View Full Version : new freeswimming critters
its a month mabey month n a half setup ive added a few pounds of live rock some of it from an existing reef that was crashing n the fella got it out befor it did. so there was alot of live stuff in it im sure, i got it hours after it hit the store..hehe im a frequent there whether i buy stuff or not sometimes just to see whats new. tonite by chance i got one o them cheap lighters with a almost whute LED on it n i shined it down into the tank after i had all the lights out n here. here in a few seconds a cloud of tiny little somethings came to the light. i did it several times to make sure it was something live..lol n not jus my eyes! any ideas as to what they are? i see some big flea looking clear shrimp things alot in both tanks and some eeeeeency teensy teeny tiny little tadpole looking things also i think these are ampeopods n copeopods but realy have no idea..lol im learnin tho! lol. any info on said critters will help fill this gap between my ears n thanks ahead yall!
Beaux
DoctaQ
09-11-2009, 10:51 PM
those little flea things are amphipods, but theyre usually scared of light i beleive, theyre good, some fish will eat them
interesting that you have a ton of pods in a new setup tho.
what about the tiny guys that look like tadpoles? i have moved some rock from my existing tank and bought one huge one n usualy most of whats inside it makes it here alive im about 2 miles from the store..hehe :-)
Beaux
DoctaQ
09-12-2009, 10:09 AM
without a picture its hard to say but its hard to get a picture i know
most of what we can see is copepods isopods amphipods mysis shrimp
that being said, just about every pod is good, they eat detritus and are a source of food for fish
Amphiprion
09-12-2009, 10:38 AM
You were seeing a small bloom of harpacticoid copepods. They look like this when magnified:
http://www.dtplankton.com/images/fig04.jpg
yep i was correct then.. a lil bit bofore i joined i had a mandrin gobi i think the coral banded shrimp was givin him a hard time but i moved some rocks n he got skinny quick so hes at my lfs healing n fattening up some. i had a suspition i moved his major food source because i moved alot of small stuff from a corner i think they were alll up n there a big cloud of em so to speak, havin babbies n he was eatin the ones that came out. with the "parent ball" lol gone he ate all his food fast n rhere werent enuff of em to replentish it! im gona go get some mire small peices soon n see if he will do better. oh n move the cbs to the small tank too i think so he dont get hassled by the man..lol. thanks loads!
Beaux
DoctaQ
09-14-2009, 10:25 AM
how big is your tank?
even if you let your system establish itself for a year mandarins should not be kept in anything smaller than 50 gal
they eat only pods and if your population is too small to start out with or your tank is too small your mandarin will starve unless you train it to eat frozen which is not always sucessful and always time consuming.