strange things in the tank

[ZOOT098]

so i am doing my nightly ritual where i try to find this huge bristleworm cruising my tank

while doing so i notice these little things "swimming" in front of my flashlight
they were about 1/4" long and appeared to be wormlike, they were bright red or pinkish in color

to the fisherman out there they looked like a rubber worm jiggling on the end of your line except very small

any ideas?

way to small to get a pic of, and way to fast

 

[yote]

Those are small bristle worms.I've seen em do that in my tank.

 

[ZOOT098]

yote, youve seen them swimming, like 10-12 inches off the bottom of the tank???

 

[ZOOT098]

ok upon closer inspection they are NOT wormlike
they appear to have an oval shaped body and some kind of tail
there are literally hundreds of these things
they look like a swarm of gnats with little tails
and i would say most of them are less than 1/8" long
WTF

 

[ZOOT098]

if i could magnify them i think they would look like this calanoid copepod, is it possible my pods have spawned???

 

[Bifferwine]

Of course it's possible. Pods breed like crazy in our tanks.

 

[dcantucson]

True they do. It's a good thing.

 

[beano]

do you have cleaner shrimp?

one night i saw a blizzard of baby cleaner shrimps that must have hatched from the eggs on the glass. gross but kinda cool also.

 

[dcantucson]

Cleaner Shrimp carry their eggs and then release live offspring into the water. They don't lay eggs on the tank surfaces. When they hatch and are released fish quickly eat them up or they go over the overflows. I wish there was a way to catch them and raise them. Anyone ever been successful raising them? Sorry to thread jack Zoot.

 

[ZOOT098]

Cleaner Shrimp carry their eggs and then release live offspring into the water. They don't lay eggs on the tank surfaces. When they hatch and are released fish quickly eat them up or they go over the overflows. I wish there was a way to catch them and raise them. Anyone ever been successful raising them? Sorry to thread jack Zoot.

no problem dcan
actually i have 2 cleaner shrimp
and the baby shrimp ID is interesting
ill have to see if i can come up with a pic of a baby cleaner

 

[dcantucson]

Breeding and Propagation: Relative Breeding Ease: Difficult
Cleaner Shrimp are hermaphroditic and may spawn when kept in groups. Any pair of two shrimp may produce fertile eggs. Usually, mating occurs after one shrimp molts; the newly molted shrimp will receive sperm from its mate, which it uses to fertilize any eggs it produces. The eggs are green in color, and are densely packed below the parent's abdomen. The parent aerates the eggs by waving its pleopods to move water over them. As the eggs mature, they become paler in color and expand until they are no longer packed in rows, but in one aggregate group. After 14 to 20 days, the Cleaner Shrimp eggs begin to turn silver. This usually occurs the day that they will hatch. Also, the parent usually will not eat the day that the eggs will hatch. The adult will position itself in a gentle water current to aid the eggs in hatching. Hatching normally occurs one half to three hours after darkness falls, and the newly hatched Cleaner Shrimp swim directly toward any light source. Some clutches require two nights to hatch entirely. Directly after hatching its eggs, adult Cleaner Shrimp normally molt. The spawn normally require about 40 days to develop into adults. The tank where the newly hatched Cleaner Shrimp are kept should not be filtered; it will damage the shrimp. An aerating device on a low setting is often used. Newly hatched brine shrimp are used to feed the Cleaner Shrimp, and there should be quite a few present, since newly hatched Cleaner Shrimp are unable to hunt well. However, there should not be enough brine shrimp present so as to pollute the unfiltered tank water. Every other day, you may use a suction tube to clean the bottom of the tank. However, care should be taken not to suck up any Cleaner Shrimp.


Full article:
Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates » Saltwater Inverts » Shrimp - Cleaner Main Page

 

[Bifferwine]

My LFS has been trying to breed cleaner shrimp in their store for years, so far with no luck. From the posts I've read about it, I don't think anyone has been able to do it successfully, even though the "theory" that dcantucson posted is there.

So I'd be pretty surprised if your cleaner shrimp were breeding in your tank.

 

[ZOOT098]

who knows
maybe i have a swarm of baby pods

 

[dcantucson]

Biff I have had several shrimp release babies. I've watched them. They are usually gone within 30 minutes. Either eaten or gone overboard. I have never had any survive though.

 

[beano]

hmm, i guess i saw snail eggs on the glass....ew.

definately baby shrimps floating around though, i gues he/she must have just spit them out. i have also read that no one has raised past 23-24days in captivity. my shrimps seem to always have eggs with them, i think are nympho hermos.

 

[yote]

The thing about those baby shrimp.Is EVERYTHING in the tank eats them.Corals,fish,filter feeders,they'll all munch on the baby shrimp.
Then the pumps get em too.

 

[Bifferwine]

Even the baby shrimp will eat the baby shrimp.