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?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YeryzryGVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkTEdr5P2dM

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.