Amphipod?

Alaeriel

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This guy's colored up like a crystal red caridina. He's munching on a dead leaf of caulerpa in the dwarf seahorse tank, but looks like some kind of amphipod to me. Please let me know if its something horrible that will metamorph into a five foot long bobbit worm overnight and eat my cat or something

20210825_200854.jpg 20210825_200737.jpg
 

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dwair

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This guy's colored up like a crystal red caridina. He's munching on a dead leaf of caulerpa in the dwarf seahorse tank, but looks like some kind of amphipod to me. Please let me know if its something horrible that will metamorph into a five foot long bobbit worm overnight and eat my cat or something

20210825_200854.jpg 20210825_200737.jpg
Yep Amiphpod. Good to have!
 
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Alaeriel

Alaeriel

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Yea I've got alot in my sump right now. If he morphs into something and eats your cat, well, its an interesting pod!
I'll post him in classifieds then for a high-end torch swap XD
Anyone know of any pod identification literature that can identify which species of pod he is?
 

PhilSD211

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I used to like seeing amphipods in my filter socks.. thought they are good for the tank... Now, they are thriving and I have probably hundreds! some are huge! Pretty sure they have eaten a nice purple monster zoa colony, a huge nirvana zoa colony and big blasto colony! =/ They were all very healthy and started to fade for no reason. Confused till I flipped over the frag tile that the nirvanas were on! All different sizes of amphipods scurried away from under there! There must have been like 20+!

Took a flashlight to spot check at night, and they were chilling on the frag tiles. Not seeing them actively eating the zoa but 99% sure they ate them.

I used to intentionally leave gaps under the tiles so pods can thrive... HUGE mistake! Now I'm trying to make sure they have no place to hide but every time I pull a frag out of frag rack, there are a few that scurry away.

I used to have a red coris wrasse that always flipped my stuff over and driving me nuts! Now I know why. Had to sell him as he was getting big fast! Got a melanurus wrasse but it's not doing much. Had a pod flow right by her nose and no response.

I run bare bottom which really limits my choice of predators.

But yeah, while copepods are probably beneficial, amphipods must die!
 
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Alaeriel

Alaeriel

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I used to like seeing amphipods in my filter socks.. thought they are good for the tank... Now, they are thriving and I have probably hundreds! some are huge! Pretty sure they have eaten a nice purple monster zoa colony, a huge nirvana zoa colony and big blasto colony! =/ They were all very healthy and started to fade for no reason. Confused till I flipped over the frag tile that the nirvanas were on! All different sizes of amphipods scurried away from under there! There must have been like 20+!

Took a flashlight to spot check at night, and they were chilling on the frag tiles. Not seeing them actively eating the zoa but 99% sure they ate them.

I used to intentionally leave gaps under the tiles so pods can thrive... HUGE mistake! Now I'm trying to make sure they have no place to hide but every time I pull a frag out of frag rack, there are a few that scurry away.

I used to have a red coris wrasse that always flipped my stuff over and driving me nuts! Now I know why. Had to sell him as he was getting big fast! Got a melanurus wrasse but it's not doing much. Had a pod flow right by her nose and no response.

I run bare bottom which really limits my choice of predators.

But yeah, while copepods are probably beneficial, amphipods must die!
I think they eat tissue that's already dead, so may have just been munching on the melted bits.
 

PhilSD211

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Nah. Nirvana zoas grow like weeds in my tank, they don't melt. I've given away frags that I have so much. Other frags off the floor weren't affected. Just the ones growing on the frag tile on the floor... BUT! I did remember trimming some vermitid snails and small aiptasia off of that. Might have pulled a piece of zoa off the corner... but that's crazy if they ate the corner piece then the entire tile of 50+ zoas.
 

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