Small copepods or shrimp?

[Jayreef223]

Hey everybody,

So today after I got home from work my aquarium lights were off and one of my corals was covered by sand so i decided to blow the sand off of it, when I did this like 50 small red shrimp like bugs came out of the sand and I've been trying to identify what they are of copepods or baby shrimp...I have a cleaner shrimp and a regular red shrimp so I don't know if they reproduced or it's just copepods in the sand. Please help it's really bothering me lol

 

[Jayreef223]

Here is a pic they are on the sandbed

 

[Jayreef223]

A closer pic

 

[Haunt]

I can't really see what your talking about, but in most cases pods are a good part of the ecosystem... Kind of like Bees or Butterflies... It should be there in other words. GL.

 

[Jon0807]

Most likely some sort of pod
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/rs/index.php

 

[cincyjim]

Need a better (closer) pic to confirm but they do look like shrimp to me.

 

[nereefpat]

Copepods are typically the little white specks you can see on your glass.

These are more likely amphipods, if they're pods.

 

[Smokey Stover]

Hope they're shrimp. Some Isopods with big black eyes are bad.

 

[Tripod1404]

They are mysid shrimp. A small shrimp-like (although taxonomically speaking not a shrimp) crustacean. If you check your tank after dark with a red flashlight, you can sometimes see thousands of them swimming in the water.