parasites? bugs? crustaceans? what are these things?

[jercon_85]

Hello all,

Once again i've managed to botch things up some how with my noviceness(if that's a word). I've just recently noticed what appear to be very small bugs in my aquarium. It's an aquapod 12 nano reef(about a month old), with a royal gramma, a perc. clown,a peppermint shrimp, three mini hermits and about 4lbs of LR. They are white, very small, and they are alot in number. What do i do?

[hobogato]

they may be copapods, do they look like this?
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02arctic/background/fauna/media/neocalanus_600.jpg

if so, they are a good thing to have. ;)

[jercon_85]

dunno, look like it but very very small. What do they do?

[GaryP]

If that's them, its a good thing. The fish and corals will eat them. As a matter of facts its almost the only thing that some fish will eat. But before you go there, unless you have a refugium, you probably won't have a large enough population of these guys to support one of these fish. I doubt you have a fuge on a nano, at least one big enough to support a pod eater. Relax, copepods are just part of the natural biodiversity of an aquarium. You can probably notice more of them at night if you look at the tank with a flashlight. Most people want more pods in their tanks.

One more thing. You may want to re-consider what fish you have in the tank. The percula and gramma are going to quickly outgrow the tank, if they haven't already. They need at least a 30 gal. tank. If they are in a tank that is to small they can get stressed and get sick. If the percula is in there alone it will transform into a female and they get pretty big for that size tank. Clowns are hermaphrodites, meaning they can change sexes. They are born as a male and may change into a female. If there is no other dominant female, a male will change into one. Since it is in there alone, it will change. The gramma likes to have a lot of caves and stuff to hide in and a tank that size is to small for it to have enough. Here is a pretty good link to some good recommendations for fish for a tank your size.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=2124

I hope that helps. :)

[Ram_Puppy]

They are born as a male and may change into a female

actually, i believe they are born gender neutral, progress into being male, and from there to female... I could be wrong... but I could swear I remember reading this somewhere.

[GaryP]

Could be. I do know they go from male to female. In either case, the tank is to small.

[Ram_Puppy]

true, I was not tryin gto take away from your point. :)

btw, I checked, and I was right. clowns are born sexless, progress to being males, and then females. and yes, that tank is to small for them.

[Isis]

Clowns are born male and change to female. (It is easier to inactivate the Y chromosome than to activate something that doesn't exist.) They can go back to male as well, but that doesn't normally happen unless another female joins the group and becomes more dominant. The less dominant female will usually need to change or it could possibly die from competition. Female clowns don't always like to share.

[Isis]

Oops... I forgot to add.

Your bugs? Are they moving fast or slow? If they are scurring all over your glass, chances are that they are copepods and amphipods, which are good. If they are moving slowly and appear to be flat, like planaria, chances are they are flatworms, which are bad. If you can get a macro shot, that will really help in IDing them.

[GaryP]

Thanks for the clarification Kim. I knew there was a good reason for having a biochemist/geneticist hanging around. I just wasn't sure why until now. :)

[Isis]

Thanks for the clarification Kim. I knew there was a good reason for having a biochemist/geneticist hanging around. I just wasn't sure why until now. :)Not so much a biochemist, but into biotechnology.

[jercon_85]

they move pretty fast and the fish eat them which i've noticed so i think they are copepods :)

[Isis]

they move pretty fast and the fish eat them which i've noticed so i think they are copepods :)That is good. I wouldn't worry too much about them.