Critter Questions

[Cockroach]

Today I noticed what looks like 2 tiny mantis shrimp scuttling about on my live rock. They are clear bodied and about 1/4" long, and I did notice the mantis-like appendages on the front section. There are only snails and hermits in the tank right now, should I wait to see how big these guy will get - I have to admit the brightly colored ones are pretty interesting. Or are they considered pests and should I just try to nab them now?

Also, a question about copepods. Will they just naturally come in on the live rock or should I give the population a boost and buy some to add to the tank? I'd eventually (MONTHS down the road) like to add a mandarin goby and I wasn't sure if it was worth it to add copepods now or just wait for the population to establish itself naturally.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[graphixx]

on your mantis, if you have the option of getting them out so you can make a positive ID I would recommend that, if indeed they are mantis, your gonna want to get them out. they are FIERCE hunters and probably one of the mose intellegent inverts you can keep. they will wipe out your snails, crabs and any fish they can get their smashers on.
and your pods. they will come in on your live rock and will take time to populate the tank. you can buy pods to speed the process up. also if you can get a piece of LR from an allread well established tank that will help as well. but if your in no hurry they will naturally show up and populate. Your mandarin will require a very good pod population, alot of times these fish are bought and literally starve to death due to the fact that a tank is not adequately supporting a large enough pod population for the manderin to survive.
hope this helped

 

[Cockroach]

Thanks Graphixx!

Can you (or anyone else) recommend a good reference book to aid with I.D.ing these new buggers?

I also thought I saw a nudibranch. It was tiny and clear - looked like a snail without a shell but had double pronged "tail" and was smooth - no tentacle-like offshoots (don't know how else to describe them). It was oozing along the coralline algae. I did see it "swim" - thrashed back and forth and then settled on the rock. Is this a nudi or something else?

Also, saw tiny feather-duster coral, and some other tiny transparent soft-bodied coral clump.

I wish I knew what the heck I was looking at - the trouble is I'm sure a lot of this stuff looks completely different in it's adult stage!

 

[graphixx]

your small nudi could be a flatworm. http://melevsreef.com/id/ this is a great ID site. Mark is a great guy with alot of knowledge.

hope this helps.
GREG

 

[Cockroach]

Thanks SO much!

What a wonderful site!

Yep, it's a benign flatworm for sure. And my "mantis shrimp" turned out to be amphipods (did I mention that I'm new to salt water!).

Oh, and there are copepods all over the front of the aquarium glass so I guess I must be doing something right. I'm thinking that my next addition might be a Royal Gramma or maybe and electric Crocea clam, but that won't be for a good month or so.

If you have any suggestions for a suitable next addition that would much appreciated too!

Nan :sfish:

 

[graphixx]

I would hold off on the clam. you want an established tank for the clam, they will put nutrients out of the water when they are younger. what kind of tank you running (size, type of lights, amount of live rock).
the gramma would be a good addition. well its good to hear its not a mantis.
its great when your starting out in this hobby, your tank will undergo some amazing changess in the months to come. one word of advice, just take it slow and practice patience. that will save you sooo many headaches int he future.
good luck

GREG

 

[Cockroach]

I've got a 12 gallon Aquapod (similar to a Nanopod). The lights are what were included in the tank (dual actinic, dual daylight and LED "moon" lights). They are on a 12 hour cycle. I've got 16 lbs of live rock. 10 lbs I got on 5/31 and the remainder on 6/3. I think I'm going to invest in a nanoskimmer this week too.

Thanks for the advice on the clam - I'll hold off on that one for quite a while.

Also, the replacement fan came from the manufacturer. I opened up the hood and realized that the fan which was mounted on 4 raised posts had masking tape around the bottom so the air flow from under the fan was blocked. I removed the tape swapped out the fan and now the tank is at 75.5 F. I'm so glad this seems to have finally fixed the problem!

I'm going to let the tank just sit and run now that the temp issue seems to have been fixed.