take care of your problem. It's best to get species specific mites (mites that target one type of prey item) so they do not destroy your microfauna population or get into your fruit fly cultures. 

I have a steady population of Hypoaspis miles in all my vivariums. Once they get into one they will manage to get into others, but they do the trick. At my most obsessive point I had over 100 house plants and dozens of vivariums and had no fungus gnats to deal with.


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## RobertN (Apr 15, 2006)

extra protein for your frogs... not a bad thing


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## stang2000 (Oct 6, 2015)

right now they seem to drown in my tadpole cups, wonder if the tadpoles will eat them later.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Agreed Robert, welcome to the nuances of the hobby.


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## OMEEZY (Nov 5, 2012)

I have always had a population of fungus gnats in my tanks and never suffered any plant issues. In fact I had a 20L that I put a pair of P.vittatus in that kinda had too many gnats (they would fly out of the tank and around the room). Once the frogs became acclimated the gnat problem disappeared. They will sail through the tank trying to capture the flying gnats. If anything the gnats are kinda like microfauna that is a addition to their normal diet IMO.


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