Pods are destroying my zoas...

OP
OP
BAPrince

BAPrince

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 27, 2019
Messages
145
Reaction score
108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That is a horror movie. Are they blue because they are blue or because the zoas they are eating are blue or because of the lighting? Look like amphipods but any I have are always white. I couldn't allow that, I would have to intervene.
WIth the naked eye, I would NOT say they are blue... I think that's just the lighting. They are black/white almost striped. Here's a better picture, but imagine the blue areas are white/clear. And YES... I feel I have to intervene too!
IMG_20200930_150926.jpg
 
OP
OP
BAPrince

BAPrince

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 27, 2019
Messages
145
Reaction score
108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
o_O
Those look MUCH bigger and darker than my amphipods. These look like shrimp.
Mine are about 1/4 inch and clear. They don't bother the zoas. Is this a pest instead?
NOT saying you're right or wrong (I'm too new for that) about pod vs shrimp... only adding information so I can find resolution. I would describe the actual color as a mixture of black and white/clear, and they are probably only maybe a 1/4" long at most. The picture, for comparison, is zoomed in on a closed up polyp of a scrambled egg zoa on a frag plug. They look bigger because it's close to the glass, and I used a magnifier lens and orange filter to take the picture
 

Cell

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Messages
14,114
Reaction score
21,720
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
WIth the naked eye, I would NOT say they are blue... I think that's just the lighting. They are black/white almost striped. Here's a better picture, but imagine the blue areas are white/clear. And YES... I feel I have to intervene too!
IMG_20200930_150926.jpg

The amphipods we talk about as harmless feeders are not the size of zoa polyps like this creature. Nor are they black with blue/white whatever color mottling and striped antennae.
 
OP
OP
BAPrince

BAPrince

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 27, 2019
Messages
145
Reaction score
108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well you said it, you tried to starve them, so you kicked the survival instinct they will try to eat any organic matter in the tank. And by startving the pods you were starving the corals and debilitating them.
OK... let's explore the feeding thought for a minute. What might these things eat, ideally. Remember, this is a tank with NO FISH, so very little feeding. I feed the corals Reef Roids every 5-7 days, and drop a 1/4 cube of mysis shrimp in 2-3/month so the snails don't starve, but that's it. Is there something I can feed these pod things so they will leave the zoas alone? Or, are there other invertebrates I could add to the tank (hermit crabs? shrimp?) that would require feedings and therefore have waste, that would feed the pods and cause them to leave the zoas alone?
 
OP
OP
BAPrince

BAPrince

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 27, 2019
Messages
145
Reaction score
108
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The amphipods we talk about as harmless feeders are not the size of zoa polyps like this creature. Nor are they black with blue/white whatever color mottling and striped antennae.
Interesting... I'm only 6 months into my first reef tank, and I have NO IDEA what a "normal" amphipod/copepod looks like. Any idea what they are?
 

elysics

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
1,492
Reaction score
1,484
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The amphipods we talk about as harmless feeders are not the size of zoa polyps like this creature. Nor are they black with blue/white whatever color mottling and striped antennae.

But are they not that size because they are a different species or are they not that size because they get eaten before they grow that big? The biggest in my tank are at least half an inch (double the size op says his are) and have the "standard" coloration of the supposedly harmless ones.

I could come to believe that firefish are safe to keep with small fishes too if my experience of firefish were small fries that die before ever getting to a size where they could swallow a goby.
 
Last edited:

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,827
Reaction score
200,068
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
That is some crazy clear video. . nice job
Sure the pods arent picking off the algae and slime on the zoas?
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,827
Reaction score
200,068
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Are these pods from AquariumDepot? I have millions in my tank. I ask becuase of the size. Also a wrasse will make quick work with keeping population control in check.
aquariumdepot.PNG
These are the size of Mysis shrimp !!!
 

elysics

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
1,492
Reaction score
1,484
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
These are the size of Mysis shrimp !!!

Yeah, thats the size of the ones i have in my tank, i am convinced that thats just their normal size without predators around.

Question: Does anyone have the "harmless" amphipods in a fishless tank and they stay small?
 
Last edited:

spiraling

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 23, 2017
Messages
942
Reaction score
890
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yeah, thats the size of the ones i have in my tank, i am convinced that thats just their normal size without predators around.

Question: Does anyone have the "harmless" amphipods in a fishless tank and they stay small?
The ones in my sump get to MAYBE 1/2 inch and stay clear. These are something else than the "harmless" pods I have. I had some in a fishless tank for a year too. They stay clear. I have something very different.
 

elysics

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
1,492
Reaction score
1,484
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The ones in my sump get to MAYBE 1/2 inch and stay clear. These are something else than the "harmless" pods I have. I had some in a fishless tank for a year too. They stay clear. I have something very different.

Yeah, i have probably got the same as you then, brownish clear, half an inch. I agree that op's look different, but they behave the same if they are in a fishless tank with zoas and maybe theres a sudden drop in powdered food or something similar, or just another random reason why a zoa is sickly.
 

tnw50cal

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,505
Reaction score
1,692
Location
Brookpark,OH
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I happened to come across this article when I heard about bad pods in fw tanks and I was trying to find more info. This aricle is for sw.
https://aquanerd.com/2011/08/amphipods-a-possible-aquarium-pest.html
NO,NO,NO---amphipods eating live healthy clams, eating healthy corals. Even though I've seen it with my own eyes it doesn't happen.
Meanwhile I can't for the life of me find(google search) or remember what---but I think the stuff you give dogs and cats to kill heartworms kills amphipods(shrimp and crabs as well).


Found it---Interceptor-used to treat for red bugs on acro. Appears you have to use a hefty dose but it really kills most of the amphipods(and copepods too) and is coral safe.
 
Last edited:

Karen00

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 7, 2020
Messages
3,565
Reaction score
6,490
Location
Toronto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
NO,NO,NO---amphipods eating live healthy clams, eating healthy corals. Even though I've seen it with my own eyes it doesn't happen.
Meanwhile I can't for the life of me find(google search) or remember what---but I think the stuff you give dogs and cats to kill heartworms kills amphipods(shrimp and crabs as well). Can anybody find this thru searching--it's all in how you word the search.


Found it---Interceptor
Interceptor is a brand of heartworm medication. It's not an active ingredient. I believe the ingredient you're thinking of is praziquantel in some heartworm medications. I believe the product for aquariums is prazipro. I think there is discussion as to whether this kills pods. Most of the threads I saw were using prazipro for worms and other parasites. Make sure you don't put interceptor in your tank. That has other stuff in it that would probably kill everything in your tank.
 

spiraling

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 23, 2017
Messages
942
Reaction score
890
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Interceptor is a brand of heartworm medication. It's not an active ingredient. I believe the ingredient you're thinking of is praziquantel in some heartworm medications. I believe the product for aquariums is prazipro. I think there is discussion as to whether this kills pods. Most of the threads I saw were using prazipro for worms and other parasites. Make sure you don't put interceptor in your tank. That has other stuff in it that would probably kill everything in your tank.
I dosed prazi in my display recently becasue of possible flukes. All pods are A-OK. Although I didn't really count them all ;)
 

TankCandy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 17, 2020
Messages
732
Reaction score
1,506
Location
Limerick, PA
Rating - 100%
4   0   1
Found it---Interceptor-used to treat for red bugs on acro. Appears you have to use a hefty dose but it really kills most of the amphipods(and copepods too) and is coral safe.

I bought that stuff off of ebay years back and it worked for my red bug issue, also killed off all my pods and had a huge ammonia outbreak. I had to order it from an Australian seller since i needed a script from a veterinarian to get it local.
 

Karen00

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 7, 2020
Messages
3,565
Reaction score
6,490
Location
Toronto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I dosed prazi in my display recently becasue of possible flukes. All pods are A-OK. Although I didn't really count them all ;)
LOL. Too funny. I guess the people with threads asking whether prazipro kills pods can be told "no". Haha.
 
Back
Top