Bugs!

[labrown]

My tank is overrun with tiny clear bugs. I am pretty sure they are Copepods, at least that's what they most closely resemble from the Melev's Reef Identification page. I've got a 55 gal with a 30 gal refugium (about 20 gal in it), 2-T5 actinic lights, 2-T5 10,000K's and some moonlights in the eve. I've got a dwarf lion and a snowflake eel, neither of which are interested in eating these things. I wouldn't mind them if they weren't ALL OVER the glass every day. Any advice? It almost looks like my tank has fleas. :rolleyes:

[SoLiD]

If nothing in your tank eats them their population will boom for a short time. Soon they will exhaust their food supply and start to thin out. They eat a variety of diatom algae, bacteria, single celled organisms and phytoplankton.

[ErikH]

and detritus!

[barderer]

lucky you. You can get a mandarin.

[labrown]

Thanks all. I also have a large amount of bristle worms in my tank, they are for sure taking care of the detrius, sifting all the substrate and such. They all just look so gross overtaking my tank. I thought maybe I could add another fish, but I really like the dwarf lion I have and don't want to do anything to upset him.

[labrown]

lucky you. You can get a mandarin.

I'm pretty sure I couldn't get a mandarin big enough to compete with the other two inhabitants of my tank. The lion may not be too big but the eel is growing faster than I expected.

[beerguy]

get a wrasse of some kind to thin them out, there are many different kinds of wrasses that eat both bristle worms and copepods (including most other 'pods') and many of them would be just fine. But what if it isnt what you think? it may not be copepods and maybe something more like flatworms. In any case I would get them out if I wasnt supremely confident in what they were, but thats just me. do you have a layer of algae on the glass for them to climb in or to off set their bodies or do you just see them in plain sight? and are they mainly on the bottom of the glass or all over?

[bimmerzs]

Hi,

Ditto on the wrasse, I wouldn't recommend putting a mandarin in there unless your tank has been up for at least 6 months and has a predator free refugium to constantly replenish the pod's. You would be surprised how fast a mandarin can mow down the pod population in a 55G...I've seen them starve to death in newly setup 100g tanks after 3 to 4 months. The pod's are nothing to worry about, as mentioned they will level off with the food availability.

Cheers,

[labrown]

They are in plain sight. I have a long spined urchin that keeps our glass pretty clear. I am pretty positive that they are copepods, I have seen flatworms and they resemble pods much more.

So both of you think a wrasse would be ok with my other tank inhabitants? And would I be able to feed it something else when it extinguishes my infestation?

[labrown]

I'm still having a problem with these bugs. I took some pictures to share, and will try to get some video as well.149815001499

Am I right that they are pods? I haven't fed anything to my tank except frozen krill in weeks, and they are still there.

[SoLiD]

They are beneficial Isopods. Their numbers will drop if they don't enough diatom algae to eat. But they are good to have, so don't worry.

[BigKGlen]

I agree with SoLID, IsoPods. Take a look at this (http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44008) page to see the resemblance.

[labrown]

Thanks for the ID. With these and all my bristle worms, my tank must be in great shape :rolleyes: It still looks like it has fleas though, lol.