My First Copepods?

[Ram_Puppy]

the copepods I have seen in stores are always white with long legs, like a pill bug sorta...

I witnessed in my tank today, what I am guessing is my first copepods? These guys are FAST! they run around the sand and into holes in rock, seem to live in a pack of 5 or so... they are 1 cm long, brownish in color, and look kind of like a TINY mantis, they appear to have 'raptorial appendages' like a mantis, but of course, they are 1 cm or so, and have long antennae...

I am guessing these are pods... a couple of weeks ago Richard from CB pets gave me a couple teasponnfulls of his sand from a tank that was over-run with pods, I didn't see anything in the sand, but, I am guessing they were either larval, or just hatched...

either way, I am excited, as long as they are really 'good' pods, and not something bad for my tank.

[brewercm]

I have tons of those also, they dart in and out of the rocks. You can really see them well at night. Not sure what they are called, never bothered looking them up.

[malofish]

Those are pods!! Carefull what fish you get, everything eats pods!!

[wkopplin]

I have gotten some of that from Richard and it does a nice job seeding the sand with pods.

[matt]

1 cm? Like almost 1/2"? You probably mean 1mm, right? Anyhow, these are amphipods, not copepods. Still terrific for your tank.

[Ram_Puppy]

nope, I litterally mean 1 cm... as pods go, they are huge... have you ever seen a silverfish (bug?) about the same size... they are very easy to see.

Cool! I am happy, i noticed today tons of little white guys moving around on the glass, like pin heads, I am excited, I feel like my tank is coming to life.

I added 6 Mini-compacts from coralife to my tank this wednesday (also from CB pets.) the hex shape gave me difficulty fitting lights in, this is step one, step two is metal halide... anyhow... I am suprised at the illumination I got of these lights, it is essentially 120 watts of power compact light... still not enough... but it is better than the old 15 watt plant light I started the tank up with! :) nice ice blue/white light, it may be my imagination, but the few splotches of coraline that were on the rocks wednesday, seem to have brightened up over the last few days, pods are out, everything seems to be going well...

well.. not everything, I ripped out the rio 1100 the other day, I found my emerald mithrax in there and that was the final straw, it had also claimed the lives of 2 trochus snails, on got caught between a rock and the outspout and pummelled to death by the current, the other i guess tried crawling inside it... oops.

I am going to switch to some small aqua clears and put them on wave timers.

Also, the little electric blue, and the large electric orange I added last week are both dead, leaving me with the large electric blue, and little electric orange. I am surmising that this might have been a territory thing, maybe a 30 hex with such a small footprint as just too small for four of these crabs... nothing seems to bother the little zebras though... for that I am greatly happy, they are cool little crabs.

[mharris7]

geez - I'd like to see pics of 1cm pods..... not doubting you at all, its just a little uncommon and would be cool to see.

[Ram_Puppy]

well, I will see if I can snap some pics... they are very thin, and like I said, look very much like tiny mantis shrimps, brownish grey, raptorial appendiges just like a mantis, and, FAST. so far, most of my photo attempts have been pretty blurry.... and since I am at work now, maybe I am over estimating their size, at least though, they are 1/2 cm, maybe 1/3rd... but U honestly wouldn't be suprised if I picked one out and held it on a ruler if it hit 1 cm.

they do have a kind of 'hump back' thinig happening like a lot of shrimp do, but, that is where the similarity ends.

[R.Allard]

I have Tons of them in my tank. if you have calurpa take it out and move it arround youll see them by the dozen and atleast 1cm long in my fuge. i think they get that big ibn my fuge because there is nothing eating them.Ill see if i can find some and get them next to a ruler.
Robert

[Ram_Puppy]

thanks robert... pictures would be cool to for comparison, if you don't mind... I don't have a digital camera other than what I borrow from my brother when I can... (isn't buying live rock more important?)

[Ram_Puppy]

found a drawing that looks pretty much like them.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/graphics/amphipod.JPG

[GaryP]

Yep, that's a pod.

Gary

[brewercm]

These guys like to sit on my cleaner magnet in my fuge until I go to use it then jump off and dart around for a while like they're mad at me for moving it.

[dan]

some people call those miced shrimp. great in a refugium and fish love em for a snack. no they won't bother the snails. probably picking algae off.

[Ram_Puppy]

miced? never heard of it.

[ziggyrocket]

mysid shrimp....?