Cirolanid Isopods
Depends upon what you mean by deadly. They won't kill you, but they are capable of killing fish. Not to mention they are fast and "smart." They can also bite pretty badly (not as badly as aegid isopods, which are among the scariest and most vicious). Not everybody gets them, either. I just wanted you to be aware of the possibility for their appearance and the potential gravity their presence can spell for piscine inhanbitants.
They sound like a total pain in the *** and gross to boot. I researched online for two hours last night, because this is what I do when I get all curious and stuff. Here is what I came to understand.
If you buy "cured rock" meaning (to me) that most of the life has been lost due to drying out and such - you are very unlikely to have yucka/bad-for-your-tank creatures on it. Of course, your unlikely to have many good for your tank creatures too. This is fine - it is one way to go.
If on the other hand you buy live rock that has been shipped and delivered in water with minimal die off, you are likely to get tons of diverse and cool creatures but you also run the risk of getting icky creatures too. These little guys are some of the icky ones.
First, my husband looked at them and decided they were "cockroaches" of the sea. This totally wigged me out. I hate cockroaches and it seems that once you have them you are doomed and they can never be killed. It is true that some people react to these gross little guys that way. Then another person on forum referred to them as "rollypollys" of the sea and, well...that felt better. (I'm a psychologist...we are all about reframes). So, what to do if you find them (look an hour after lights out after feeding fish):
1. If on a fish: Get fish out, Remove gross guy either with tweezers or with fresh water dip. Some fall off easily in dip (though don't die so easily), some don't. Seems tweezer method is faster. Put a little medicine on fish at spot of attachment.
2. If in water: Set traps. Here's a link that describes how...scroll to end for the best ones. Thanks to Amphi for the link:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php
3. Prevention: If you get LR that is directly from the ocean (not dried and shipped over a week) - you are at risk (for good and not so good stuff). The grossest of these little grossies likes to eat fish meat (they do this slowly because they are parasites). Supposedly, if you wait a month -3 months before adding fish to your tank, they can die off for lack of nutrients. These little guys are new to research so these are all theories to be tested. If you do find them, contact Brian Plankis at ReefKeeping. He knows lots and does research on them.
And...so far...none of them in my tank. Sounds like this isn't crazy common...but I'll keep my eyes peeled. I'm trying to be rational and calm about all the little grossies that come out of rock. It is a struggle.:silly:
