Please help me identify these animals in my refugium!

[melanotaenia1]

ok I dont have a camera but I have these guys in my refug that have shown up the only addition has been some Chaem. algae about 5 months ago, but they just showed up now. They have 6-8 legs and little feelers on their heads; some are more worm-like. They all look kind of transparent. They are feeding on the algae on the glass areas; I don't know what they are, but I am afraid of what they could do to my main tank. The algae is growing and doing well, the refug has a skimmer in it and a powerhead for a return, a good deep sandbed, the algae, and some various live rock.

Please let me know if they are bad and if so what I can do about them. Is there a fish that feeds on these animals?
Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like amphipods or copepods, but without a pic or a better description, it's hard to say ..

HTH
-me

 

[melanotaenia1]

ok here is a little bit better desc. They are clear animals, no coloration, except a little color on the end of their little legs; they move around slowly but they can turn their body around like a worm. They feed on the algaes in the refug but they do not really get into the sand that much. Some of them have legs that run the length of the body like a caterpillar, others have 6-8 legs with antennae on the top of their heads, with little heads.

If this is the case that they are one of the aformentioned animals, should I be worried about them? Should I add some animal in to eat them? Are they going to wreak havoc on my fish and inverts? Are they reef safe? Maybe adding a Mandarin Goby into the refug or some snail/hermits? Thanks for the help. I will try to get a pic of them up tonight, but they are really small so it will be hard to get a pic where you can see the actual animal.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Anonymous]

How big are they? If you're describing a creatuer that's about 100 feet long and has 8 legs I'd run away because it sounds like a sea monster. If you're describing something that's only a few millimeters, then it's probably copepods/amphipods. Don't forget the important details man.

Copepods and amphipods are harmless detritovores. You may notice many different species of these in even a nano aquarium. They come in live sand and live rock, or hitchhiking on corals.

Copepods and amphipods are generally regarded as an essential part of any reef aquarium and a necessary part of waste removal (remember they eat algae and other detritus). Having lotta copepods is a sign of a healthy reef, although having a population explosion of them could be a sign of too much waste in your aquarium.

Here are some useful links for you:

Check out this thread, it has a crude (but OK) drawing. Is this what you see?
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51269


The first entry on this page shows an amphipod
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_p ... q_sand.htm

This page has an amphipod gallery:
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/amphigal.html

General article:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/pestsc ... 061200.htm

Copepod pix are harder to come by because they're usually a lot smaller (just a few MM each)

 

[Anonymous]

sounds like you are describing copepods/amphipods like Hwarang said, however, without a pic its really hard to tell even by description..If it is copepods then you are in good shape, you want those in your tank as they serve as beneficial detrivores and provide food for other living organisms in your tank