Bugs??

[Bigpapa]

As of yesterday I saw pin sized white spots on the glass of my tank- alot of them, but they were soo small I could barely see them-i thought it might be an algae growing or something similar. Well, tonight in looking closer and in a spot that the pump is not hitting and they are actually moving all around--even on the rock, just really hard to see. What the heck are these and should I be worried? Nothing else has been introduced to my tank near the time of these things and all that is in there is my cleanup crew that is now well outnumbered. Ughh I hope someone can ease my pain here soon lol

 

[Animal Mother]

That's a good sign! Those are either/and/or copepods, amphipods, isopods, etc. They are pretty much saltwater bugs. Nothing to worry about. Although there are some isopods that are pretty mean, but they are very rare.

 

[DWhatley]

Your octo (when he/she arrives) is likely to find them tasty!

 

[Bigpapa]

Oh wow, ty so much Animal Mother and dwhatley!! You both respond back to me so much in here when needed! That takes alot off my mind- In all the threads I have read about startup I had not read anything that described them as being like what I was seeing-even in the "beginner" sections lol. There are just some things(copepods, amphipods, isopods) that I read what others post but dont didnt know what they look like. Again, tyvm!!!

 

[Animal Mother]

You're welcome.

The first time I saw one in my first tank, it freaked me out.

 

[DWhatley]

A lot of mine are red these days since they like the Cyclop-eeze too!

 

[Bigpapa]

Ok, so I am still a bit concerned that these might be the mean ones that Animal Mother mentioned but there are LOTS. I am putting 2 youtube links here --- the first is of the copepods on a piece of shrimp I dropped and the second is of Barnaby doing some wierd actions--like he is trying to clean himself from something. He does this quite often and the only thing I can imagine it is are those bugs.. Is that normal?

any help would be great- btw, all water parameters are good... Thanks
Rob

 

[Animal Mother]

I'll watch the videos when I get a chance, don't have the proper software installed on the pc at work.

If Barnaby is twitching and rubbing himself all over, this is cleaning himself and shedding suckers. It looks funny.

The dangerous Isopods are Cirolanids. You don't want to touch them either. They can boar into your flesh. You can google images of them.

 

[Bigpapa]

TY animal mother, I am off to work for the next 10hrs anyway so I will look forward to your info when I get home tonight--I am such a worrying parent! lol

 

[Animal Mother]

That seems like typical cleaning behavior.

Those pods are harmless. A Mandarin Goby buffett.

 

[DWhatley]

Bigpapa,
Watch for little semi-opaque discs (almost like flat eggs), these will be she from the inside of Barnaby's suckers. From what I have seen and read, they don't shed anything else but will sort of scratch themselves all over as if they were removing dry skin. The first time I saw Trapper shed her suckers I thought she had laid eggs. Strangely enough, I never saw her eggs, just her 6 fry.

What is the salinity of your tank?

 

[Bigpapa]

the salinity is 1.026 and ty both for the great info--- BTW, should I get a goby for those pods or just let them do there thing. How is there numbers controlled? Would a goby even coexist with Barnaby? For the most part I have read that there really arent any fish that do coexist but it seems that there must be some method of numbers control. I do have a cleanup crew goin but I think Barnaby has taken a liking to them cause he has not taken a fiddler from me for 3 days now..

 

[DWhatley]

For whatever reason, the pods will die back within roughly 2 weeks. According to Pete Giwojna (noted seahorse expert and author) in a recent response to an Ocean Rider post:

"Sometimes a burgeoning colony of amphipods will multiply to the point that it exhausts the supply of some vital nutrient, which will cause the population to crash."

I would remove the word Sometimes. For some reason, pods don't seem to stay in abundance for a long time, even without predation, but almost always show up in mass with a new tank. In Sistrurus' tank they are kind of interesting to since they are bright red and large (they love Cyclop-eeze too )

No, you do not want a fish in with Barneby. The pods should take care of themselves (Barneby may be eating them and ignoring the crabs). Even just changing the environment of my little guys, it took them a week or two to adjust and Barneby may just be acclimating to his new home.

Your salinity is fine. Be sure you are topping off with fresh water (daily or every other day depending on your evaporation level) and that you are premixing your saltwater for water changes so that you are getting a fully dissolved reading. The only other thing I can think of that might irritate the skin (probably not the case) is your PH. You should be around 8.4 and I think you mentioned that it was initially quite a bit lower. You may want to check in the morning and again in the evening to see if it is changing significantly over the day and SLOWLY add a buffering agent to your top off water if it is not stable. Even using an RO/DI unit, local water buffers differently. Thales is successful with just mixing salt (I believe he mentioned using heavy carbon and DI filtering but not RO), my water will not even come close to 8.4 without buffering.

Plenty more heart attacks to come - keep us posted

 

[Bigpapa]

ty dwhatley!! But "Plenty more heart attacks to come" ??? oh heck y couldnt I fall for an easy pet, like a rock? oh, nvm I have live ones of that too!!! Anyway, I will check my ph again-it was 8.2 yesterday at night but I have not used the light in 2 days now-just external room light so he would have a calmer transition and hopefully do some more expoloring.

 

[Bigpapa]

RIP Barnaby... I am so sad right now I cant even explain it. all the parameters are ok--not attacked by anything or himself, sal 1.026, temp 74deg, calcium normal, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia all 0, alk 4.0meq, ph 8.2, Barnaby in envelope for 15day guarentee to SWF.com .... I really wanted a baby but I guess I cant even handle the young ones either...