Please say these are good bugs!

[journey0820]

Hi there,
I have lots of teeny tiny little white flea looking bugs on my glass. They are too small for me to get a picture of. They vary in size from so small I can only see a dot moving around but can't identify any features to the size of the smallest flea you've ever seen. They have an elongated "capsule" shaped body but thinner. They also seem to have a little stick tail on the back. They are jittery in their movement...they flick forward on the glass or walk quickly or swim- more like propel- through the water. The congregate in little groups.

I see white flecks of something that seems like eggs on the glass too. From the front they look round or oblong but when I look through the side of the tank they actually stick off the glass and are irregular in shape...and seem flatter.

Please tell me this is something good! I don't see any black eyes on anything.

[Blossom112]

Arent they neet to watch .i have a eyepiece 14x micro scope and watch them often .
my clowns eat them off the glass .
Yes they are good .......the name escapes me cope pod something like that.
here you can see for youself .
http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

[kcress]

Ok... This is good.

Those are your clean up crew and are called your Pods. They are like tiny shrimp and are excellent cleaners.

[Reefscape]

agreed...Pods normally look like a comma kind of shape...Good to have...

[journey0820]

Arent they neet to watch .i have a eyepiece 14x micro scope and watch them often .
my clowns eat them off the glass .
Yes they are good .......the name escapes me cope pod something like that.
here you can see for youself .
http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

Wow, Thanks...that is a great thread. Helped me id lots of other stuff in the tank. The copepods look exactly like the little dudes on the glass..thank goodness.

[journey0820]

What a relief! Do inverts like sponges/anemones also eat copepods? Wonder about my gorgonian?

[Charlesr1958]

Great food for many of the creatures we keep as pets. For more information and photos, please see my hitch hiker pages.

A Hitch Hikers Guide to the Reefs (http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchhikers.html)

Chuck

[lferg]

I don't know... I asked that same question today at my LFS because I have hundreds of these white dots on my glass and he e-mailed me this Google image and this is what I have....
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/16/glassthing2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aquariumboard.com/forums/general-marine/2567.htm&h=288&w=432&sz=35&hl=en&start=17&sig2=JrbxGXLwx7CbFHajZlRlnQ&um=1&tbnid=bAIlnTvEQpQxzM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=126&ei=WFQNSN-JApDIgQLwwtT1DQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhydroids%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3D off%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den

[Reefscape]

I don't know... I asked that same question today at my LFS because I have hundreds of these white dots on my glass and he e-mailed me this Google image and this is what I have....
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/16/glassthing2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aquariumboard.com/forums/general-marine/2567.htm&h=288&w=432&sz=35&hl=en&start=17&sig2=JrbxGXLwx7CbFHajZlRlnQ&um=1&tbnid=bAIlnTvEQpQxzM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=126&ei=WFQNSN-JApDIgQLwwtT1DQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhydroids%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3D off%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den


Quite different from pods, they are hydroids....

[marinemad]

congrats you got pods!!!! they come in many shapes and sizes! i got lots of different ones including the ones ou have! have a look in tank at night with red light torch or paint torch with red nail varnish! you be amazed this is when you see the big pods!!!!!!!