what bugs are on my coral? (pic)

[bellorusha]

I just saw 2 very small bugs on my coral. They were white or clear. I think they are building something (dark red or ping)

There is no fish in the tank.

Does anybody know what are those bugs? are they dangerous?

 

[mecold]

Hard to tell from your pics, but just a guess, amphipods. If it is an amphipod, most are ok. Also, they make good food for your fish (when you get som carnivores).

 

[bobafett]

Pics too blurry to tell. Its probably a harmless pod. I would be more worried about the cyano covering the rock. Time for some water changes.

 

[Reef Junkie]

I third that and second what bobafett wrote.

 

[rsteagall]

water changes and increase flow too to destroy cyano.

You need to get a powerhead and blow that stuff around and get it off the colony.

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

I have the same critters in my tank.

Are they about the size of ants, look like they have black and white vertical stripes, very fast, and seem to be building tubes out of sand that they live in?

The guy at the LFS called them cocopods and said they are a good thing and an indicater of good water quality. I get a kick out of watching them select a grain of sand and rush back to their tube to fasten it in place.

Is the cyano on the colony or is the colony overgrowing a coral skeleton that is on the rock? Every coral skeleton that I have that looks like that on my live rock has had a growth of cyano until I scrubbed it off with a toothbrush. After coralline covered the skeleton the cyano didn't grow there again.

If it is on the colony: You might want to use a Q-tip to carefully wipe the cyano off of that colony, and I agree with the need for increased flow.

 

[bellorusha]

the "cyano" is gone the second morning. and at the end of the day it is there again. I just took a picture, so you can see.

And what is the kind of coral also growing on this rock? (look the pic)

 

[Reef Junkie]

Looks like Gonipora.
It's sad to say, but it will eventually die. As you can see, it's slowly receding. Poor animal, they should stop importing it.

You should do some water changes, it'll help the cyano go away.

 

[bellorusha]

i'm doing water changing every week, I cannot do it offen or can I?

I screw up in the past. I was just addind the water and did not change it. Now I'm changing it for about 3 weeks.

 

[Reef Junkie]

Once weekly will help (10 gallon change), twice weekly will really help(2 - 5 gallon changes).
Just add the water back slowly.

 

[bobafett]

You should take a sample of the water to your lfs and have it tested. Something is causing the algae bloom. I have used chemiclean in the past and it has helped in getting rid of the cyano but if your water parameters are off it will come back and become resistant to the chemiclean.