Mysis Shrimp Reanimated!!

[Lyss]

Well, it's easy to see when they are full of GFP! These are the tiny scud type amphipods. Maybe a quarter of a cm. They glow the same color as the mushroom patch they live under.

I just am skeptical that amphipods are eating your healthy coral tissue. They’re detrivores like I mentioned above. Ppl say the same thing about having them in FW tanks, only they say they eat your plants. I just don’t ever personally see that problem. I also have ulva growing on some of the rocks in my SW tank and see them gather on that at times at night, but don’t really see much damage even to that. The other argument against them is they’ll eat your copepods, and while that’s true, I haven’t seen any evidence in my tank of anything other than a healthy population of both.

Either way, I take steps to keep the population healthy and not totally explosive, and wouldn’t recommend someone add fish to “fix” something in a tank unless they have the space and actually want the fish.

 

[Chrisv.]

I just am skeptical that amphipods are eating your healthy coral tissue. They’re detrivores like I mentioned above. Ppl say the same thing about having them in FW tanks, only they say they eat your plants. I just don’t ever personally see that problem. I also have ulva growing on some of the rocks in my SW tank and see them gather on that at times at night, but don’t really see much damage even to that. The other argument against them is they’ll eat your copepods, and while that’s true, I haven’t seen any evidence in my tank of anything other than a healthy population of both.

Either way, I take steps to keep the population healthy and not totally explosive, and wouldn’t recommend someone add fish to “fix” something in a tank unless they have the space and actually want the fish.

It's fine for you to be skeptical. Do keep in mind that absence of evidence is not the same as positive data.

The shrimp were glowing. The coral has been healthy for a very long time and it is thriving. It has continued to thrive. When I pull it out to separate baby mushrooms (every few months), I see amphipods with the same teal green color as the coral in their digestive tract. They glow under blue light.

They may be primarily detritivores but in my tank, they are opportunists. Maybe you have a different species. For me, I'm 100% sure that they had tissue from my healthy coral in there digestive system.

 

[Lyss]

It's fine for you to be skeptical. Do keep in mind that absence of evidence is not the same as positive data.

The shrimp were glowing. The coral has been healthy for a very long time and it is thriving. It has continued to thrive. When I pull it out to separate baby mushrooms (every few months), I see amphipods with the same teal green color as the coral in their digestive tract. They glow under blue light.

They may be primarily detritivores but in my tank, they are opportunists. Maybe you have a different species. For me, I'm 100% sure that they had tissue from my healthy coral in there digestive system.

If what you say is true, then fine. You haven’t shared evidence of that either. But they are not causing the coral to be harmed or die, and the coral is thriving? So then what is the issue/what is there to worry about?

Again, the reason for my post is more to advise against adding fish just for the sake of “fixing” a perceived potential issue.

 

[Chrisv.]

If what you say is true, then fine. You haven’t shared evidence of that either. But they are not causing the coral to be harmed or die, and the coral is thriving? So then what is the issue/what is there to worry about?

Again, the reason for my post is more to advise against adding fish just for the sake of “fixing” a perceived potential issue.

If what I'm saying is true? Are you seriously accusing me of making it up? Why would I do that?

Is there a cuckoo emoji I can add somehow?

 

[Lyss]

If what I'm saying is true? Are you seriously accusing me of making it up? Why would I do that?

Is there a cuckoo emoji I can add somehow?

Oh my. No. But sometimes folks think they see one thing that can be explained another way.

I'm done with this conversation now, and I genuinely hope you have a good rest of your day.

 

[i cant think]

@i cant think maybe can you confirm what wrasses are best for this? Imo Labroides and Pseudocheilinus should be fine, right? Also Halichoeres should be good. Maybe for 400 litres a Halichoeres Chrysus would be a good fit.

So, there’s only “a few” genera that will do this, my personal favourites for amphipod, copepod and other live fauna in 4’ tanks are:
- The smaller Halichoeres (Chrysus, Iridis, cosmetus are all good examples),
- Macropharyngodon (Bipartitus are the easiest of this genus to get hold of - there are a few things to keep an eye out for when looking for the perfect specimen which if needed I will go into),
- wetmorella (These guys tend to be harder to find and keep in tanks but find the right specimen and these can be the best wrasses you find),
- Anampses (The easiest in this genus tend to be just as hard as the leopards but in the right tank are the best fish).
That’s just some of my personal favourite genera to get that eat amphipods/copepods.
Here’s a few species I recommend, the Halichoeres all have a max size of 4” and the others are more varied so do your research:
- Halichoeres Chrysus (Easy to get, cheap, adds a splash of yellow to the tank),
- Halichoeres iridis (Hardy when it’s past the shipping stage, moderately priced, African endemic so if you want a wrasse that only comes from one place then here),
- Halichoeres leucoxanthus (Very similar in colours to H. Chrysus but has a nice white belly with the yellow upper body, I find these to have been rarer over here in the UK but that may just be my LFS),
- Halichoeres cosmetus (These can be labelled as the pudding wife wrasse which is why you always check the scientific name on the label because pudding wife wrasse is a larger wrasse in this genus but these guys are relatively uncommon, affordable and have a nice blue colour),
- Halichoeres timorensis (Now this has a VERY nice colour pattern, these have become harder to find over the past few years however when you see one it is one of the nicest wrasse you will find, moderately priced),
- Macropharyngodon bipartitus (These are moderately priced, hardy to keep after shipping and acclimation to the surroundings),
- Macropharyngodon nigrosensis (These are very similar to M. bipartitus just slightly harder to get hold of and a bit more pricey),
- Macropharyngodon meleagris (These are basically the bridge between the first two Macropharyngodon wrasses),
- Wetmorella spp (These guys all have the same care and are all moderately priced but are slightly harder to get hold of, the yellow banded possums seem to be the easiest to find for sale at the moment),
- Anampses meleagrides (These are the easiest to keep anampses and seem to be the easiest to get a hold of and these are moderately priced wrasse),
- Anampses lineatus (These seem to be slightly harder to keep but are hardy after acclimation to the new surroundings, they are moderately priced so probably won’t take you past 100 bucks, they aren’t as easy to find though).
This next part is important when picking out the perfect wrasse from these genera.
First:
Check the fish for infections, parasites, ich ect.. These fish tend to get mouth injuries too so check for them. if that checks out then that’s the first issue done with these fish.
Next:
Ask to see it eating, if the LFS don’t show it eating then leave it. Chances are it won’t eat and they just want to sell you a fish that isn’t doing well in captivity. If it eats but only picks certain bits of food that usually shows a sign of a doomed fish.
Now:
If it’s eating and there’s no sign of illness, check it’s weight, usually a skinny fish is a doomed fish. If it’s showing no weight loss and is nice and fat as well as eating, it will look somewhat like this

(P.S. I just took that photo with a phone and actually Thats the best photo I got of my little girl - M. bipartitus).
Now you may be thinking “Who is this person” or “Why are they doing this” ect.. I have worked around these fish for coming up to 5 years and for the past 3 years I have been working around the other genera of wrasse and not just Pseudocheilinus wrasses (This genus is a genus that should never be mixed with other wrasse, they tend to be downright evil). The pod eating wrasses I have at the moment are:
- H. Iridis,
- H. chloropterus (I don’t recommend these guys since they can become downright demons when they transition)
- M. bipartitus,
- Pseudocheinops ataenia.
In a 15g tank I would only recommend the last wrasse I own or one of the 3 wetmorella wrasse but in your tank, I recommend a leopard and one or two of the smaller Halichoeres. Here’s a photo of my Blue star/peacock leopard from the top to show her weight (She’s only hit 1” recently so yes that is a chubby girl but if the fish was 2-3” it would be skinny).

 

[i cant think]

Also, about the wrasses:
You will find rumous about how all Halichoeres eat your CUC. That’s a lie. The larger 8” halis will eat CUC however not all of it. They leave nocturnal animals and snails such as conchs and turbos alone. This is because conchs and turbos have harder shells than most CUC so get left alone and not munched. My H. chloropterus is pushing 4.5” and still just scours my rockwork for pods and worms and ignores everything else. Same with my other 3 pod eating wrasses, Halichoeres and pseudocheilinops are known “pest” munchers however it’s 50/50 on the other genera doing this.
my radiant (H. Iridis) is around 3-4” and ignores everything except pods and worms and my inverts in my 4’ (400l) tank include:
- 2 Pincushion urchins,
- 2 Skunk cleaner shirimps,
- 4 nassarius snails,
- 4 bumblebee snails,
- 3 hermits,
- 3-4 turbo snails.
Everyone lives still after 2 years of owning these wrasses however everything is now nocturnal and only comes out at around 7pm at night then goes back to hiding at around 7am