Little white bugs

[Tham121988]

I’ve seen an explosion of these. They gather in clusters on my Acro tips, my montipora, and zoanthids... what is this and are they bad? I haven’t introduced anything into this tank in months.

 

[Tham121988]

They swim too

 

[Vahanyos]

That's bizarre.. It looks like an infestation more like... Could they be nudibranchs?? Try blasting them off the corals with a turkey baster and see if your fish will eat it?

If you can somehow take a more clear or high def pic, or maybe perhaps take a pic off of google that closely resembles them I think that would help...

I see some white dots similar to that on my zoa colonies, however, i dont see them moving or swimming. They almost seem like it's underneath the skin of the polyp stem... but they don't cause my zoas to close up or anything.

 

[KJ]

Ostracod?

 

[Tham121988]

I’ll try to get another. When I take a pipet and blast them they end up back on them. Haven’t watched if the fish eats them. It’s a pico 7 gallon so it’s mostly coral with one fish and a shrimp.

 

[Tham121988]

I have a video. Let me figure out how to upload it.

 

[Tham121988]

 

[Tham121988]

You can see them swimming in this post

 

[Vahanyos]

Do they match up with KJ's video? They look very similar...

 

[Tham121988]

Do they match up with KJ's video? They look very similar...

They do look similar, just hard to tell because they are so tiny. Closest thing to what they look like though.

 

[TedsReef]

Hey there, I have these guys too and was stumped by them. I made a post about a week ago: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...-identify-video-included.539266/#post-5571942

I'm saying they're some type of ostracod thanks to @KJ. I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact type but I'm pretty sure they're reef safe. I have a population explosion of them since I added macro algae to my DT. Tank is fishless at the moment so they have no type of predators (although from what I've read fish are less likely to eat these due to the hard shell).

 

[Tham121988]

Hey there, I have these guys too and was stumped by them. I made a post about a week ago: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...-identify-video-included.539266/#post-5571942

I'm saying they're some type of ostracod thanks to @KJ. I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact type but I'm pretty sure they're reef safe. I have a population explosion of them since I added macro algae to my DT. Tank is fishless at the moment so they have no type of predators (although from what I've read fish are less likely to eat these due to the hard shell).

Thank you for the information. That's a relief. I have a really nice reef tank going and didn't want to lose anything. Everything is growing exponentially and then I saw these critters pop up. First thought was oh no lol. Thanks again!