little crawly things
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Invertebrates
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions about invertebrates.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1466
Printed Date: November 24 2024 at 10:25am
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Topic: little crawly things
Posted By: Crazy Tarzan
Subject: little crawly things
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 6:45am
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I am always wondering what I have crawling around my tank, so the other day I asked Mark what a certain little thing was, and he told me it was a gammarus shrimp. I then had to go find pictures, and sure enough it was. Here are a few of the pics I found, just so you can all see what is crawling around in your tank.
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Replies:
Posted By: rstruhs
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 6:59am
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Yeh, I have seen them in my tank too! Pretty ugly little critters are they not? Even my yellow tang likes to get rid of as many as he/she can find! Not necessarily eat, just bite a few times and swim off. |
Posted By: Carl
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 7:36am
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FYI, if you use a filter with carbon pack covered in the filter stuff (wow, I cannot think this morning) you will generally find them there. Especially on an eclipse style setup. ------------- In Syracuse "I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf |
Posted By: SSpargur
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 7:55am
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They are Copepods. They are a good thing to have. These are the diet of a lot of fish including Manderin Dragonettes. ------------- Sean Spargur West Valley, UT |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 8:00am
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I have a six-line wrasse who's belly is always full (even if I don't feed for a few days). I've never, even at night, witnessed any largish copepods in my tank. They're in the sump so obviously they're in the tank too, but that wrasse makes short work of them. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Crazy Tarzan
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 8:09am
| I love having all this stuff in my tank, I just like to know what it is. Don't know why for sure, but I do. I will try and bring bits and pieces of things to the jan meeting--since I have more stuff I want to identify, and seeing it in person usually helps. My fish eat a few, but there are only two, and the tank had almost 5 months with no predators in it... does wonders for your bug population. |
Posted By: djangoboots
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 10:06am
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Has anyone ever seen very very small white flea looking things on
the inside of the glass? When i got up the other morning they were all over the glass. Very strange loking things, you can actually watch them "running" around. ------------- 125g whannabe reef 30g FW w/puffers |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 11:31am
Thanks Nate for those excellent pics of Grammeras, part of the Amphipod group of organisms. They can be found as long as 3/8 inch. They are very useful in eating algae before we can see it and eating small pieces of detritus. The soft brown algae that covers my rock each day in the sunlight is consumed at night by these great little critters. 
The much smaller, fraction of a milimeter, white, fast moving bugs on the glass are most likely copepods. Here are some pics that are color adjusted to make them look interesting:  
This is not a copepod but does look interesting 
 ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Marcus
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 1:36pm
Mark, I saw one of those in my tank  until he tried to plug his guitar into his amp. Didn't work out so well with the salt water and all.
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