Pods?

[NanoReefWanabe]

just wondering if these are pods...the pics are the best i can do...these things are tiny...i thought they were flat worms for a minute...but i would like some reassurance..

for size they are about 1 x .5 mm and some seem to be double long..but i am not sure if they are splitting off one and other or doing it..

they all over over only side of my tank it seems and stick to the glass..pretty sure they are pods...but they look different then the other varieties i have seen in my tank..

 

[650-IS350]

Without better more detailed pics, don't know if the experts will be able to exactly identify it, maybe im' wrong

 

[Reefmack]

Based on the length they look a bit like the amphipods that I innoculated my refugium with, but it's just a total guess.

 

[WhiskeyReefer]

I have the same thing.....I believe those are Amphipods...but the pic is a little unclear...

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

these things are seriously half a millimeter x half a millimeter..the longer ones are two joined together..

i have lots of amphipods in my tank...well i didi until my wrasse ate them...perhaps these are larval offspring...

i would need a electron mircoscope to get any better pics...they are smaller then a grain of sand...

 

[Reefmack]

maybe a type of copepods? - my benthic types are much smaller than my amphipods - close to microscopic

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

yeah i am hoping they are copepods...but i dont know...the brown hue to them really scares me...

all the copepods and isopods and amphipods i have seen in my tank have been white...or whitish

 

[LeslieH]

they're copepods. the ones that look like 2 pointed pieces are either 2 of them mating or one carrying an egg mass. They come in a variety of colors, sizes, and shapes. You can see a few of the different types at http://www.fish.washington.edu/people/cordell/gallery.html

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

ahh thank goodness...

they look like the Harpacticus Tisbe Sp.

well that is a load off my back...

now why are they over populating my tank?

LOL...well at least i dont have to feed my 6line for a while..

 

[LeslieH]

Because a few came in on rock or something and found a great environment with lots of food & few predators. In nature there would be a great many more animals of all types & sizes that would feed on copepods. In the limited world inside your tank there are aren't as many predators.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

thank you Leslie....i always pray you will be the one answering my questions i post in this invertebrate forum...

yeah i added a bunch of new corals recently so i guess they found thier way in then...

i dont mind...i thought they were flat worms at first...

at night i keep seeing what looks like little tiny bristle worms swimming through the tank..about 4 mm long or so...and they appear to have white bristles on them..they are red in colour...and swim like a snake would in water....i am really hoping they are not flat worms...they dont seem to be on any corals..and when the light hits them they dart for the rocks..

i guess i will know soon enough what they are..

 

[LockeOak]

Those are definitely copepods. The little white balls on their tails are egg masses. Don't worry, I don't think it's possible to have too many. The little swimming worms at night are probably larval bristleworms, they're not flatworms. I've seen them in my tank as well. Nothing to worry about.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

as i thought...thanx again for the reassurance...

 

[LeslieH]

the critters that look like tiny bristle worms probably are polychaetes of some kind. It's much more likely that they are reproductive adults getting ready to spawn rather than juveniles.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

either way it is a good sign..as i have not seen any large bristle worms in my tank for months....i really wish they would start to populate again..

i actually murdered an astrea snail by sticking its shell into the sand upside down to see if the worms would come to get him...nassarius snails beat them to the punch though..