View Full Version : creatures in my tank


rc
Nov 3rd, 2003, 09:29am
i wasnt sure where to post this, i have found lots of tiny almost not visible to the naked eye little creatures that almost look like jellyfish sitting on my caulerpa leaves, anyone have anyidea what these could be?
could they be harmfull to a baby octo? what about thos pesky little anenome looking things growing on my glass?

NickA5582
Nov 3rd, 2003, 06:35pm
I think the little things are amphipods, which baby octos eat. The anemones are the same I have, I think. Try a syringe full of boiling water on them.

joel_ang
Nov 3rd, 2003, 09:03pm
Don't be too worried about those critters, most of them probably came from your live rock and are mostly harmless. Alot of them are also scavengers and will help clear up your tank. :)

rc
Nov 3rd, 2003, 09:48pm
i didnt put any "live rock" in it was all base rock that i had left over from a previous tank that i took apart, but i have put a lot of caulerpa, this is where they probably came from, i do have tons of copepods and amphipods all over, thats one of the reasons im still waiting to get my octo, im trying to let the little critter population boom. the other little criters are amazing they look just like almost microscopic jellyfish, the pic is a little blury bur hopefully ssomeone will have some ideas

Colin
Nov 5th, 2003, 03:04am
They could be the polyp stage of a jellyfish or certainly another cnidarian at least... thats part of the fun about setting up marine tanks :)

cephjedi
Nov 5th, 2003, 10:38am
Letting natural detriovores like Amphipods boom is a good thing for your tank, but amphipods and copepods are only suitable food for most newborn cephalopods - anything bigger than a BB will ignore them completely.

As for your resident cniderian, It's almost certainly Aiptasia, a pest anemone that plague many aquarists- fishkeepers, octo keepers and reef people alike. If it is Aiptasia, it's going to A) multiply fast, and B) eat pretty much all of your copepods and amphipods. Peppermint shrimp (lysmata wurdemani) will eat them, and then your octopus will happily eat the shrimp. :D

Good luck. Jimbo

rc
Nov 5th, 2003, 01:07pm
i do not beleive this is an anenome as it pulses and atempts to swim just like a jelly fish, i was searching for pictures online and found something that looks very similar, they call it a benthic hydromedusa, i will attempt to take another picture, the creatures are growing at an astounding rate, they are now readily visible and with a little searching i can alwasy find a couple hanging around