Small Opaque Critter on Glass

[saltyamy]

Noticed a small 1/4" opaque critter on the glass this morning. It is oval with a forked tail, moving slowly across the glass sort of like a snail. What is it and is it supposed to be in my tank? Tank is 30 gal. about 3 week old w/LR and 2 B&W damsels.

 

[howf777]

looks like ur tank is doing well
sounds like an amphipod of some sort, the more the merrier
its clear and kinda looks like a slug yeah?

 

[sabby]

Does it look like this? If so, it's a type of flatworm that eats pods. I found the pic on a "Bug of the Week" thread by Bang Guy.

 

[saltyamy]

Thank for the pic Sabby - that's exactly what it looks like. From what I've read - it's a good thing to have these in the tank. What are pods?

 

[sabby]

Actually, flatworms, as a general rule, aren't a good thing to have in your tank... although this particular kind isn't as bad as some of the others.
Pods are tiny little shrimp-like crustaceans that live in your sand and live rock. They consume microalgae and detritus and are a beneficial part of your tank's infauna clean up crew. There are three different types... isopods, copepods and amphipods.
If you shine a flashlight into your tank after the lights go off, you'll likely see what looks like little bugs running/swimming around on your rocks and sand... those are pods.
HTH

 

[saltyamy]

Thank you for the clarification - I thought I had read somewhere that some type of worms were good for the tank - apparently not the flatworms as you indicated. I'll check for the other little creatures with a flashlight. Right now my tank is crystal clear with very nice colors of red/orange/burgandy on one of the LRs. Seems like everything is A OK so far.

 

[sabby]

There are lots of beneficial worms (bristleworms, cirratulid worms, peanut worms, terebellid worms)... flatworms just don't happen to be among the "good" guys.