Need critter Identification

[tkimmons85]

Well I have been in this hobby long enough to have seen quite alot of wierd critters but this one is def new. They look like a cloud of nats hovering and flying over the surface of the sandbed in the back of my tank. They are so tiny they are barely visible to the human eye. Also I estimate their numbers to be in the thousands. All my bristle worms and snails are going crazy trying to eat them, its really cool to watch. I would love to get a pic but its pretty much impossible. Just picture a cloud of nats swarming above the ground and thats exactly what it looks like.

 

[AdrianBryce]

sounds like eggs or larvae. What inverts do you have in your tank?

 

[rcmike]

Sounds to me like copepods. I used to have them in my tank like that years ago.

 

[tkimmons85]

As inverts go I have astrea,nassarius,turbo snails, red leg hermits, bristle worms, copepods, peppermint shrimp. I may have to lean towards the pod theory though.

 

[AdrianBryce]

yeah, that sounds likely.

 

[tkimmons85]

If thats the case my tank is prob ready for that manderin Ive always wanted

 

[DgenR8]

Quite likely Mysid (not Mysis) shrimp.

 

[mapn4reef]

Quite likely Mysid (not Mysis) shrimp.

+1, I had a hatching of these about a month or so ago...looked like it was snowing in my tank at night...upon looking closer with a magnifier glass you can determine what they are...they'll get "much bigger" quickly...

 

[tkimmons85]

Cool Ill have to research mysid shrimp now