lots of little shrimp in my tank at night

bigevill1

Big and Evil
I have a 150 with about 120 pounds of live rock in it that I have taken to looking at with a flashlight at night and have seen many small shrimp all over the tank that I did not put there. most look like mysis shrimp is this possible? however, on one occasion I did see something that looked alot like a mantis I think it was so small it was really hard to tell. Nothing has dissappeared yet so I am not that worried, but I would rather not wait till things start to go bad to do something about it. What are some good ways to lure them out where they can be seen? the one I saw was like maybe 1/2 inch.
 
try a trap since its only 1/2" I wouldnt try and lure it out with food or anything tempting, it probably wont work.
 
Hey Bigevil,

Here's a picture of a Gammarus Amphipod which are sometimes mistaken for mantis shrimp. One of the easiest ways to tell them apart is by their curled posture. Stomatopods are more likely to sit with their tail extended straight.
faq_amphipod.jpg

(picture from the hitchhiker FAQ at reefs.org.)

The small shrimp that you see in your tank are likely Mysid shrimp. They look kind of like mysys but have eyes that reflect light from a certain angle, so identifying them with a flashlight is easy. I've had a few hitchhike in with some rubble and now I've got a steady population of them. Excellent natural fish food and zooplankton for your tank...

Here is the Hitchhiker FAQ for more info.

hth!

-Rogue
 
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