Id

[Pazil]

Well I don't really know how to explain these hundreds of babies in my tank...but SOMETHING hatched tonight.... Anyway just after lights out.. I took a little flash light for my nightly inspection and when I looked in the tank I saw what looked like hundreds of small whiteish colored things swimming around. If I could decribe them I would say they are approx. 2-3mm long with a body that is about 1mm think and then a tail that extends backwards about 3-4mm. They are swarming in the tank like flys do in the air. The clowns are going crazy eating them.

Sorry for the bad description ... I tried to take a pic but they are not turning out at all.... Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[banditpowdercoat]

Sounds like Amphipods. They are good eats for fish

[marie]

Originally Posted by Pazil

Well I don't really know how to explain these hundreds of babies in my tank...but SOMETHING hatched tonight.... Anyway just after lights out.. I took a little flash light for my nightly inspection and when I looked in the tank I saw what looked like hundreds of small whiteish colored things swimming around. If I could decribe them I would say they are approx. 2-3mm long with a body that is about 1mm think and then a tail that extends backwards about 3-4mm. They are swarming in the tank like flys do in the air. The clowns are going crazy eating them.

Sorry for the bad description ... I tried to take a pic but they are not turning out at all.... Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Do you have hermit crabs or cleaner shrimp?

[noirsphynx]

Look like anything here?
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchpods.html

[Pazil]

Originally Posted by marie

Do you have hermit crabs or cleaner shrimp?

Both!!

[Pazil]

Originally Posted by noirsphynx

Look like anything here?
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchpods.html

Not really but it is hard to tell.... they are so small.... most of them seem to have gotten eaten pretty quick. I did notice some orangish colored sacks on the LR over the last 2 weeks... I will try to get a pic of these in the morning. I also noticed a greenish colored something or other in one of my zoa colonies... I will also post a pic of this in the morning.


Thanks

[Borderjumper]

Its a cleaner shrimp spawn. The fish go nuts eating them dont they!

[Delphinus]

Peppermints, cleaners, etc. - as long as you have 2 they'll spawn every few weeks. The babies look like miniature versions of the parents. They don't last very long. Life is harsh in the ocean .. and occasionally reef tanks..

[kien]

Yup, sounds like the peppers or cleaners. I have 3 sets of each for that purpose. Spawning and providing extra food for everyone. They are handy because the peppers and cleaners alternate weeks that they will spawn like clockwork They remind me of sea monkeys.