Good? Bad? Shrimp? HELP!!

[CrGiants]

Hey all. I have a question about something in my tank. They are fairly shrimp-like in structure, and it appears they may even have two black eyes. They are very tiny, perhaps an 1/8 of an inch in length. They flex to move, and float along the water surface when the light is on.

I've had a pair of peps for about 6-8 weeks now. Perhaps babies? There are probably at least 50, if not 100 or more of these things.

PLEASE TELL ME THESE AREN'T SOMETHING BAD!

Thanks,

Cliff

 

[Anonymous]

pods- short for copapod, arhtropod, amphipod, etc.

little "bugs" they are often called.


they could also be mysis shrimp as well. actually this is probably the case if you are seeing "little black eyes".

and while it is possible that your peppermint spawned, i find it unlikely that they are peppermint shrimp spawn.

 

[CrGiants]

Well, this is a seahorse tank, and I'm feeding PE frozen mysis shrimp. Is it possible that eggs somehow got mixed in and they're hatching in my tank??

Thanks,

Cliff

 

[Anonymous]

i don't know :?

more likely that they are just enjoying the lack of quick predators, i guess.

how big is this tank?

and the water flow is low right?

mysis occur "naturally" when a tank has live rock, most tanks are eradicated in a hurry from the fish.

i don't know if you could rule out the peppermints in a low flow tank like that.

i've had peppermints spawn in my tank and the buggers are real small and get sucked up in PH and skimmers before they have a chance to grow.

mysis are present in lots of peoples refugiums and sumps.

i must plead ignorance, but i wouldn't sweat 'em.

 

[danmhippo]

PE mysis is harvested in very cold freshwater lakes. Even if eggs hitchhiked into your seahorse tank, it would not have survived. The marine mysid shrimp we commonly refers to here are quite small, 1/8 - 1/4" long, very similar to what you have described about. They hide in the day and only venture out during the night. Very good indicator of the health of your tank and free snacks for your ponies if they happened to see them once a while.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks danm,

i was waiting on you. i almost started to freak out there.

 

[danmhippo]

No, you are good. Very informative info you've given.

 

[Anonymous]

ahh, shucks thanks

 

[CrGiants]

Thank you both for your help!

Dan, if reference to your mentioning that mysis come out at night, these are out a lot of the time. I haven't noticed as many early in the day, but that could be that I haven't paid as much attention.

FYI, my tank is a 29 G, with about 20-25 lbs of LR and 3" of sand, with some caulerpa and a pair of OR Mustangs...

Thanks,

Cliff

 

[danmhippo]

You are off to a good start. Has your mustang spawned yet? Did you purchased the mated pair, or purchased them separately? How long have you had the ponies?

In most tanks where there are predators roaming about during the day, mysid wouldn't come out to often. But, that does not mean they are inactive in the day either. Once they have sensed it's relatively safe to come out, they would come to life day or night.

I have a couple refugium that I see mysid, along with amphipods and copepods any time of the day.

 

[CrGiants]

Well, nothing wrong with SW mysis then. Should provide a regular snack for my horses...healthy, live, and consistent...

I bought the First Time Buyer's Special from OR. I've had them for about two weeks. The male came sick, which I was very unhappy about. He was fighting a white fuzzy, cotton-like fungus, which I treated with Melafix and water changes. In the last couple days, I've seen good improvement, and the horse doesn't spend so much time at the water's surface (he spent the majority of 3-4 days at the surface). All the while, he and the female have both been eating. My only chore now is to get rid of the fungus that actually spread itself onto my glass. Yes, believe it or not, some of the horse's fungus is now on the tank.

Cliff

 

[danmhippo]

Have you contacted OR regarding the fungus? See if they can speculate which type of fungus, and what kind of antibiotics may help ridding of it. As much as I hate using antibiotics in reef type setup, but I would do it if that's the only option available.