Is my tank infested?

[dmmitchell]

Please take a look at the video ... Especially to the right of the shell. There's a swarm of little 'bugs' ... Hard to see with any detail, probably the size of the tip of a pencil. They are throughout the rocks, but this just happens to be the clearest cloud of them for video. You'll see them inside the shell as well. There are bigger creatures, but I think those are pods -- can't figure out what these tiny bugs are.

I can only plainly see them in my 10 gallon ... I don't see them in my 20 or 30.

EDIT: Seems video isn’t loading. Here’s a link to my Dropbox:

IMG_6143.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[srobertb]

Your video won’t load but I would guess pods. I have ones in tanks as big as a pencil head eraser down to the size of aphids. If they look like bugs, that’s probably what they are.

I have several tanks and the dominant species (or at least the ones on the glass) tend to shift and settle from what type to another… although the big guys usually don’t walk on the glass and you don’t see them until you move a rock.

 

[dmmitchell]

Not sure if you can see the video via my Dropbox:

IMG_6143.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

They aren’t on the glass, they are in and around the live rock, in caves and crevices and the like.

 

[Timfish]

As mentioned above they are probably some kind of 'pods. Nothing to worry about and probably food for somebody. I'd see them as a good thing.

 

[srobertb]

Pods

 

[WVNed]

There are very few bugs in the sea and I don't think any of them would live in a reef tank.

Aquatic insects make up only about 3% of the insects on the planet, but there are only a few hundred species that can be considered at all marine. The vast majority of those are found in estuaries, salt marshes, and other locations where freshwater and marine habitats come together rather than living out in the open ocean.

So you have tiny crustaceans or other arthropods.

The largest phylum of creatures on Earth without a doubt is Arthropoda, both in terms of number of species and in total number of individuals. There are nearly 1 million species of Arthropods, with over 90% of them being insects. Of the remaining less than 10%, or about 85,000 species, there are only three major marine groups. The most well known is that of the mostly marine sub-phylum Crustacea (>30,000 species), the entirely marine class Pycnogonida, also called the "sea spiders" (500 species) and the entirely marine class Merostomata, commonly called the horseshoe crabs (5 species).

Copepods are small aquatic crustaceans and are one of the most numerous metazoan groups in aquatic communities. Copepods inhabit a huge range of salinities, from fresh water to hypersaline conditions, and they can be found virtually everywhere there is water; from subterranean caves to pools collected in bromeliad leaves or in damp leaf litter on the ground, from streams, rivers, and lakes to the open ocean and the sediment layers beneath.

Amphipoda (class Crustacea) inhabiting all parts of the sea, lakes, rivers, sand beaches, caves, and moist (warm) habitats on many tropical islands. Marine amphipods have been found at depths of more than 9,100 m (30,000 feet). Freshwater and marine beach species are commonly known as scuds; those that occupy sand beaches are called sand hoppers, or sand fleas (see sand flea). About 6,000 species have been described.

On here they are all just called pods most of the time.

 

[srobertb]

There are very few bugs in the sea and I don't think any of them would live in a reef tank.

Aquatic insects make up only about 3% of the insects on the planet, but there are only a few hundred species that can be considered at all marine. The vast majority of those are found in estuaries, salt marshes, and other locations where freshwater and marine habitats come together rather than living out in the open ocean.

So you have tiny crustaceans.

Copepods are small aquatic crustaceans and are one of the most numerous metazoan groups in aquatic communities. Copepods inhabit a huge range of salinities, from fresh water to hypersaline conditions, and they can be found virtually everywhere there is water; from subterranean caves to pools collected in bromeliad leaves or in damp leaf litter on the ground, from streams, rivers, and lakes to the open ocean and the sediment layers beneath.

Amphipoda (class Crustacea) inhabiting all parts of the sea, lakes, rivers, sand beaches, caves, and moist (warm) habitats on many tropical islands. Marine amphipods have been found at depths of more than 9,100 m (30,000 feet). Freshwater and marine beach species are commonly known as scuds; those that occupy sand beaches are called sand hoppers, or sand fleas (see sand flea). About 6,000 species have been described.

On here they are all just called pods most of the time.

All this. I suppose by “bug” the term may have been taken literally and I apologize if I caused confusion.

 

[WVNed]

All this. I suppose by “bug” the term may have been taken literally and I apologize if I caused confusion.

It's quite all right. The reference to bugs is quite common here. If you saw those in your kitchen or backyard they probably would be bugs.

I don't recall anyone pointing out there aren't any in the sea before.

I do these kind of posts in case someone reads this later as well as to ease their minds. Some people are extremely bothered that they may have bugs.

Also for many people saying they are pods doesnt tell them much.

 

[Tamberav]

Please take a look at the video ... Especially to the right of the shell. There's a swarm of little 'bugs' ... Hard to see with any detail, probably the size of the tip of a pencil. They are throughout the rocks, but this just happens to be the clearest cloud of them for video. You'll see them inside the shell as well. There are bigger creatures, but I think those are pods -- can't figure out what these tiny bugs are.

I can only plainly see them in my 10 gallon ... I don't see them in my 20 or 30.

EDIT: Seems video isn’t loading. Here’s a link to my Dropbox:

IMG_6143.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

The strings which appear to be digitate hydroids and the stuff crawling around look like some sort of tiny pod. There are many kinds. Is the tank newish? You may have a lot due to a pod bloom which is common in newer tanks. The numbers eventually stabilize.