I have to say I am a witness to some strange behavior.
When I first discovered there were babies in the tank I was feeding her a crayfish as usual. When I move the rock she was in about 20-30, what looked like water fleas swam out together and towards the light. At first I thought she had died and these were some large shrimp like bugs. I notice upon closer inspection they were moving about by jet propulsion. Tiny squirts from the torso. I snagged a few with a drinking glass that were near the surface and looked at them with a magnifying glass. They looked just like baby octopus except the legs where much shorter and they were a little less than 1/8 of an inch.
They swam about for a few hours. They could swim about an inch or two a second. About a day passed and I did not see them any more so thought I would look around and try and find a few to raise out of the tank. When I turn off the lights within a few minutes the entire tank (55 gallon) was covered with them. Perhaps 500 or more and they were all bouncing around. I left the light off and they remained in this teaming state for 8-10 hours. In a singles square inch area you could easily spot 6-10 along the bottom. If been feeding them newly hatched brine shrimp 3-4 times a day and the tank is loaded with rotifers as well. I captured about 6-8 and kept them in a drinking glass to observe. The ones in the glass often change from clear to black/silver and back again.
Well when I turned on the lights they all disappeared in a matter of minutes. I have not seen a one now for 8-10 hours. I suctioned off some gravel and did manage to get one but I can not to stir them up or find them under rocks. I know that the big ones act in similar fashion and only become active when they are hungry but what I find odd is that they to so collectively. If they disappeared gradually I would think they just died but so suddenly I believe they are hiding. Anybody have any comments or similar experiences?
When I first discovered there were babies in the tank I was feeding her a crayfish as usual. When I move the rock she was in about 20-30, what looked like water fleas swam out together and towards the light. At first I thought she had died and these were some large shrimp like bugs. I notice upon closer inspection they were moving about by jet propulsion. Tiny squirts from the torso. I snagged a few with a drinking glass that were near the surface and looked at them with a magnifying glass. They looked just like baby octopus except the legs where much shorter and they were a little less than 1/8 of an inch.
They swam about for a few hours. They could swim about an inch or two a second. About a day passed and I did not see them any more so thought I would look around and try and find a few to raise out of the tank. When I turn off the lights within a few minutes the entire tank (55 gallon) was covered with them. Perhaps 500 or more and they were all bouncing around. I left the light off and they remained in this teaming state for 8-10 hours. In a singles square inch area you could easily spot 6-10 along the bottom. If been feeding them newly hatched brine shrimp 3-4 times a day and the tank is loaded with rotifers as well. I captured about 6-8 and kept them in a drinking glass to observe. The ones in the glass often change from clear to black/silver and back again.
Well when I turned on the lights they all disappeared in a matter of minutes. I have not seen a one now for 8-10 hours. I suctioned off some gravel and did manage to get one but I can not to stir them up or find them under rocks. I know that the big ones act in similar fashion and only become active when they are hungry but what I find odd is that they to so collectively. If they disappeared gradually I would think they just died but so suddenly I believe they are hiding. Anybody have any comments or similar experiences?
