How to get rid of Amphipods

[TheMysticGriffin]

Arrow crab(s)?

I'm not sure, there are some things about them that people don't like such as polyp nipping and I've got corals that have large fleshy polyps.

That pic looks different from the amphis I have.

I would work on IDing them, there are concerninc species, though they aren't common in our tanks from what I understand.

Not an exact picture, I'll send the exact picture later on as soon as I have the chance to.

Sound logic. Ask Jay Hemdal for advice, he is an ace.
Good luck. Hope you get this resolved.
Happy reefing
Dan

Thank you! I'll ping Jay when I get the exact pictures.

Im on the side where ,,,,I dont like/favor amphipods in my tank,,they have no real benefit outside of being fish food..
Your milage may vary but ,hopefully you can get a Halicoris Wrasse to clean them up. I always hads a yellow or green halicoris wrasse just for this reason,,they are non stop and the best hunters

Agreed 100%, I love copepods but hate amphipods. I'll get wrasses when the fallow period ends.

I’d look into a banded coral shrimp. I bet they’d eat them and they cannot carry ich

Would he be good with my skunk cleaner shrimp? I'll try to find one if that is the case.

 

[Tired]

Yeah, amphipods will do that. If you have nothing to keep them in check, they'll run amok, bother your corals enough to stress them, and then eat the stressed corals. They don't eat healthy corals, true, but stressed ones can be fair game.

If you can keep the temp at or above 80F, it shortens the fallow period for ich to, I believe, 6 weeks. Check the humblefish website to verify that. Putting corals up above the substrate may help keep the pods off them a little in the meantime.

Banded coral shrimp are not to be trusted with small animals in general.

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

Yeah, amphipods will do that. If you have nothing to keep them in check, they'll run amok, bother your corals enough to stress them, and then eat the stressed corals. They don't eat healthy corals, true, but stressed ones can be fair game.

If you can keep the temp at or above 80F, it shortens the fallow period for ich to, I believe, 6 weeks. Check the humblefish website to verify that. Putting corals up above the substrate may help keep the pods off them a little in the meantime.

Banded coral shrimp are not to be trusted with small animals in general.

Some corals I have cannot go from the substrate such as open brain, acantho and plates but the plates seem very unbothered by them. The skunk cleaner shrimp I have is huge but I am planning on getting a mandarin or a scooter blenny so I don't think I'll get one if that is the case. I'm not sure about the temperature part, tank was kept at 26.5C for 9 weeks in my last fallow, the fish were introduced from a copper treated tank and got ich so I think I might have to wait the full 72 days or even go 85 days to go a little beyond the life cycle.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

@ISpeakForTheSeas you got anything interesting to add about amphipods?

A coral-safe, crustacean-eating invert for a tropical tank that can be purchased by hobbyists is a bit of tough one as far as I know.

Mantis shrimp are an obvious choice, but they'd need pulled out before adding fish back; large brittle/serpent stars may eat them; I've heard anecdotes that large hermits and larger/reef-safe with caution shrimp may eat them as well.

Those would be my best suggestions at this point.

I know some bristleworms species will eat pods too, but I think you'd have a hard time finding what species are on the market you can buy.

 

[Tired]

Oh, a note on fallow periods; ich cysts can theoretically (don't recall if this has been proven to happen in reef aquaria) last much longer in anaerobic areas, like under rockwork or deep inside less porous rocks, and can then 'hatch' if disturbed.

Was the copper kept at a theraputic level at all times?

Have you added anything wet without running it through a fallow period first? Ich cysts can get in on frag plugs, coral skeletons (including of healthy corals), and even the exoskeletons of invertebrates. Everything wet should be QTed for a full fallow period, except that any invertebrates other than hermit crabs are fine early if they molt and have a few days to harden their exoskeleton.
(I believe starfish and urchins can be rinsed thoroughly with clean tank water and then placed directly in, and anemones only need to wait a period of time to allow any free swimmers in the water they've inflated with to die off, but you'd want to double-check that.)

 

[Spare time]

I’d look into a banded coral shrimp. I bet they’d eat them and they cannot carry ich

They can carry one stage of ich on their exoskeleton

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

Oh, a note on fallow periods; ich cysts can theoretically (don't recall if this has been proven to happen in reef aquaria) last much longer in anaerobic areas, like under rockwork or deep inside less porous rocks, and can then 'hatch' if disturbed.

Was the copper kept at a theraputic level at all times?

Have you added anything wet without running it through a fallow period first? Ich cysts can get in on frag plugs, coral skeletons (including of healthy corals), and even the exoskeletons of invertebrates. Everything wet should be QTed for a full fallow period, except that any invertebrates other than hermit crabs are fine early if they molt and have a few days to harden their exoskeleton.
(I believe starfish and urchins can be rinsed thoroughly with clean tank water and then placed directly in, and anemones only need to wait a period of time to allow any free swimmers in the water they've inflated with to die off, but you'd want to double-check that.)

Nothing was added and yet it remained in the tank, I guess I was unlucky :/

The copper was kept at theraputic levels, yes. I am certain that the fish that entered the tank were 100% ich free.

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

Also the pictures of the amphipods, could anyone help me ID them? @Jay Hemdal could I have some assistance? Thank you in advance.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Theyre getting a food source and will consist mainly of algae. Predators, mainly wrasses while it will take time will reduce them. You can pull rock without coral and dip them and pods will not survive.
Interceptor treatment as a last resort is a sure bet

 

[Nano_Man]

Don't feed your fish they will reduce the problem the fish will hunt them out. I have the in my reef but I can't stop the fish eating them all

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

Don't feed your fish they will reduce the problem the fish will hunt them out. I have the in my reef but I can't stop the fish eating them all

I've got no fish and can't get any fish due to marine ich.

Theyre getting a food source and will consist mainly of algae. Predators, mainly wrasses while it will take time will reduce them. You can pull rock without coral and dip them and pods will not survive.
Interceptor treatment as a last resort is a sure bet

I'll make some traps and freshwater dip the rocks since there are tonnes in there, thank you for the help. Do you know if these are the predatory type?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've got no fish and can't get any fish due to marine ich.

I'll make some traps and freshwater dip the rocks since there are tonnes in there, thank you for the help. Do you know if these are the predatory type?

Likely not

 

[mtfish]

You are describing an idyllic setting for a mandarin. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to add one now.

Amphipods are too large for a mandarin to eat. They consume copepods. Pods (both amphipods and copepods) are a direct relation with the amount of food available. They are a boom and bust type of animal. If you have no fish and are still "ghost feeding", you will get a bloom. Where did your life rock come from? This could help with ID's. If your corals have any algae growing (as in not in good health) you will see them on corals.

 

[TheMysticGriffin]

Amphipods are too large for a mandarin to eat. They consume copepods. Pods (both amphipods and copepods) are a direct relation with the amount of food available. They are a boom and bust type of animal. If you have no fish and are still "ghost feeding", you will get a bloom. Where did your life rock come from? This could help with ID's. If your corals have any algae growing (as in not in good health) you will see them on corals.

Ironically, my little scooter blenny was a voracious predator of amphipods, took ones that were the same size as his mouth before he sadly jumped out of the treatment tank after I had to remove for marine ich. So I'd say mandarins can also eat both amphipods and copepods since my little scooter blenny could but I can't get any as I previously mentioned. I only feed the corals but yes I do broadcast feed which may be a issue, freshwater dipped 3 rocks where they like to hang out and killed like around 300 of them with a weird shrimp like creature that came out from one of my corals (it looked like an alien, those tounge parasite worms from fish it looked just like that) and I also sent that one to the dip and killed it. Live rock came from Indonesia, it was dry rock that was collected from there and was dry when I first got it, I think they came in with the corals I bought. There are no algae growing directly on the corals.

Likely not

I hope so. Thank you for the help.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

weird shrimp like creature that came out from one of my corals (it looked like an alien, those tounge parasite worms from fish it looked just like that)

That sounds like an isopod (the Tongue-eating Louse being the isopod Cymothoa exigua) - some are harmless/beneficial while others are parasitic.

 

[NeedAReef]

you could try to set up a pod hotel, or buy one of those 3d printed ones, then remove it once you get a bunch in there, like a trap almost. or use a waterbottle with a small drilled hold in the cap and food in it and see if they crawl in and maybe have trouble getting back out?

 

[Tired]

Those are just the usual amphipod, looks like.

 

[Tired]

They can carry one stage of ich on their exoskeleton

They can, so a fallow period should be reset if they're added to the tank. Good to point that out. They can't, however, host it and continue its life cycle.

 

[SaltBabies]

Ironically, my little scooter blenny was a voracious predator of amphipods, took ones that were the same size as his mouth before he sadly jumped out of the treatment tank after I had to remove for marine ich. So I'd say mandarins can also eat both amphipods and copepods since my little scooter blenny could but I can't get any as I previously mentioned. I only feed the corals but yes I do broadcast feed which may be a issue, freshwater dipped 3 rocks where they like to hang out and killed like around 300 of them with a weird shrimp like creature that came out from one of my corals (it looked like an alien, those tounge parasite worms from fish it looked just like that) and I also sent that one to the dip and killed it. Live rock came from Indonesia, it was dry rock that was collected from there and was dry when I first got it, I think they came in with the corals I bought. There are no algae growing directly on the corals.

I hope so. Thank you for the help.

I agree mandarins will eat amphipods. I've had plenty of mandarins who do. They also will eat flat worms. They have a set of grinding teeth in the back of their mouths for shells of crustaceans. They are slow deliberate eaters so they have to come upon the amphipod hiding in a crevice. They won't eat ones like in a bowl that can move around.

But wrasses will tear that population up. I just don't like most wrasses cause they usually turn mean in the end. Seahorses love amphipods but are unsuitable for a warm reef tank.

 

[Spare time]

A melanarus wrasse made them extinct in my tank