Friend or foe....ID PLEASE!!!

[SPotter]

I found these in the return section of my sump tonight while doing my wc. I have not seen them anyplace else in my system. Sorry for the poor quality pics but all I had was my iPhone. They look like little beetles with a white line on their shells. I am fearing the worst and that this is the beginning of an uphill battle.




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[Misled]

Looks like a chiton.

 

[olemiss reb]

2nd pic looks like an isopod to me. It looks like it has legs and two black eyes. A clearer pic would really help.

 

[SPotter]

I'll see if I can find another one and take a better picture. After reading about them it definitely sounds like one but couldn't find any pictures that look like the ones I have. They did curl up into ball like a pill bug and from what I read, they can be beneficial to your tank.




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[mscarpena]

2nd pic looks like an isopod to me. It looks like it has legs and two black eyes. A clearer pic would really help.

Thats what I thought.

 

[SPotter]

Now the question is are they beneficial or not. Should I move my fish to a qt and let the Isopods starve or just keep an eye out for any signs of them getting to my fish? Like I said the ones I pulled out curled up like pill bugs.

Either way I'm never ordering from reefs2go again. I got a couple of their pod bags last week and I have this.


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[olemiss reb]

Most isopods are harmless but there are a few that will attack fish. Unfortunately, easily distinguishable black eyes are usually a sign that you have a cirolanid. Hope I'm wrong.-- http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

 

[SPotter]

I'll have to look for another one and get a better picture of it. I really didn't see any eyes on it. It was all black with the white line down the middle almost like a skunk.


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[pagojoe]

If the bottom looks like a snail, it's a chiton.

Cheers,



Don

 

[SPotter]

definitely not a chiton. top and bottom looks like those grey pill bugs you find under a rock and it curls up as soon as i touch it.

 

[LeslieH]

Sphaeromatid isopod. The clue is that it can curl like a pill bug. Cirolanids - the parasites - can't. Harmless grazer on micro-algae, detritus, etc.