I set up my 105 gallon Oceanic reef tank approximately 3 months ago. I have 100 pounds of Kaelini live rock and a 6" deep live sand bed. For lighting I have 2-250 watt metal halide ballasts with 10,000K bulbs, 2-48" VHO Actinic bulbs, and 2 moon light bulbs. For filtration I have a Euro Reef CS8-2 Protein Skimmer in my 25 gallon sump with a Gen-X water pump for my return. I cured my rock and cycled the tank in about 3 weeks and from there on my Ammonia,Nitrite, and Nitrate levels have all been in check. My specific gravity is between 1.023 and 1.025 with a temperature of 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the cycling my tank I have tried to keep fish, snails and crabs with no success. I have been flipping out trying to figure out what is wrong then all of sudden I noticed thousands of almost too small to see white mites all over the tank. I did a 25% water change and went on vacation for 10 days and now they are gone. Now I see thousands of what I believe to be baby mantis shrimp ranging in size from 1-2 mm. They are every rock and in every hole of the tank. I have found them in my overflow box and even seen them in broad daylight eating my snails. My tank is infested. HOW CAN I GET RID OF THEM? PLEASE HELP ME!
How to get rid of what I believe to be thousands of tiny mantis shrimp
- Thread starter randihess
- Start date
I can tell you with absolute certainty that they are most certainly not mantis shrimp. They are amphipods, most likely, or perhaps isopods as well. Stick your hand in there and see how fast they start eating you.
Most amphipods are not preditory and they are very beneficial to your reef, however some species are preditory. Dr. Ron Shimek has written an interesting article on both isopods and amphipods which can be found here; isopods: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.htm ; amphipods: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rs/index.htm .
As far as removal is concerned I'm not entirely sure if that's possible. You may be able to find a fish that will erradicate them like a 6-line wrasse or mandarin, however it may be entirely possible that they will suffer from predatoin as well. Other than that manual removal would be almost impossible, requiring that you trap each one if you truly have thousands would be ridiculous. On the other hand chemical erraditcation may be quite easy. Replace your saltwater with fresh water, wait for everything to die, scrub the rocks clean, and start over... Making your expensive purchase a waste of hundreds of dollars.
However I'd suggest you read the articles. Dr. Shimek has recommendations on how to remove them. SHould you read and discover the pods are not the problem, try getting some more test kits or doing a massive water change. It very well may be the case that the livestock is dying because of water chemistry and the hardier pods are just cleaning up the mess.
Oh and don't come trying to sue me if you kill your live rock with fresh water. I don't claim to know what I'm talking about, and I take no responsibility for your loss. Wouldn't have the money to pay you in the first place.
Most amphipods are not preditory and they are very beneficial to your reef, however some species are preditory. Dr. Ron Shimek has written an interesting article on both isopods and amphipods which can be found here; isopods: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.htm ; amphipods: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rs/index.htm .
As far as removal is concerned I'm not entirely sure if that's possible. You may be able to find a fish that will erradicate them like a 6-line wrasse or mandarin, however it may be entirely possible that they will suffer from predatoin as well. Other than that manual removal would be almost impossible, requiring that you trap each one if you truly have thousands would be ridiculous. On the other hand chemical erraditcation may be quite easy. Replace your saltwater with fresh water, wait for everything to die, scrub the rocks clean, and start over... Making your expensive purchase a waste of hundreds of dollars.
However I'd suggest you read the articles. Dr. Shimek has recommendations on how to remove them. SHould you read and discover the pods are not the problem, try getting some more test kits or doing a massive water change. It very well may be the case that the livestock is dying because of water chemistry and the hardier pods are just cleaning up the mess.
Oh and don't come trying to sue me if you kill your live rock with fresh water. I don't claim to know what I'm talking about, and I take no responsibility for your loss. Wouldn't have the money to pay you in the first place.
Thanks guys,
We caught a couple of these little guys in the overflow box and matched them up to a picture of an amphipod! It looks like we've got the rare species that likes to chomp on fish....and snails...and nudibranchs...ok everything but the sea cucumber.
Ok, so now what am I gonna do about it?
We caught a couple of these little guys in the overflow box and matched them up to a picture of an amphipod! It looks like we've got the rare species that likes to chomp on fish....and snails...and nudibranchs...ok everything but the sea cucumber.
Ok, so now what am I gonna do about it?
terryhendrixson
New member
i have read where snowflake eels will eat them.
Am I wrong? I believe amphipods are good, and isopods are the crazy little parasites. You can tell by the large black eyes.
crafty_50mitchell
New member
Now this is just goofy. First off extremely young stomatopods are pretty much impossible to keep alive (unless, from what I understand, you have a set up which is pretty specialized for this exact purpose). My guess is some sort of crazy isopod, or they could just be copapods, or amphipods. Ive had similar experiences when Ive let my tanks run with very few fish, the pods just reproduce like its going out of style. I could not agree with nubreefer more regarding the snails eating dead snails already. Also there is the likelyhood that since this is new live rock, which has been cured for a few weeks, there is still going to be some die off from it, which is even more food for the pods to munch on. I would try the addition of a six line wrasse, damsel, or a similiar active reef safe fish (dont spend too much on one though in case these are isopods), and monitor him in the tank (during your off days from work would probably be best for addition), watch if the fish is getting ganged up by these things, or if he starts pickin them off one by one for food.
Brian
Brian
McBeck
Premium Member
FWIW, there are thousands of species of amphipods, and many of them are predatory. If I were you, I would post a picture in Dr. Ron's forum to get a definitive ID.
As mentioned by others, you need to rule out everything before panicking about predatory bugs. It's possible your water quality is killing your animals and these bugs are just scavenging the dead.
People have succesfully starved predatory bugs out of their systems, but it takes months. You have to run your system sans any food source. No fish, no snails, nothing that will keep the bug population fat and happy. The only other way to eradicate them is to nuke your tank and start over.
Good luck, and I hope it isn't a predatory bug.
As mentioned by others, you need to rule out everything before panicking about predatory bugs. It's possible your water quality is killing your animals and these bugs are just scavenging the dead.
People have succesfully starved predatory bugs out of their systems, but it takes months. You have to run your system sans any food source. No fish, no snails, nothing that will keep the bug population fat and happy. The only other way to eradicate them is to nuke your tank and start over.
Good luck, and I hope it isn't a predatory bug.
