paul b February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 (edited) Today I tried to rinse the sponge I have on the intake of my reverse UG filter and when I removed it from the pump, amphipods were jumping all over the place. I didn't want to lose them so I just put the sponge back. Now I will buy aother sponge to put on the pump and I will just lay this one in the tank until the amphipods find a new home. These are the offspring of the ones I collect by the thousands in the summer. Whenever I raise the anchor on my boat, they jump all over the front of the boat. They are fantastic things to have in your reef but you really need to collect them initially. I don't think anyone sells them. Having these things along with copepods, tubeworms, spaghetti worms and snails means the conditions in the tank are ideal for spawning. If you never find anything appearing (In an established tank) than something is wrong. Maybe the tank is not natural enough or maybe it's too sterile. Sterile is good for an operating room but corals don't live well in an operating room. Just my opinion Edited February 24, 2010 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell2go February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 When they get big, they will steal foods from the Chalices and sometimes Acan. That is if you feed at night and only if you have chalices and acans. I used to save them. But now, I am regretted. There is no way I can kill them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b February 24, 2010 Author Share February 24, 2010 Lucky for ma I don't have those corals. I spend a lot of time collecting these little suckers. I feed them flakes when I get too many and I have to keep them in an extra tank. I have never seen them hurt anything, in my tank anyway. I give them a good talking to before I add them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmubeach February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 A dragonette will whipe them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 I'm with you, Paul! I see critters like that running around and figure that I must be doing something right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 Today I tried to rinse the sponge I have on the intake of my reverse UG filter and when I removed it from the pump, amphipods were jumping all over the place. I didn't want to lose them so I just put the sponge back. Now I will buy aother sponge to put on the pump and I will just lay this one in the tank until the amphipods find a new home. These are the offspring of the ones I collect by the thousands in the summer. Whenever I raise the anchor on my boat, they jump all over the front of the boat. They are fantastic things to have in your reef but you really need to collect them initially. I don't think anyone sells them. Having these things along with copepods, tubeworms, spaghetti worms and snails means the conditions in the tank are ideal for spawning. If you never find anything appearing (In an established tank) than something is wrong. Maybe the tank is not natural enough or maybe it's too sterile. Sterile is good for an operating room but corals don't live well in an operating room. Just my opinion I have a sponge in this 24-gallon tank, and it's always full of pods when I go to clean it. I end up picking the biggest ones out and tossing them in the tank. NOT a sterile environment: bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell2go February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 A dragonette will whipe them out! Not the big one, because they won't fit into the dragonette mouth. Beside, they don't come out when there's light on. They do not harm any corals. They just steal food. And it takes time and patience to feed the Chalices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b February 24, 2010 Author Share February 24, 2010 (edited) A dragonette will whipe them out! I am not talking about copepods which are tiny like this size ----->.<----- I am talking about amphipods which are this size ------->o<------- Ok they are a little larger than that. This is what a bucket of them look like Edited February 24, 2010 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmill5k February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 i saw this product at aquarium one called reef pods they said it was supposed to be copepods and stuff like that for sale. not sure on how well it works with shelf life and stuff like that. they were just in a plastic bag with water and a little ball of macro algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportzfish February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 When they get big, they will steal foods from the Chalices and sometimes Acan. That is if you feed at night and only if you have chalices and acans. I used to save them. But now, I am regretted. There is no way I can kill them all. On the one hand that might be why your tank is so clean.... Maybe you can get some kind of wrasse to take care of them. I have a yellow coris wrasse that hunts all day long and can spot them in a clump of algae with ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 I am not talking about copepods which are tiny like this size ----->.<----- I am talking about amphipods which are this size ------->o<------- Ok they are a little larger than that. I wish I had a macro (close-up) lens for my Nikon so I could get a picture of these TINY things, but I'm actually wondering what it is that I have in my tanks. I have lots of these --->.<---, they remind me of fleas (but smaller) dancing around the water. I can't see them in the chaeto cuz they are toooooooo small, but I do see them in the fuge's water. Then I also have some of these --->o<--- or even --->oo<--- and in the fuge I only see them in the chaeto. But I also see them in the main tank - crawling in/thru the rock, over the corals, sometimes on the glass. They actually remind me of baby shrimp - they look like they are curled in half and the inner portion looks like lots of little legs while the outer portion is a shell. Whatever they are, I always thought they were good for the corals (food !) .. should I be worried about an over-population of the larger ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b February 24, 2010 Author Share February 24, 2010 Yes, those are amphipods and they are compressed laterally. They are half moon shaped with legs on the inside. They can swim but prefer to hang out under rocks, in spongey things or in holes. Don't be concerned about them at all. Do you see that bucket of them I posted? I dumped that entire bucket in my reef and I do that all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefunelement February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 These guys? They were outa control 24/7 a while ago and I caught them eating on my zoas and decided to get a sixline wrasse who takes care of them during the day - no population explosion since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell2go February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 These guys? They were outa control 24/7 a while ago and I caught them eating on my zoas and decided to get a sixline wrasse who takes care of them during the day - no population explosion since. Yes, that's the sucker. They eat zoo because it's decaying/melting. They don't eat the healthy corals. Nice pic, BTW.Here's one I dig up.Not mine though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefunelement February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 "They eat zoo because it's decaying/melting" I take this more as an Old Wives Tale - I've got decaying/melting Zoas/Paly's they won't touch and I have very healthy Zoas that they almost decimated - in this case they had a hideout under the healthy zoas and I think foraged close to home - an emerald crab had eaten ALL the algae in the tank so they ate what was next on the menu. A sixline keeps their pop down to manageable levels - those Zoas are now back, color morphed, and growing like crazy - except one which is closed, algae covered, and yet no amphipod attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b February 24, 2010 Author Share February 24, 2010 That is them but there are different types that look like that. Some that I collect stay in the intertidal areas and even go our onto the sand, they don't do as well completely submerged and I don't know what they eat, they are also large. The ones I collect look more like that last picture, lighter and smaller. If they were carniverous, they would have eaten all of my corals long ago being I have been adding them since Nixon was President. He was after Lincoln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 Isopod Amphipod/Gammarus copepod Bristle Worm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefunelement February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b February 24, 2010 Author Share February 24, 2010 Isopods are compressed from top to bottom amphipods are compressed side to side. Gammarus are the ones I collect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryL February 24, 2010 Share February 24, 2010 Is that Quato? LMAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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