metrokat Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 This thread is not for the folks that believe amphipods to be little angels. This is for those that know what B#st#rd$ these monsters are. I thought my amphipod problem was under control. I thought there were a few that lived on the macros and in the crevices in the rock that would scurry about when I stalked my tank with a flashlight at night. BOY WAS I WRONG! I fed the tank 1mm new life spectrum crustacean pellets (actually I was feeding the sun coral). I could see my clownfish get animated (they love the pellets too) and the crabs. With my flashlight I saw and army of enormous amphipods in the sand scurrying about. Saw them carry pellets from the sand to the rock where they are hiding! I thought they ate detritus and there is plenty of that in my tank because I feed heavy. But these guys purposely were in the sand looking and stealing the pellets. Has anyone witnessed this behavior? The culprit is probably the chaeto I am running in the fuge in the back chamber of my BioCube. Whenever I changed the filter floss I caught a few and happily fed them to the sun coral. I did not think the population was increasing! Should I stop the fuge? Link to comment
yoshii Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 My amphipods also love NLS pellets! (They would do the same as yours) It's not dangerous, they are just picking up the leftover food Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Yoshii, when is your birthday? I would be happy to gift amphipods to you. They are responsible for stressing out many corals, most noticeably the zoanthids. Yes I've seen them munching on them too. They are dangerous. Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Yep mines love pellets as well but i only get to see them in my sump i have dozens. Unfortunately if any make it to my display my seahorse or wrasse are sure to eat them. I would caution that they breed like bunny rabbits with all the extra food and lack of natural predators to keep their numbers in check. If you find their numbers to be getting out of hand just get a small goby (tiger,greenbanded,trimma etc) and they will restore balance. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I always tried to feed mine to make the populations grow but enough people have reported online some kind of variation to the normal gammarids (like ipsf.com sells) that actually eat/pick and pull at zoanthids and other corals. it seems to me that species just never got in my tank or the ones I keep never get that big...based on how you guys have described the bad ones Im glad to just have some tiny ones that crawl over each other and work as harmless detritivores Link to comment
siwelk Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Pics or it didn't happen. Link to comment
tinkerer Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 this is why i got my sixline. a week after he entered the tank the amphipods are to terrified to show themselves during daylight hours and my zoa is fat and happy. Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Pics or it didn't happen. My super macro lens birthday present is in the mail ya? If you find their numbers to be getting out of hand just get a small goby (tiger,greenbanded,trimma etc) and they will restore balance. I have a Yasha, is that not his meal of choice? Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I have a Yasha, is that not his meal of choice? They do eat them but they dont hunt them down as aggressively as the smaller gobies do. I once had a convict goby that was an absolute destroyer of pods....he would eat pods as large as he was Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'll have to consider it for sure. Question: I'm going to transfer everything to my Red Sea Max in a couple of weeks, what are the chances the amphipods will get in there too? Or better yet, how to make sure they won't? Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 The only way to really ensure pods wont be transferred would be to boil the live rock your transferring over. You could also try a high salinity dip although that may only get rid of the adults and juvenilles there's no way to guarantee the eggs would be destroyed....sorry kat predation is the safest option. Link to comment
Trick Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I thought wrasses ate amphipods Link to comment
patback Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Mine are everywhere. The one rock in particular is infested even with lights on. Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 If I catch any I feed them to my sun coral or hidden cup corals Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 If i can catch any from my sump i feed them to my seahorse she loves them. Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 i might have to bring your sea horse some presents when I visit. Link to comment
bizzarro Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I use to see them scurrying over the rocks at night but many of them seemed to have died off or eaten. Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 and this makes you sad because? Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 i might have to bring your sea horse some presents when I visit. She would love that... OMFG! Its so crazy that they get to that size....i wonder what preys on them Link to comment
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