As of yesterday I saw pin sized white spots on the glass of my tank- alot of them, but they were soo small I could barely see them-i thought it might be an algae growing or something similar. Well, tonight in looking closer and in a spot that the pump is not hitting and they are actually moving all around--even on the rock, just really hard to see. What the heck are these and should I be worried? Nothing else has been introduced to my tank near the time of these things and all that is in there is my cleanup crew that is now well outnumbered. Ughh I hope someone can ease my pain here soon lol :banghead:

That's a good sign! Those are either/and/or copepods, amphipods, isopods, etc. They are pretty much saltwater bugs. Nothing to worry about. Although there are some isopods that are pretty mean, but they are very rare.

Your octo (when he/she arrives) is likely to find them tasty!

Oh wow, ty so much Animal Mother and dwhatley!! You both respond back to me so much in here when needed! That takes alot off my mind- In all the threads I have read about startup I had not read anything that described them as being like what I was seeing-even in the "beginner" sections lol. There are just some things(copepods, amphipods, isopods) that I read what others post but dont didnt know what they look like. Again, tyvm!!!

You're welcome.

The first time I saw one in my first tank, it freaked me out.

A lot of mine are red these days since they like the Cyclop-eeze too!

Ok, so I am still a bit concerned that these might be the mean ones that Animal Mother mentioned but there are LOTS. I am putting 2 youtube links here --- the first is of the copepods on a piece of shrimp I dropped and the second is of Barnaby doing some wierd actions--like he is trying to clean himself from something. He does this quite often and the only thing I can imagine it is are those bugs.. Is that normal?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YeryzryGVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkTEdr5P2dM

any help would be great- btw, all water parameters are good... Thanks
Rob

I'll watch the videos when I get a chance, don't have the proper software installed on the pc at work.

If Barnaby is twitching and rubbing himself all over, this is cleaning himself and shedding suckers. It looks funny.

The dangerous Isopods are Cirolanids. You don't want to touch them either. They can boar into your flesh. You can google images of them.

TY animal mother, I am off to work for the next 10hrs anyway so I will look forward to your info when I get home tonight--I am such a worrying parent! lol

That seems like typical cleaning behavior.

Those pods are harmless. A Mandarin Goby buffett.

Bigpapa,
Watch for little semi-opaque discs (almost like flat eggs), these will be she from the inside of Barnaby's suckers. From what I have seen and read, they don't shed anything else but will sort of scratch themselves all over as if they were removing dry skin. The first time I saw Trapper shed her suckers I thought she had laid eggs. Strangely enough, I never saw her eggs, just her 6 fry.

What is the salinity of your tank?

the salinity is 1.026 and ty both for the great info--- BTW, should I get a goby for those pods or just let them do there thing. How is there numbers controlled? Would a goby even coexist with Barnaby? For the most part I have read that there really arent any fish that do coexist but it seems that there must be some method of numbers control. I do have a cleanup crew goin but I think Barnaby has taken a liking to them cause he has not taken a fiddler from me for 3 days now..

For whatever reason, the pods will die back within roughly 2 weeks. According to Pete Giwojna (noted seahorse expert and author) in a recent response to an Ocean Rider post:

"Sometimes a burgeoning colony of amphipods will multiply to the point that it exhausts the supply of some vital nutrient, which will cause the population to crash."

I would remove the word Sometimes. For some reason, pods don't seem to stay in abundance for a long time, even without predation, but almost always show up in mass with a new tank. In Sistrurus' tank they are kind of interesting to since they are bright red and large (they love Cyclop-eeze too 8-))

No, you do not want a fish in with Barneby. The pods should take care of themselves (Barneby may be eating them and ignoring the crabs). Even just changing the environment of my little guys, it took them a week or two to adjust and Barneby may just be acclimating to his new home.

Your salinity is fine. Be sure you are topping off with fresh water (daily or every other day depending on your evaporation level) and that you are premixing your saltwater for water changes so that you are getting a fully dissolved reading. The only other thing I can think of that might irritate the skin (probably not the case) is your PH. You should be around 8.4 and I think you mentioned that it was initially quite a bit lower. You may want to check in the morning and again in the evening to see if it is changing significantly over the day and SLOWLY add a buffering agent to your top off water if it is not stable. Even using an RO/DI unit, local water buffers differently. Thales is successful with just mixing salt (I believe he mentioned using heavy carbon and DI filtering but not RO), my water will not even come close to 8.4 without buffering.

Plenty more heart attacks to come - keep us posted :grin:

ty dwhatley!! But "Plenty more heart attacks to come" ??? oh heck y couldnt I fall for an easy pet, like a rock? oh, nvm I have live ones of that too!!! :roflmao: Anyway, I will check my ph again-it was 8.2 yesterday at night but I have not used the light in 2 days now-just external room light so he would have a calmer transition and hopefully do some more expoloring.

:angel: RIP Barnaby... I am so sad right now I cant even explain it. all the parameters are ok--not attacked by anything or himself, sal 1.026, temp 74deg, calcium normal, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia all 0, alk 4.0meq, ph 8.2, Barnaby in envelope for 15day guarentee to SWF.com .... :sad: I really wanted a baby but I guess I cant even handle the young ones either... :goodbye:

RIP Barnaby :sad: :angelpus: try not to beat yourself up over it, your posts have really come across as making a solid effort to provide a good octo-home.

Geez. I am so sorry to hear about this BigPapa. This is really sad.

I hate to say it, but this is just leaning that much more toward something else being wrong with apparently the captured population of these octopuses. There is probably something "fishy" going on with the capturing methods, or perhaps they are being placed into an infected/incorrectly medicated holding tank that is setting them up to die, much like the fish captured with cyanide tend to die shortly after purchase.

We are working on figuring out the source of these octopus, who collects them, and what methods they use.

Like Monty said, don't beat yourself up over it. It was most likely NOTHING you did or didn't do. Just hold in there, and don't get discouraged.

:(

RIP Barnaby:cry:

RIP Barnaby :angelpus:

Nancy

TYVM all of you for your thoughts and concern...

Bigpapa,
I read about Barnaby in the thread discussing the trend problems and the response from SWF.com (I am getting impressed with this site, not many who use importers would have taken the time to enter our forum) and dreaded reading this post. I know AM is still distressed over Tuvalu because this species seems so appropriate for an aquarium and human interface so, sadly, the effects will be longer lasting than the amount of time you spent with him.

There is a lot of wonder and great communication trying to raise a pet that so little is known about even its natural life style and this is the saddest part but I continue to be impressed with the willingness of members and now a dealer to explore.

Chin up.

"D", I know you and so many others have given me so many positive things to work with on improving my experience level as well as heart felt concern and I appreciate this soo much. Yesterday was a tough day for me as I have never had an experience like this and it really knocked me for a loop, I know my length of time with barnaby was less but this was on a different level because it also hit my confidence very hard-I think anyone reading all my numerous questions about my stuff would be able to know I was for the most part a "worring parent to be" and my worst fear in my eyes came true.. I brought him into my house and he died. In talking with AM I feel a bit better but will always have that concern until it doesnt happen, I just cant help it, but I know I am not the only one with that, just probably the most inexperienced. I will keep trying and will keep asking all the questions I can "leaching" off of everyone here lol. I am just thankfull for everyones patience with all the info I ask for!! Hopefully some day I will be knowledgable enough to return the favor to other new owners.
PS. I am also very impressed with SWF.com as even yesterday during my distress I defended them continually because of there help, concern, and the 15day guarentee, this part means so much but not for the reason most would think-money back. The reason is it tells me how important the customer is to them and want to make sure comes back. Not even my LFS will give any kind of insurance like that. Its the you broke it you bought it routine. I cant really fault the LFS because of so many inexperienced people buying things because they are "pretty" or "cool looking" as well as kids just tring to sell something.
Ok, now I have gone off on a rant and will stop ....
again, tyvm D!!!