Sigh, getting frustrated : /

Gdbyrd

Gdbyrd

life's a beach
Son of a bitch :*( I flipped my lights on tonight while I was checking my levels..was hoping to get a fish tomorrow...I saw a handful of these little critters on my rock..There was one or two on almost all of my top rocks.

I hunted around till I got one cornered and was coming on here to ask what it was.

What do I do if I have a lot of the babies in my tank? Do I just leave them be and deal with it when they get bigger? Do I just leave my tank alone and let them starve? REALLY frustrated because I wanted to replace the fish I lost earlier this week. Is there something I can put in my tank to kill the little bastards before they grow up?

This is what I have, not my picture but searching I found this..this is infact a baby mantis right?

amphipod%20pic%20wwm1.jpg
 
Could be. Thats not your picture right? Have you heard any clicking noise coming from your tank while the lights are out? Ok lets see its small shrimp like was it alive? Ya looking back at post guess it is alive. Well if no clicking noise maybe no adults. Could try a wrasse or a hawk fish I would think thay would love to eat those. How big is it?
 
Well...I just got off the phone with my dad. He drives to SA every other week to visit his other grandkid, on his way home he sometimes stops at a nearby fish shop and picks up stuff for me. I was telling him about it and how I didn't get it because there was no clicking or anything...

Long story short. One of the boxes of rock he brought home to me was ticking the whole way back. I was in the hospital when he brought it back so he put it in my tank. That was 3 weeks ago though. I haven't heard anything since...

Anychance it died? the LR I got was fully cured, and after putting it in my tank I had an ammonia spike.
 
Hmm, Well if you have babies then moma didnt die with the spike I would think. Dang, Have you added anything else since then that the little ones came in on?
 
Only a little Azure Damsel..and it died after about 10 days or so...I found it in the intake of my skimmer..I wonder if mama got involved there..but I didn't hear any ticking like I have heard from youtube videos and he was uneaten.

Sigh :*(
 
If it was me I would get a chalk bass Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Chalk Bass From what I understand they are reef safe not very aggressive and I think they look cool. He could eat up the babies then if you do end up with a moma to deal with Reef Aquarium Nuisance Invertebrates: Aquarium Pest Trap for Bristle worms, & Mantis Shrimp use something like this to catch it. I hope and pray that you dont have a moma but lots of people get them and deal with them so you can to. I have faith in you :^:
 
I have seen chalk bass at several lfs in San Antonio. If a mantis had killed the damsel you would have just noticed it was missing. Wouldnt have been a body. Just get a reef safe meat eater eat up the kiddos and cross your fingers. Im no way a expert at this stuff just what I would do in your place.
 
Have you read the other thread going on right now "attack of the mantis" he rinsed hes live rock in the sink. Not sure if I would do that seems it would set your tank back a bit since its new. but it is a option.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! I really like the look of that bass too, very interesting looking fellow. I saw the other thread just a minute ago. Looks like I'm not alone : /

I turned off all the lights, waited a bit and hit the tank with a flashlight. They are all over all the rocks. From the top to the bottom..I'd have to tear my whole tank apart to rinse all the rock, plus wouldn't that wipe out all the live stuff?
 
Ya daughtery thats what im thinking now also. that wasnt hes picture at the start of the thread. got that off the net. said it was similar to that pic was supposse to be a baby mantis. thats why I sent the links to the pod pics and movie. Maybe he can id better off of those. :D
 
I went ahead and tried to scan it and take pictures of it but it's too small..it keeps coming out blurry. Not sure what to do to get a clearer pic.

Is there any way to differentiate the two? They don't look like any of the pictures you guys have provided. They scurry around on the rocks like sea roaches..

They do not look like this:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaVCSzWYeAw&feature=related]YouTube - Marine fish breeding-Live feed- Copepod (stac.com.my)[/ame]

They look just like sea cockroackes, but underwater and about 1/4" long with no antenae.
 
ok on the last link i sent on the left is a menu look at the amphipods one takes to new window click on the 25 live amphipods another new window page down two vids under those is written discription and drawn pics to me they look just like the first pic you posted, let me know i am searching through maast website for info also.
 
sorry computer went down for a minute. I was looking up mantis shrimp life cycle. To me from what I have read it seems that getting mantis shrimp to reproduce is a pain in the ass and this is from people trying to get them to. So unless you some how got a pregnant shrimp that has been silent or some how brought in fertile eggs. Both of which seem kinda like the worst luck possible then these have got to be some form of crustacean/ pod, Ill keep looking though was just a update.
 
Ah guess you went to bed hope this helps. I really think your gonna be ok. From what i can tell manitis shrimp fry are transparent also the are cannibalistic so I would think you wouldnt have so many. I was kinda a fun project looking it all up now I know much more about the buggers lol :D
 
Those are amphipods.Think of em as home grown fish food:D
Their not going to hurt anything as they feed on detritus and algae.And fish love em.
 

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