Cirolanid Isopods!?

[markush]

I'm about to freak out here....I see what I believe are Cirolanid Isopods. What I see appear to have slightly smaller black eyes then the one pictured on Richards site. But the articles I can find also have pics of ones with not so huge eyes like mine.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php
In Figure 2 at the top middle of the pic there are two that are vertical...mine look like the one on the right with the smaller eyes and all of mine have been about 2 mm in length.

Here's another alarming article I have found.
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/clarke_shimek.html

I have netted one and have seen and been unable to net 3 more...I believe as with the baddy crabs if you see a couple there's a very good chance there are many more that you don’t see.

Am I rightfully concerned or am I over reacting?

 

[figuerres]

Re: Cirolanid Isopods!?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9887187#post9887187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by markush
I'm about to freak out here....I see what I believe are Cirolanid Isopods. What I see appear to have slightly smaller black eyes then the one pictured on Richards site. But the articles I can find also have pics of ones with not so huge eyes like mine.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php
In Figure 2 at the top middle of the pic there are two that are vertical...mine look like the one on the right with the smaller eyes and all of mine have been about 2 mm in length.

Here's another alarming article I have found.
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/clarke_shimek.html

I have netted one and have seen and been unable to net 3 more...I believe as with the baddy crabs if you see a couple there's a very good chance there are many more that you don’t see.

Am I rightfully concerned or am I over reacting?

Photo ??

might be them or might be any of several "pods".

w/o a good photo it's all a guess.

 

[markush]

This ones the biggest so far about about 3-4mm

 

[Untamed12]

I most certainly received many of those in my shipments of rock/sand as well. I saw them many times mostly immediately after the rock was put in the tank. I haven't seen one in over a month now.

But I share your concern.

In the end, I ignored it and have gone ahead and added fish. It is certainly a ciranolid...but you can't be positive that it is the type that are a real problem.

If you want to be sure...just wait 6-8 weeks before adding fish. If they are dependent of fish to survive, you'll starve them out. At least, I think it is 6-8 weeks...it might be longer.

 

[markush]

I was pretty positive they were Cirolanids. Ron Shimek says the starvation period is 3 to 4 months in this article.

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/clarke_shimek.html

The main reason I set this tank up was because my old tank had sprung a second small leak. It was either get rid of everything and be done with the aquarium hobby or start a new tank...the wife said new tank so here we are. I can't wait 3-4 months to be sure my fish won't get eaten.

Unless someone can say for sure that these aren't the baddest of the bad bugs or I can eradicate them, it appears all the time and expense of this new tank is wasted and I end up getting rid of everything anyway.

 

[figuerres]

Bummer!

 

[Untamed12]

Faced with the same decision (and I'm sure the same ciranolids), I went ahead and put fish in. It has been about 4 weeks and I've not seen any sign that the fish are being attacked.

Maybe you just have to roll the dice.

 

[scowiii]

Im waiting 3-4 months before I add fish in anyways. It stinks but I am having so much fun finding new life everyday just in the rocks.

 

[ChrisB]

Is there a fish that will hunt them down and eat them? A wrasse of some sort maybe?

 

[markush]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9904402#post9904402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChrisB
Is there a fish that will hunt them down and eat them? A wrasse of some sort maybe?

Not that i have been able to find in my search for info on these. I've read that if the fish do not chew them up they have been known to eat their way out of the fish....yummy. There is a stinky water method of capturing these that i havn't tried since my tank is still cycling.

 

[wooglin]

I have an easy solution. MANTIS. I keep several in my 75 and they take care of anything small like that.

 

[Untamed12]

I do not believe that mantis shrimp are going to hunt down ciranolids. I'm a big mantis fan (I think I have 6 in my display tank)...but I don't think there is anyway that they are going to waste their time on anything that small. They are also exceptionally fast swimmers.

 

[sytanek]

I found several in my tank of TBS stuff, but only one I ever found on a fish. There is no real way to starve them, they simply become scavengers and will eat anything.

 

[markush]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9927664#post9927664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sytanek
I found several in my tank of TBS stuff, but only one I ever found on a fish. There is no real way to starve them, they simply become scavengers and will eat anything.

So these are the fish eaters! I was thinking the starvation thing would be hard to do also. There is always going to be some sort of life in the tank with all the hitchhiker crabs...bad or good leaving molts for these guys to feed on.

I've now seen many of these things...mostly swimming erratically in my moonlights. I've been able to net about a dozen like this. There are two methods I am going to try to get rid of these things, the stinky water and the sacrificial fish. I doubt they are going anywhere but I have to try.

 

[scowiii]

So you guys made me all paranoid and I stood up all night looking in the tank and sure enough found about 3-4 of these little buggers. Was able to capture two of them with the good old turkey baster but the third one eluded me.

 

[figuerres]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9927860#post9927860 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by markush
So these are the fish eaters! I was thinking the starvation thing would be hard to do also. There is always going to be some sort of life in the tank with all the hitchhiker crabs...bad or good leaving molts for these guys to feed on.

I've now seen many of these things...mostly swimming erratically in my moonlights. I've been able to net about a dozen like this. There are two methods I am going to try to get rid of these things, the stinky water and the sacrificial fish. I doubt they are going anywhere but I have to try.

just remember that there are also isopods that are food for fish and look very much like the bad guys.

for example I have what I can only call "spring tail" pods that are harmless and eaten by many fish that look like the others but they are curved and do not have the big eyes.

later today I have to change the filter sock so perhaps I'll use my macro lens and get a photo of them just to compare with.

 

[sytanek]

Two ways to tell if its a cirolanid, it has the big black eyes, and it does not turn into a rolly poly when you touch it.

Not to hard to test.

 

[markush]

I am in no way trying to start a panic. I started this thread looking for an identification and information. If you think you might have these nasties please research and decide for yourself what you have. After spending the last week reading everything i can find I'm confident mine are Cirolanids

Here is an image showing both a Cirolanid and a Sphaeromatid (what i'm guessing figuerres is calling a "spring tail").
"

Comparison of Sphaeromatids (top) Cirolanids (bottom), views from the side and top. The easiest distinguishing characters are the large obvious eyes on the Cirolanids, and the large obvious tail appendages on the male Sphaeromatids."

The bugs with the really big eyes are Aegids and apparently even nastier then Cirolanids.

 

[Untamed12]

Here's the kind of confirmation that you don't want to see. There's now no doubt whatsoever that the ciranolids that are present in TBS rock are parasitic and nasty.

Here's the lovely surprise I got when I got home this evening. Of course, catching the fish is virtually impossible. I waited all night to see if I could notice the ciranolid when it drops off...but I've now given that up as well.

Time to build one of those traps and see if it works. Man...I hope this thing doesn't reproduce...

 

[scowiii]

thats a total bummer.

I haven't been sleeping too well and look at the tank at night I see them swimming around at night and am able to usually catch 2-3 of the smaller ones. I have seen a couple big ones but they have eluded me up to this point. I guess the best thing is to starve the tank.