beach fleas/whale lice??

fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
ok well me and my mom were looking at my tank last night when all the lights out with a flashlight that i colored red with a washable marker. And i dont think i am going to do that EVER again..... it freaked me out... after about 10 or so minutes i started seeing these things which i looked up and they look like beach fleas/whale lice is what the book said. (they look like half of a millipede and there back end kinda curls down and that part they have feathers like shrimp do that keep flapping up and down along with 6 legs there, then at the front they have what seems to be like 2 pairs of antennas and a head and a couple more feet.) (some of these were up to an inch! but most were about the size of a centimeter or smaller)
anyways there were TONS of these and i wanted to make sure they were ok to have in a reef.. the book that i was lookin at said they were fine and that fish like to eat them.
Also i want to know if they could bite me?
 
anonome

anonome

Active Member
Sounds like bristle worms. Did they look like centipedes? If so, absolutely normal in a reef tank, or at least a tank full of live rock.
Discription could also be of amphipods. These are also good for the tank. They also only come out at night. Fish absolutely like to eat these.
Both are beneficial, but bristleworms in a plaque type of situation are not good, could mean you are feeding too much, and too much leftover food. Any possible chance of a picture?
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by Anonome
http:///forum/post/2704316
Sounds like bristle worms. Did they look like centipedes? If so, absolutely normal in a reef tank, or at least a tank full of live rock.
Discription could also be of amphipods. These are also good for the tank. They also only come out at night. Fish absolutely like to eat these.
Both are beneficial, but bristleworms in a plaque type of situation are not good, could mean you are feeding too much, and too much leftover food. Any possible chance of a picture?
nope not bristles, ive never personally seen one in real life but ive seen many many pics of them and i know for a fact that is not what they are, they look like millipedes those are those grey things that curl up into a ball but they dont have all the legs thats just what the main body looks like.
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
k i just looked up pics on google for amphipods and thats what they are! So they arnt bad and not gonna bite me right?
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by FishyGurl
http:///forum/post/2704340
k i just looked up pics on google for amphipods and thats what they are! So they arnt bad and not gonna bite me right?
no, they are the most common pod you can actually see and 90% of the time when someone says they see tons of pods this is what they are seeing (most copepods are the size of a needle point and normally seen as small dots on the glass that would be mistaken for a spec of dirt or sand if they werent moving)
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
http:///forum/post/2704721
no, they are the most common pod you can actually see and 90% of the time when someone says they see tons of pods this is what they are seeing (most copepods are the size of a needle point and normally seen as small dots on the glass that would be mistaken for a spec of dirt or sand if they werent moving)
ya those are the pods i normally look at when i look into my tank in the day time.. just got freaked out looking at it at night lol..
 
fish4rudy

fish4rudy

Member
They are also known as sand-fleas and surf fisherman use them as bait. I know that atleast on web-site (Florida based) that sells them as a sand or bottom cleaner for your tanks. I would advise against this as they multiply like crazy. Also just curious, but what beach were you at? These things are seasonal where I live In Florida.
 
btwk12

btwk12

Member
Originally Posted by FISH4RUDY
http:///forum/post/2820994
They are also known as sand-fleas and surf fisherman use them as bait. I know that atleast on web-site (Florida based) that sells them as a sand or bottom cleaner for your tanks. I would advise against this as they multiply like crazy. Also just curious, but what beach were you at? These things are seasonal where I live In Florida.
shes talking about her fish tank.
 
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