Weird bug shrimp things found swarming under rock Please Help ID

[Tristanyurieef]

I was cleaning one of my tanks and decided I might want to do some reworking of the rock. All was fine until I moved one of the foundation pieces and ALL OF THESE LITTLE THINGS CAME SQUIGGLING OUT ALL OVER FROM UNDER THE FLAT PIECE. I thought it was bristleworms but they also kinda look like little shrimp, please help ID they literally make my skin crawl looking at them. They have two eyes, antennae and little wriggly legs on the end parts and they don’t crawl they almost like convulse to move around. Please help Id

 

[Vette67]

Amphipods. They are normal, healthy cleanup crew. If they bother you, they are a favorite food for a mandarin goby. But normally, people seek active pod populations and it is generally a sign of a healthy tank. They are harmless, though. They won't bite you. No need to be afraid of them.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[Soren]

+1 gammarid amphipod

 

[Tristanyurieef]

Amphipods. They are normal, healthy cleanup crew. If they bother you, they are a favorite food for a mandarin goby. But normally, people seek active pod populations and it is generally a sign of a healthy tank. They are harmless, though. They won't bite you. No need to be afraid of them.

And welcome to the forum!

Thank you so much for responding! If they’re not doing going to harm fish and coral we’re all cool haha.

 

[Alexopora]

T

Thank you so much for responding! If they’re not doing going to harm fish and coral we’re all cool haha.

They shouldn’t, in fact amphipods are scared of most fish. When i started a new tank about a year ago, my amphipod population exploded but upon adding a starry dragonet, the amphipods disappeared. I know that the adults are too big to be eaten by the dragonet but definitely the dragonet scared the amphipods and the other pods (isopods, copepods) into hiding cause they would be out and about once the lights out. That’s when the dragonet is asleep.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

They’re good guys. I love having pods in my tank. They make good food for some fish and they clean up under some of my larger corals. Also some corals will eat them.

 

[LRT]

Would be beneficial to have natural predator to keep amphipod population in check.
You posted a picture of hunchback amphipod. Do a quick Google search and you will find plenty of results with these pods in particular they will eat zoas and rfa. Even BTA if they acquire a taste and no other food source is available.
All pods are not created equal and there are plenty of species that are carnivorous.

 

[kels64]

Congratulations! You have a super healthy tank if you have a large population of amphipods. That’s awesome!