redearslider.com

I found out that a friend of mine knows a herpatologist at his pharmacy school. I chased the flys around the tank and got them into a ziplock bag and managed to get some of the little tiny ones without wings in it too. He too it to the professor and he said they are called Moth Flies, also known as Drain Flies. I looked that up on the internet and found tons of sites about them. Reading the information and looking at the pictures, that is exactly what they are. He said they are attracted to the water and the humidity in the tank. Here is one of the websites I found that talks about them.......

http://www.pestproducts.com/mothfly.htm

Apparently, many people have them, not just in their tanks, but they are so small, that many people dont even know they are there. Yuck! I'm just happy that I know what these annoying guys are now. Hopefully this will help solve the bug mystery that other people might be having.

Didn't you post this somewhere else?

krisiecap, you can always update the previous post instead of making a new thread

sheesh. I'm sorry. I did update the previous post, but I figured if I put the subject "I found out what these bugs are", that maybe people that have them too might be more interested in that one. Just thought I was helping a little. Won't do it again.

not a big deal sirens is a sweetie she was just trying to help too *big smile* She has helped so much for me!

krisiecap wrote:sheesh. I'm sorry. I did update the previous post, but I figured if I put the subject "I found out what these bugs are", that maybe people that have them too might be more interested in that one. Just thought I was helping a little. Won't do it again.

lol, like tini said, I didn't mean to gesture you anything. Some people are kinda touchy when it comes to making new threads for an update. But I'm glad you posted it here or wherever, it can give more information for those that do have mysterious bugs in their tank

OK, so we've established that these are drain flies....(I have them in my fish tank too unfortunately). BUT HOW DO WE GET RID OF THEM?

Since we can only clean the tank with water (bc soap kills our animals) how do we clean the tank enough to stop the infestation!?@

I'm pretty sure you can use soap as long as you rinse thouroughly and let it sit for a little while...

SO is this true anyone out there?

1. IS the only way to get rid of the flies by using soap?

2. Can i use soap on my turtle tank without killing my turtle? (I will be very upset if i use soap and my turtle dies)

THANKS!

~gregg

I wouldn't use soap simply because soap residue is extremely hard to come off. There has been a past post where someones turtle died because of being in contact with soap when they thought it was completely rinsed clear. I would use a small amount of bleach mixed with water and thoroughly clean everything. Rinse it "well" and let it dry. The bleach/water ratio to go by would be about 4 ounces water to 16 ounces bleach.

I think (hope) the above ratio is a typo!

Sublime1008, don't use soap. Look at your other post under the white worm topic--I responded to your question there.

I was figuring it in my head for a 3% bleach solution. Probably wrong.... I never was great with percentages even though I liked math.... sorry, Marissa. What's the correct ratio?

LOL I just walked downstairs to make dinner, and I realized what I did. I was thinking 30% instead of 3%. Just go ahead and shoot me now.... I'm not going to try and figure any more math problems out on here without a calculator.

I think that about the only defense against the moth fly is the fly strip bait, according to what I read, they are attracted to moisture, they will make a nest in the drain, standing water, sewers, etc. it was suggested to use bleach, but since they are attracted to water and water is always present in an aquarium, I don't think that there is very much to be done to get rid of them.

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/drainflies.htm