• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Amphipods?

S

SamK

Amphipod1.jpg
Hi,
We were doing one of our weekly cleanouts of the protein skimmer and found an amphipod - pretty large, in the cup. We couldn't get a good picture of it, but one of the kids found this shot on the internet. It eactly matches the one we found. If there's one, I guess there are more? Are they good for the tank? Should we leave them alone? Where do they come from (hitch hikers?)? Any comments would be appreciated.:)
 
downbeach

downbeach

Great for the tank, where there's one there's others. Usually come in as hitchhikers in Cheato, other macro algea, rock, etc.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Yes, these are good for your tank. You will also likely see tiny mysid shrimp along side these lil guys, which are swimmers as opposed to the crawling amphipods. Check out that article for more info, but here's a quick pic taken from it...

Mysid6.jpg


Both of these creatures will provide filtration (by eating excess food/nutrients that would otherwise turn into nitrates) and also are a good food source themselves to some fish and corals.

Be happy you have them Sam. It's a sign of a well established tank!
 
S

SamK

Thanks. We weren't sure what they were and the kids and I are trying to avoid anything in the tank that we don't recognize.
 
S

SamK

I'm glad the tank is in good shape, but so many things, we are told, are not beneficial for the tank. Just cheking. Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top