Help!!! Infestation of Snow like pest.

[rburt]

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that I have hundreds of very tiny white things floating everywhere (Snow Storm) in my tank. Some are on the glass and appear to move but it's really hard to tell. I've never seen this before and am shocked on how it came out of no where. I've done some research and have come across blogs about aquarium lice but I can't find any pics to help ID.

I haven't added anything new to the tank in months and all of my peramiters are in check. I plan to do a large water change today.

Also, this is not free floating sand. These things appear to be able to change direction etc., however, it could just be powerheads. Today, the snow like things appear to have thinned out some. None appear to be on the fish nor the coral.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Richard

 

[OneReef]

Could be Copepods, an egg hatching, spawning put out by coral/invertebrates. Hard to tell without seeing them. Any way to get a macro shot of the ones on the glass?

 

[rburt]

I tried taking a pic using my macro setting but these things are so small that it's hard to make out.

The pic that I attached has two of the small white things captured. I can see no legs when viewing through my camera on the macro setting.
Hope this pick helps.

 

[saltburns]

looks like copepods to me.

 

[rburt]

I hope. This moring there are a lot less of them.

 

[Larson]

Snow

Snow

It's not, from that picture I see you have some of that blue snowflake anthellia . That is how it reproduces you just missed the first phase. Each polyp will look like it has a grain of sand on it, they it release's that in the water, and it can spread anywhere it lands. Your powerheads are giving the illusion of movement. Then it looks like your tank is 'snowing' , Hence Blue Snowflake. Won't cause a problem other than blue snowflake everywhere.

From what I've seen it will grow to the edge of just about every coral but doesn't seem to interact negatively with them. In fact corals seem to push it away when they grow.

Cheers

 

[rburt]

Wow! I never knew that. I have the blue snowflakes all over my tank. I only had it on one rock but a year and a half later it's everywhere.

Thanks for the information.

Richard

 

[nck1992]

Any plan to give away some of the blue snowflakes?

 

[rburt]

Sure. I have some that I can give you that's on the sand bed. Just know that they will begin to cover all your rock over a short time. At least that's what they've done in my tank.

 

[nck1992]

Great! I'll send a PM. Thanks..

 

[nck1992]

Thank you Richard! This is a really nice piece.

 

[rburt]

You're welcome!