Live Rock Question

[nickl]

Hi All,

Ok I have an smaller established marine tank already setup (just live rock and a clown).

I started up a new 24 gallon nano, to create a new mini reef. I took a piece of live rock from my existing tank and put it into the new one to aid in the cycling process. After about 2 weeks I have notice an abundance of small "creatures" on the live rock that I did not previously see in my other tank. After some searching, I have come to the conclusion that they are isopods. There are probably over a hundred of them on this one piece alone. What bother's me is that a photo I saw on a saw that closely resembles what I have is the Cirolanid Isopods, which are basically parasites that can kill your fish.

My question is does anyone else have these little monsters? Are they normal? My other tank is/has been doing fine and my clown has never been attacked or shown any signs of distress.

Any ideas. I have attached a pic of a Cirolanid Isopod whic looks pretty close to what is in my tank now. They range in size from I'd say 1mm to 4mm.

[gvv]

I saw the short info here:
http://melevsreef.com/id/cirolanid_isopod.html
So, only leaving the tank fish-less for a long time can eradicate them. It means they came with fresh LR...
Nasty creature  :?

[Nelson]

Did a quick Google to find chemical treatment for the parasite and found this but didn't research it any further.  This may be more attractive than leaving your tank empty of fish for many months to irradicate them.

"organophosphate (e.g. DTHP; Neguvon, Masoten, Dylox...)."

[nickl]

But what doesn't make sense is that this rock is from an established tank. There is nothing new/live in this tank. The fish has never shown any signs whatsoever of them being present.

I read there are many types of Isopods, most are harmless/beneficial, except this one. I can't be sure that these are the correct ones, as I only have about 2 seconds after the lights come on to see them before they scurry and hide.

[rockgarden]

If you look into your tanks with a small flashlight about an hour AFTER your lights go out, you will likely find many unusual creatures that you have never noticed before. They live/hide in the LR or under the sand during the day but are very active at night. In addition to the normal coolection of "pods" you will likely find white brittlestars, and free swimming annelid worms and maybe even a rock crab or two that you never knew you had. IMO viewing the marine reef inthe dark is often more fun than seeing it with the lights on.  That's probably why I like it better than the African Cichlid options .

IMO you likely have the normal collection of marine invertebrates and nothing to worry about.  If I am wrong, don't sue me .

Ron

[gvv]

I can't be sure that these are the correct ones, as I only have about 2 seconds after the lights come on to see them before they scurry and hide.

Sorry, but it means that this is not your picture? If so, you could be wrong and could confuse this pod with Amphipods, which actually beneficial and good food for something like my Green Mandarin. In other words you should not worry unless you will surely identify them... and it could be not so easy as there is huge number of these guys exist :wink: .
Regards

[nickl]

Well when I turned on the lights yesterday morning I saw a larger one (say 1/4 the size of the diameter of a dime) on the bottom. He quickly "rolled" into a ball and swirled around abit before quickly darting under the live rock. I can plainly see a couple of much smaller ones (say the size of a pin head) roaming around on the sand. When I did a search the closest picture I could find to the big one is the one I posted, again it's "pretty close" as I only had a few seconds to see it.

I'm inclined to agree with the previous poster that these might be in fact amphipods. That coupled with the fact that in my other tank my clown has not shown any distress whatsoever. I am just surprised I have never seen these little guys in my other tank. It was the first thing I notice in the new one.

Thanks for all our help, I will keep you posted.

Nick

[kennyman]

my clown cleans up any free swimming pods prety fast. He loves em. Maybe thats why your not noticing them in your older tank.

[gvv]

my clown cleans up any free swimming pods prety fast. He loves em. Maybe thats why your not noticing them in your older tank.

Good point - when there is predator, they will get out only at night.
So, once again, if fish feels fine and you cannot find any parasites on it, you'd better relax

[PowderBlueTang]

I think you might have mis-Identitfy the isopods in your new tank, I have ones like that crawling all over the graval and live rocks at night and some during the daytime, but a see thru (transparent) type and they look like a shrimp and are harmless and they provide food for my clowns as the others have stated.
I could be wrong because I haven't seen your take in person!
But most likely they are harmless! If they mature and turn that brown tint then I might be concern!

 Lenny