Tiny little "critters"

[Verruckt]

Forgive my naive description, but i haven't a clue what these "critters" are. I had a small issue with hair algae, which is going away with manual pruning. I have not gotten any snails yet, because red algae had not gotten too far out of hand yet. I started to get a little bit of hair algae on the front of the tank. Just recently, I noticed these small little things that look like white ants, which appeared to be eating the hair algae. Their numbers really increased, coincidentally as the hair algae decreased. :lol:

Anyone know what they are, and if they are bad? The only livestock in the mini reef at this point are one peppermint shrimp, and two reef hermit crabs.

 

[mr_X]

probably copepods/amphipods. reef safe and a benefit to the tank. try to take a pic.
IMO, if they are eating algae, they can't be bad. i think they are simply living in it though, and the disappearance of the algae is just coincidental.

 

[extremepb319]

Sounds like amphipods, I have those in my tank too and I also agree with X, I don't think they are eating the algae. And if they are probably not a noticeable amount because I have lots of them and lots of algae right now.

 

[Charlesr1958]

If they are eating the algae, they would be amphipods, which are known to feed upon some of the filament algae. Harmless grazers and free coral and fish food.

Chuck

 

[Verruckt]

Thanks all, for the help. I find this all incredibly fascinating. I have a few more "critters" that I'm trying to ID. Tonight I just now noticed this new critter spitting out some white bits that appear to be my substrate. He is up in a big rock through. He looks to be a dark blue, or black, with white stripes. I noticed him at first because the "head" looked sort of like a feather duster but with shorter extensions. It spit out a piece of substrate, and then literally shriveled back up into this hole. It's about as big around as a bb maybe, and I couldn't tell how long, since not all of the body extened out of the hole. It had no discernable eyes at all.


Also, while staring at the same side of the tank; I noticed two clusters of what appear to be eggs on the side glass. I have alot of amphipods apparently, so I was wondering if they lay eggs on the glass itself? They are appear to be the same color as the amphipods, so it would seem reasonable.

I appreciate the help. I can sit and stare at this tank for hours. Everytime I do, I find new creatures and features that I didn't notice before. Very cool.

 

[Charlesr1958]

Thanks all, for the help. I find this all incredibly fascinating. I have a few more "critters" that I'm trying to ID. Tonight I just now noticed this new critter spitting out some white bits that appear to be my substrate. He is up in a big rock through. He looks to be a dark blue, or black, with white stripes. I noticed him at first because the "head" looked sort of like a feather duster but with shorter extensions. It spit out a piece of substrate, and then literally shriveled back up into this hole. It's about as big around as a bb maybe, and I couldn't tell how long, since not all of the body extened out of the hole. It had no discernable eyes at all.

Sounds like the probocsis of a peanut worm. Please see the worm section of my hitch hiker pages for photo details.

A Hitch Hikers Guide to the Reefs

Also, while staring at the same side of the tank; I noticed two clusters of what appear to be eggs on the side glass. I have alot of amphipods apparently, so I was wondering if they lay eggs on the glass itself? They are appear to be the same color as the amphipods, so it would seem reasonable.

Amphipods are brooders carrying their eggs around with them in special brood chambers. Might you have a snail or two that laid eggs? Again, I have some photos of that as well in the snail section. Hope it is of use to you.

Chuck

 

[Verruckt]

Excellent site Chuck! Yes, a Peanut worm is exactly what I have. Looks almost identical to this:

He seems pretty small right now. Is the stuff I saw him spitting out, matter from him burrowing into the rock? Or is he extending out at some point in the night and sucking up substrate?

As far as the eggs go, I'm really not sure. None of the amphipods seem to disturb them. I have several of these flatworms in my tank

Could the eggs be theirs?

Are any of these worms "bad"? Appreciate the info

 

[Charlesr1958]

I doubt it as flatworms are hermaphroditic and capable of sexual and asexual reproduction and would not have visible egg masses. Within our aquariums, their reproducing is most likely achieved by binary fission, much like bacteria do. Would be nice if you could get a photo of the egg masses. Typicaly such egg masses in our tanks are snails, sometimes nudibranch.

Chuck

 

[brandonberry]

Those flatworms can be a problem and often tend to multiply to plague proportions. Do a search on red planaria and you will see what I mean. You may want to consider doing a treatment with Flatworm Exit before they reproduce to levels which can be toxic when treated. Also do a search on this to read other's experiences. Some, including myself, have had fish to die after treatment, but this should be able to be prevented if the directions are followed properly.

As for the first critters you mentioned, my guess would be Isopods, not amphipods or copepods. While you probably have all 3 in your tank to some extent, Isopods are the ones that look most like ants running on the glass. These are harmless and should not be confused with the larger parasitic Isopods that attach to fish.

 

[mr_X]

i had a few of those flatworms about a year ago. they disappeared on their own.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Verry! Told you great help and information are to be found here.

Any pics of your setup?

 

[Verruckt]

Hi Verry! Told you great help and information are to be found here.

Any pics of your setup?

Sup Sea? It's awesome here for sure. I forgot, yes I do have some that I posted earlier this month.

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... t=#1373805

I'll post some more recent ones here soon as I get a chance. Working two jobs, and the holidays and what not. It's getting mad around here. Oh yeah, and it's football season.

 

[Verruckt]

Re: Flatworms

Is there a more natural alternative to get rid of these flatworms? Some sort of invertebrate? I would love to avoid chemically treating the whole tank, if at all possible.

Is it possible to just squish them when i see one, and leave it for one of my scavengers to eat? They are pretty small, so I wouldn't think that sitting around for a half day would create much of a biological demand on the tank. But you all have proved me wrong before eh?

 

[mr_X]

nothing is guaranteed, but-
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatworms.htm
halfway down the page they list known predators of flatworms.

 

[brandonberry]

You can try siphoning them out with a piece of airline tubing. I did have them return slightly once after I had treated my tank only to have them disappear a few weeks later. I think it could have been due to the green mandarin I added, but others on here have made it clear that they disagree with that. I would not advise putting a mandarin in an 18g tank though, as it will starve. If the flatworms are on your rocks, a quich freshwater rinse will cause them to fall off. Ones on the glass can be squished with an algae magnet. I would use this approach if you choose not to use FWE. Honestly, with the size of your tank, I'd net the fish out and put them in a bucket, dose the FWE and let it take effect, perform a 50% water change, run carbon for 30 minutes and then put the fish back in. You should not see any negative effects if you do this.

 

[Verruckt]

Thanks guys. I think rather than keep starting a new thread, I'll just add to this one?

Today, yes... again, something new. This guy was NOWHERE to be seen. Trust me, I've sat for at least hour long stretches looking at all the wonderful things in this tank, and this guy just popped up today on the glass. The photo sucks ass. I'm not a good photog, and there must me a micro-science to tank photos themselves. Anyway... this thing looks like a starfish. It moves fairly quick though. By that I mean it moves about as fast as my turbo snail. But it has 6 legs. Sorry for the crappy pic.

 

[mr_X]

it's an asterina star.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm