Saw this swimming in my tank anyone know what it is?

[Bugzin]

Saw this little thing swimming along the backwall. Wondering if anyone knew what it was. Is it bad ? and if I should do something about it.

 

[besskurz]

Hey, this little guy is an amphipod or "pods" as most of ppl call them. There are many kinds of them.

They are very good for the tank.

They eat mainly leftovers, alges and sometimes they will grab a food pellet and drag to their holes.

They often sneak in tanks attached to frags, live rocks or even in the shells of crabs. Or you can buy them too. Having a bunch of them is even better.

Pods will reproduce and you probably will have more of them in some months.

They are particularly good in the beginning of a tank like in your case - because of the very white sand - your ugly phase will be probably reduced because there will be somebody there to eat the diatoms.

 

[exnisstech]

^this ^ @besskurz beat me to it as I was typing.

 

[Bugzin]

Hey, this little guy is an amphipod or "pods" as most of ppl call them. There are many kinds of them.

They are very good for the tank.

They eat mainly leftovers, alges and sometimes they will grab a food pellet and drag to their holes.

They often sneak in tanks attached to frags, live rocks or even in the shells of crabs. Or you can buy them too. Having a bunch of them is even better.

Pods will reproduce and you probably will have more of them in some months.

They are particularly good in the beginning of a tank like in your case - because of the very white sand - your ugly phase will be probably reduced because there will be somebody there to eat the diatoms.

Oh thank the lords. I put some pods in my tank a couple weeks ago because I have a mandarin, but they were so tiny compared to this guy and a couple of his other friends i saw swimming while the lights were off. The tank seems more alive when its dark and you whip out a flashlight. I guess this is a good sign. My tank used to be littered with ugly long algae but I haven't had to go in and scrape it off in awhile. It hasn't come back for a couple weeks.

This tank was supposed to be a good hobby for me to relax and enjoy creating something but I feel like I'm always going to have a panic attack when I see something new. Thank you for your time.

 

[besskurz]

Oh thank the lords. I put some pods in my tank a couple weeks ago because I have a mandarin, but they were so tiny compared to this guy and a couple of his other friends i saw swimming while the lights were off. The tank seems more alive when its dark and you whip out a flashlight. I guess this is a good sign. My tank used to be littered with ugly long algae but I haven't had to go in and scrape it off in awhile. It hasn't come back for a couple weeks.

This tank was supposed to be a good hobby for me to relax and enjoy creating something but I feel like I'm always going to have a panic attack when I see something new. Thank you for your time.

I would say that in most of times, seeing new things does not mean something necessarily bad.
But I know what do you mean.. I used to get pretty scared too while finding new things in the tank ( specially at night with lights out) , but this peace of mind will come in time while you age in this hobby.

For algae in the beginning, I always added hermits, turbos, nassarius vibex and dwarf ceriths. Once they clean and brush everything, the population will cannibalize and adjust its size automatically. This big cuc will minimize the algae issues.. cuz when the algae gets long its have to find critters which will eat that but you can still get rid of them with vibrant or similar.

Good luck!

 

[kevgib67]

Oh thank the lords. I put some pods in my tank a couple weeks ago because I have a mandarin, but they were so tiny compared to this guy and a couple of his other friends i saw swimming while the lights were off. The tank seems more alive when its dark and you whip out a flashlight. I guess this is a good sign. My tank used to be littered with ugly long algae but I haven't had to go in and scrape it off in awhile. It hasn't come back for a couple weeks.

This tank was supposed to be a good hobby for me to relax and enjoy creating something but I feel like I'm always going to have a panic attack when I see something new. Thank you for your time.

Copepods are small ( it’s what you put in) and amphipods are larger, probably hitchhicked it’s way in. Both great for the tank as well as nutritional food for your fish. Like you, I’m drawn to my tank with a flashlight when the lights are off.