Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Somethings hatching...

I'm pretty sure these are not fish, they can barely move and cant really swim, they have a short jerky movement and they might have two barely visible leg like appendages in the front. Any ideas? I am thinking dragonfly nymphs or grass shrimp. I am hoping Bill Cody will recognize what they are or could give me a good guess.

Center of picture.

Water boatmen or backswimmer?

Could be, I was hoping Cody would chime in.

I couldn't really recognize what they were until the last photo. Definitely Daphnia probably either D. magna or D. pulex depending on size. If they are D.magna they as zooplankton will not survive long in the open pond since they are very easy for the small fish to see and eat. D.pulex are a smaller species and common in many ponds and lakes especially those with weedy refuge areas.

Thanks Bill!

These are tucked in next to the bank in grass debris in a just a few inches of water. I found some more this morning walking the bank. I am guessing they are in the 1 mm size range.

Since these are a type of small aquatic crustacean, could this explain the yellow fin tinting on some of my fish?

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Daphnia

One more question Bill, Daphnia are also known as "water fleas", I also have some sort of very small insect living on the surface of the water along the pond edge that behaves like fleas jumping on the water surface. In fact when I scooped up the Daphnia I pulled a bunch of them into the glass, you can see them above the water line clinging to the glass, any idea what they are? Unlike Daphnia I don't believe any fish are utilizing them as a food source, they do seem to be everywhere along the edges. Is this some type of springtail?

http://www4.uwm.edu/fieldstation/naturalhistory/bugoftheweek/semi-aquatic-springtails.cfm

A diet of crustaceans can have a minor influence on color of fish but in your case I doubt the fish are eating enough of the water fleas to affect fin color. Your picture of above surface 'bugs' could be a better clearer image, but from what I can see you probably have one of the springtail species. Springtails are a neat insect and not very common in all ponds.