No pics as these guys are too small. They look like tiny reddish shrimp and hang out in the water column. Didn't notice them until recently when I started dosing DT's. A few about a week ago, now there are thousands. Only come out after lights out for the night. Any ideas?
Tiny shrimp after lights out?
- Thread starter GotDesl
- Start date
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Anonymous
Guest
You mean you didn't read the ingrediants in D.T's ? Dennis loads each bottle with "tiny red shrimp like animals". 
Seriously though without a pic it would be impossible to say.
They could be anything from Mysid shrimp, to Copepods, Isopods, etc ( Micronekton ). Most of these are harmless algae and plankton consumers. By dosing with *some* of these phytoplankton supplements you'll see an increase in population of many tiny critters.
Regards,
David Mohr
Seriously though without a pic it would be impossible to say.
They could be anything from Mysid shrimp, to Copepods, Isopods, etc ( Micronekton ). Most of these are harmless algae and plankton consumers. By dosing with *some* of these phytoplankton supplements you'll see an increase in population of many tiny critters.
Regards,
David Mohr
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Anonymous
Guest
I would ask, "Is it more likely than not ________?" My answer is it is more likely than not that these are some sort of "pod" (insert your prefix of choice). I don't know that mysids would be freely breeding in there, but if there are, RIGHTEOUS!
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Anonymous
Guest
I have this too!... but I think they are from my 2 cleaner shrimps. Every two weeks, my cleaner shrimp develop green eggs under the tail, then when they shed their shell, the water column is just filled with plankton like shrimpies. This always happens after lights are out. So, then they go off at like 10:00pm, I'll visit my tank with a flashlight (wife thinks I'm crazy) to find them all over the entire tank. Pinhead size.
~wings~
~wings~
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Anonymous
Guest
Yep. Having gravid shrimps in a tank RULES as a neato method of getting your reef stuffs an occassional snack!
If they're not shrimp larvae (if they persist after a few days they're probably not) I'd go with the generalized "some kind of pod" answer.
If they're not shrimp larvae (if they persist after a few days they're probably not) I'd go with the generalized "some kind of pod" answer.
I wish I could get a picture. I have an SLR that will do it... just not digital format. I have no "known" shrimp in the tank. Have been feeding frozen mysid. Have no idea if anything could survive the freezing. All of the other pods that I have seen tend to be whitish and shaped more like roly polys or insects. These look more like tiny red commas , and about the same size. Very much attracted to a flash light. They will swarm it. Kind of neat thing is, I can target feed my corals my putting a flashlight beam on them one at a time. The "it's" will swarm the coral and the polyps go nuts eating. Cool whatever they are!
On edit: Oh yeah! They "bounce" as in swim in a jerky motion by aid of the tail. They can also swim fairly smoothly, but more often just bounce.
On edit: Oh yeah! They "bounce" as in swim in a jerky motion by aid of the tail. They can also swim fairly smoothly, but more often just bounce.
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Anonymous
Guest
Can you get a few shots and scan the prints or negs? I have a feeling that they're an indication of the health of your system.
All right, after lights out tonight I got some confirmation as to what's up. They are shrimp. I found a larger one. Maybe 4 mm long. Almost clear and you can only see his guts. Thousands of little ones, but larger than last night... or my eyesight is better. Can see eyes and the red is the gut. Can see the tails folding to propel. New question though. I have what I can assume is a crab. It is living in/on my platygyra. I will grab my digicam from my buddies house. I am worried though. I swear he was drooling. I got a deal on the platy. because it had a few spots on him that was suspected coral aggression. A new spot appeared after it was placed in my tank. Just a sinle polyp gone. All of them are healing at an astounding pace, but I suspect the culprit might be the crab. Any truth to this?
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Anonymous
Guest
Sure could be (or other creatures not readily visible).
suspected crab... checked the faq and it would fit the description of fuzzy. also, the shrimp pictured seems to be what I saw as the larger specimen. pictures hopefully tomorrow. thing called work gets in my way. th way these shrimp things are going, i may not have to feed this tank a all! Ha, if only I was so lucky! Thanks Seamaiden!
BTW, the tank has been great. I subscribe to the KISS method. It's worked before. Still babysitting my oscar. He got nailed by my red tailed cat in my amazon tank earlier this evening and seems to have ruptured his air bladder. poor baby. That cat has finally started to feel his size.
BTW, the tank has been great. I subscribe to the KISS method. It's worked before. Still babysitting my oscar. He got nailed by my red tailed cat in my amazon tank earlier this evening and seems to have ruptured his air bladder. poor baby. That cat has finally started to feel his size.
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Anonymous
Guest
The tiny shrimp fit the description of Mysis shrimp...
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Anonymous
Guest
GotDesl":1qv99lct said:
Cool, except about your Oscar. Start feeding that cat a better diet and when he really hits some size he ought to be some gooooood eatin'! Then you can have a catfish fry! Zatarain's!
Found lots of mysis shrimp the more I looked. Seems like I have a regular mysis metropolis. The cat is already eatin' size. They get absolutely massive though. He is soon to be moved into a new home though. Roughly 1k gallon acrylic. He will be much happier there. Has another redtail in it now along with an adult peacock bass cichlid. Oscar still hanging on this morning.
Baianotang
Advanced Reefer
Great news for you and hungry tank mates.
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Anonymous
Guest
Virtually nothing, assuming you're talking about Lysmata amboinensis. A few public aquariums have reared them to adults, but it's very difficult.
I now have mysids out the back end! After lights out, they are everywhere. Larva come around about once a week or so for a couple of nights. The more DT's I use, the more mysid larva out on the second night. I think my poor six line has about eaten himself to death! Always hunting those things. Good to know the population is self sustaining with the predation.
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