Is this an amphipod??

nmocean

nmocean

Member
Here are some better pictures of the "critters" I am finding on the zoo's. They look like amphipods to me, but I was unaware that amphipods would eat corals. In my other thread someone suggested maybe the zoo's were unhealthy and that is why I was finding amphipods on and around them, however, the zoo's have been in the tank for quite some time (some of them over a year) and have always opened fully and have multiplied like crazy!
I got this critter off by doing a FW dip on one of the zoo colonies. This critter is about a 1/4" not including the antenae.
If this is an amphipod, why is it eating the zoanthids, and once the zoanthids are gone, what will it eat next? Will some kind of wrasse eat them? I would really like to hear more thoughts on this. . .I am really confused. I was ALWAYS under the impression amphipods were really good for a system, and would not harm anything.
Thanks, Jen


 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
They are very beneficial. However, like everything else, too much of a good thing can be bad. I had way too many at one time and they ate almost all of my yellow polyps.
 
nmocean

nmocean

Member
hot883- I have a Flame Angel in quarantine now, your suggesting that a dwarf angel might help aleviate some of the amphipod population? Thank You for posting, I never really gave the angel much consideration, but your right they really do love to pick at the rock! We'll give it a shot!

-Jen
 
dragonboy

dragonboy

Active Member
Well pods generally won't eat corals when they are still tiny little bugs, but once they get bigger they get aggressive and they get hungry often. So they would start to find other things to eat other than what you feed to the tank and would go after your soft corals. Just try to get a fish that would eat them so keep some of the population down.
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nmocean
hot883- I have a Flame Angel in quarantine now, your suggesting that a dwarf angel might help aleviate some of the amphipod population? Thank You for posting, I never really gave the angel much consideration, but your right they really do love to pick at the rock! We'll give it a shot!

-Jen
When my yellow tang died Jen, I QT'd the remaining fish and my pod population went through the roof. My angel does graze all day on pods AND algea. He is the only one that I have that really goes after them. I also have a firefish gobie, bangaii cardinal, and 2 clowns.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nmocean
mudplayerx- Thanks for posting. How did you get the numbers down to a manageable level?
-Jen
I bought a psychedelic mandarin and it took care of the amphipod problem. They are now at a level that can be considered normal. Just make sure that you have plenty of live rock and sand in an already established tank before you buy a mandarin or they will starve.
 
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