Micro-organisms on my glass

[kendall]

There are these tiny white critters all over my glass...They are the size of a fine grain of sand, even smaller. They appear to have a small little tail...These things are tiny. Any smaller and I wouldn't see them. They are running on the glass in short bursts...
Any ideas as to what they are?
Just for a little history, I have 46Bow 1 month old with 40lbs of live rock. I just had what I believe was ICK wipe out my tank. All my inverts are living the life while I let the tank run fishless for a month to hopefully kill off all the parasites...
Could these be the parasites scrambling for life? :scared:
I've heard of pods. What are those...?
Thanks in advance...

 

[kendall]

I found a post where Mud identified them as Copepods. Mud if your around, or anybody else, what is their role in the system?
Thanks

 

[leadan]

What you are seeing is most likely copods and amphapods. These are benificial and wanted in a healthy tank. They make a natural food source for most fish and play a key role in the nitrogen cycle. I have learned a lot on these threads and you can also. read as much as time allows there is a lot of help here to find. You said your tank is only a month old and you wiped out your fish with ick. Did you cycle the tank? If not then that may have been the reason for the stress induced ick. Read more about getting started and you will find sucess just be patient and know that the white critters are there for one reason or another and are a good sign. Thanks I hope this helped and good luck. P.S. they reproduce in the live rock in case you were wondering where they came from.

 

[drew2005]

They are pods. I have them everywhere. THEY ARE TAKING OVER!!!!

 

[airforceb2]

If they start to gro little legs or start to look like a snowflake they might be hydroid jellyfish. Just something to keep in mind. Can you get a pic?

 

[mudplayerx]

Copepods indeed. They are just part of the food chain. As was stated, they help clean the detritus in the tank. They are also an important food source for small fish, inverts and exotic fish such as the mandarin dragonet and the psychedelic dragonet (both of which feed exclusively on the copepods).
Ampipods are much larger. I have seen them almost as large as a half inch in my tank. Amphipods looks like a cross between a flea and a shrimp. While they eat detritus and are a food source as well, they can become problematic if allowed to overpopulate. I currently have an overpopulation of amphipods (probably due to my lack of fish). The amphipods are actually eating certain corals such as my yellow polyps and zoos. My sea cucumber is also being bitten by them at night to the point where he is developing sores.
If anyone has an proven methods for eradicating amphipods down to a managable level, I would really appreciate it.
The top pic is a copepod, the bottom is an amphipod. I take no credit for either.

 

[kendall]

Airforce- I don't think a pic will come out with my phone...
Leadan- Cycling the tank with damsels was wrong, but they were doing okay with the parasites. When I dropped the flame in, it threw off the relationship and the parasites took over. The damsels were still okay, but i killed them while in QT when my filter shut off while trying to do hypo...
Drew- They are everywhere!!!
Mud- Yup, pods...ALthough I can't make out the 2 antanae or whatever on their heads. I can make out similar tails though...
As far as the Amphipods, I saw 2 on a piece of rock yesterday. They look like they could get annoying. Not sure how I could pull them. I've pulled 3 worms so far that were in extra hermit shells I got from LFS. There is another worm out there, haven't been able to get him...
THe INVERTS are taking OVER without fish in there!!!!

 

[farmboy]

Hey Mudman,
I've read that six line wrasses LOVE these. Did I read somewhere on here that you have or are getting a Mandarin? They are supposed to be voracious pod slayers.
I know this isn't what you want to hear, but there are many who would love to have your pod problem.