bluce March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 So I'm feeding my fish last night - 76 gallon reef tank - a combination of some frozen foods + some of Scott's (from WAMAS) homemade frozen food. normally you see lots of particles suspended in the water column as I turn the pumps off so the fish have time to eat. Last night I notice a lot of the particles zipping around through the water and the fish are having a great time snacking on them. I look closer and they are not pods, but tiny little shrimps. How did they get there? Now I have added the live brine shrimp that you get from the pet store about once a month or so - but they usually all get eaten up or eventually sucked into the overflow. So did some of those brine shrimps survive and reproduce? or is there another way that these baby shrimps made it into my tank - a nice surprise as the fish like them, and maybe even come corals (the tentacles on my candy cane were fully extended when this was happening), but still a mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 What you're seeing is almost certainly not brine shrimp. Although they could theoretically reproduce in a reef tank, in reality they're so easily preyed upon by fish and coral that there's little chance any would survive. My money is on mysid shrimp, which apparently ride in on live rock and then appear in an out of the way corner of the tank, or under a pile of debris. They're much more canny than those goofy brine shrimp, and make better hiders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 What you're seeing is almost certainly not brine shrimp. Although they could theoretically reproduce in a reef tank, in reality they're so easily preyed upon by fish and coral that there's little chance any would survive. My money is on mysid shrimp, which apparently ride in on live rock and then appear in an out of the way corner of the tank, or under a pile of debris. They're much more canny than those goofy brine shrimp, and make better hiders. Could also be baby peppermint (or other) shrimp, if you have a pair of those. They're always pregnant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbartco March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 skunk cleaners? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 I say mysis shrimp. I have lots of them under rocks and corals in my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterDog March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 Could also be baby peppermint (or other) shrimp, if you have a pair of those. They're always pregnant. Always. Pregnant. I had one that lay eggs literally two weeks after we got her. Then of course, our wrasse ate them, but that's nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda March 30, 2011 Share March 30, 2011 Baby Lysmata (skunks and peppermints) don't zip (as described in the first post), they drift. I agree that they are mysids. In some tanks I have had hefty populations of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluce March 30, 2011 Author Share March 30, 2011 Thanks for the replies! I do have peppermints, but if mogurnda is correct "Baby Lysmata (skunks and peppermints) don't zip" then they wouldn't be peppermints, cause when the moved they "zipped" around pretty good. I didn't think they were baby brine - but had to ask. When I add brine shrimp to the tank, they have such bad directionional control and locomotion - it would be hard to believe they could survive to reproduce. I guess the verdict is mysids. Nice to know - I imagine that baby mysids are another good sign of a healthy tank! It's interesting to look at the tank sometimes and find organisms I didn't even know were there nice to have more biodiversity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbartco March 30, 2011 Share March 30, 2011 Not to be contrary (or maybe to be ), but mysids are not really "released" into the water column. The stay mainly under on or under rock and rubble and run around, not "swim". Lysmata shrimp on the other hand release free swimming babies into the water column all at once. Could just be the current in the tank "zipping" them around. If this was an all of the sudden viewed experience, it was probably lysmata. Look for new green colored eggs on the abdomen of the cleaners/pepermints in a week or so. I'll see if I can find a video of lysmata hatching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluce March 31, 2011 Author Share March 31, 2011 Thanks for the info Doug - at the time I saw them they were definitely "zipping" - I had all the pumps off. I haven't seen them since - I'll take a look tonight when I feed to see if any are still around. I wish I had a macro lens for my camera to take a super closeup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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