Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was cleaning the 10-gallon aquarium where I house my two baby african clawed frogs. No filter, and I clean the tank weekly. Well, there were these tiny white things crawling around on the outside of the black plastic molding on the tank. Not in the water, but on the tank itself. So tiny, like the size of a pin head or even smaller. Like moving specs of flour.
I cleaned the entire tank w/ boiling hot water, and I'll be darned if they aren't back on there today. My frogs appear healthy. Think it is parasites, mosquito larvae, or maybe fruitfly larvae? Help me please...
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*~Ginevive~*

If you haven't already, post this on the health forum. They will want a VERY detailed description. Chances are, they aren't parasites, but hot water does NOTHING. Use bleach or Nolvasan.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Sounds like those anchor worms. I used to get them all the time when I was keeping fish. They appear when there's uneaten food in the water and they usually go away once the food source is cleaned up. I could be wrong though since they reappeared after you had cleaned the tank.

IF they are achor worms I do believe that they are harmless.

I hope you find out what they are and that they don't bother your frogs.

keep us updated if you find out what they are.
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Heather
The Gang (1.1.0 agalychnis callidryas, 0.2.0 bufo spinulosus, 4.0.0 osteopilus septentrionalis)

ellasmommie@yahoo.com

Salt can also be used to sterilize the tank. We did this all of the time with fish tanks that previously had sick fish. Depending on the size of the tank, use like 2-3 cups of salt and let it sit overnight. Then flush it out. This is a little better then having chancing having chemical residue in the tank. But the nolvasan is good too, but I am not sure how effective it is on worms. Salt seems to really kill the worms nicely when we had them in fish tanks, it makes their cells swell up and burst, kinda like the stuff you did in biology lab with saltwater and celery stalks. Oh, don't leave the frogs or any plants in the tank when you do this by the way.

Tiny moving specs of powder-sounds like tiny mites-harmless to the frog, but annoying to the owner. Tends to accumulate with bed-a-beast. Just periodically change the bed-a-beast. Can't fully eliminate the little buggers though. They eat tiny food particles, bits of dead cricket, that sort of thing.

JadeFox