Amphipods, copopods, isopods

[woodward]

I have a 4 month old tank with 4 month old rock (was not live before i added it) and old enough live rock (about 50/50 new to old). My other 70 gallon tank has been over run by death and uncontrolled algea growth and I am extracting the fish in order to deal with the problem( i might turn it into an agressive tank with a small lionfish afterwards). I have a psychedelic mandrin that has been doing very well in the old tank. I want to move him into this newer tank(30 gallons). I have a clarkii clownfish, a marine betta, and a large anemone in the newer tank. They once lived together for a long period of time with no incidents. my aragonite substrate is only 6ish months old. it's remained very white and looks very new which concerns me. I've read up on "pods" and i havn't been able to see any. but then again, i havn't been able to see any in the older tank or another tank i have with a mandrin fish( which is doing incredible, great fish to have). I'm concerned that if I add my psychedelic to the newer tank( 30 gallons) that there will not be enough food for him. I really have no other option. I'd like your opinion on whether or not the tank is sutable for a the psychedelic and if aquarium stores have in stoke any type of "pod" to either use for food until the tank catches up or as a treat. I have a frozen food that is very fine that i was told to feed but the legistics of feeding a frozen cube to a skidish fish is near impossible. any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!! thank you!

 

[coastie55g]

so is it a good sign if you ocacionally see a dead pod casing floating around? i assume they molt?
thanks

 

[azocean709]

I did the unimaginable. I went to the beach. Fernandina beach, in north florida. i went out in the water, dove down...got about 50 lbs of sand and hauled tail back to the house. that sand is in my 55. I went to the Keys and dove down and got about 50lbs of sand and put it in my other tank. I notice no differance in the 2 and I have pods everywhere. I did have a nasty one...but it got stuck in the filter pad i havent seen another though..

 

[thomas712]

Originally Posted by coastie55g
so is it a good sign if you ocacionally see a dead pod casing floating around? i assume they molt?
thanks
Yes they molt, and thats a good sign that you have them. Take a look in the tank at night with a flashlight.

 

[corally]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
Yes they molt, and thats a good sign that you have them. Take a look in the tank at night with a flashlight.

What does a pod molt look like? Does it look kind of like a brown piece of rice?

 

[thomas712]

In the case of the amphipod it looks just like a semi transparent adult amphipod, same with the copepods and isopods, though much harder to see. Not an hour ago I saw an amphipod molt floating in my tank. They might be some different colors depending on your system. Some adult amphipods might get red before they die.
Thomas

 

[coastie55g]

i think i might do that tonite.. i have always wondered what comes out of the LR at nite and goes scavanging for food and what not.. like my two emerald crabs... i rarely see them out at nite... little rascals
thanks for info. im sure some other noobs were curious too
Chris

 

[huntoaks]

We've been hoping for pods for a while now and after reading this thread my son went to look in the tank and low and behold, we're loaded with them!! :joy: It seems our Royal Gramma has noticed them also. After the daylights go out and only the Actinics are on, the Gramma darts all around grabbing them. If we didn't have some aggressive fish in our tank we would get a Mandarin. Anyone in NY want a baby Clown Trigger??

 

[coastie55g]

yeah i think im going to go to the LPS and check on prices of a HOB refugium. I didnt notice anything when i looked with a flash light but i dont think i was fast enuff. i thought i saw some little critters movin around just not quiet sure. the tank is about year and half old so i hope i have something in there.. beside the red algea that im trying to beat. but thats a differe topic
Chris

 

[parameat]

after adding in more live rock I noticed a bunch of white dots swimming around... are those the larva of any kind of -opod?

 

[thomas712]

Originally Posted by parameat
after adding in more live rock I noticed a bunch of white dots swimming around... are those the larva of any kind of -opod?
More than likely yes.

 

[packrat]

Originally Posted by mudplayerx
Some copepods

What is the last pic of in this post? sorry the pics didn't show in the quote, but was referring to the one that looked like a little jelly fish.

 

[thomas712]

The last one is a high zoom shot of a Corycaeus copepod to show the eye detail.

 

[packrat]

Thomas712, thanks for the reply. do you have any info on these? thanks

 

[thomas712]

Other than ID no, no specific info on that species.
Hmmm, we are both from a town called Midland

 

[az]

yes they are a good start for you. This area of the pod family is a very large class to deal with for they go from the floating in the water (plankton) to strictly bottem dwellers. Six line wrasse is reef safe and great for these and brissle worms as well. but they are good to see and to keep seeing when they die off and you see them no more find out why. Trouble maybe around the corner.

 

[packrat]

thanks Thomas712 and yes we are from the same town, name wise anyway

 

[packrat]

AZ, thanks for the details on these guys. first time I saw one was a couple of months ago and thought it was just a bubble til I saw it moving. They looked kinda freaky but glad they are good to have

 

[joshradio]

I had the same explosion of sorts after adding my final pieces of LR... no fish in the tank, but I'm hoping that once I do add'em, they'll sorta fade into the normal sea-cycle food chain....

 

[mrdc]

I was going to ask about "bugs" I see in my tank when I found this post. I see a lot of very tiny bugs running around on the rocks for months now. I have never seen them attached to fish or swimming in the water...seem to just stay on the rocks and I can only see them at night. I would try and get a pic but there is no way. Hopefully, they are the good kind of pods and not something like fish lice. I also have a lot of white looking polyps on the back glass which I assume are pods also. The cleaner shrimp likes to pick at them. Well I will continue to monitor them and will attempt to get a pic with a friends camera which may be possible.