Art, It appears as if you have Gammarus. These little creatures love aquatic plants and usually cut off plants like Vallisneria at the base. Interestingly enough, Kordon is selling these in their little live food packets and they are "hard shelled" so only Cichlids really go for them, if at all. Anyhow, hungry Cichlids are the way to go in order to clean them out. Good luck! Merrill