SuperflyFanatic Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 What are the little beetle looking creatures (very very zoomed in), and what is the fuzzy worm thing? I have a swarm of the little bettle guys all over everthing. Some are big enough to take an entire small food pellet and drag it to a dark corner. What eats these guys too? The worm, from what I can tell, that is the smallest one. I've seen two other pretty impressibely large ones from time to time, but they are quick to hide back in the holes of the rocks. I currently have a scarlet shrimp, a sand star, a conch, several astrea snails, a male and female emerald, and two red hermets. None seem interested in eating the beetles as a snack, nor do they seem bothered by them. Link to comment
SuperflyFanatic Posted June 4, 2003 Author Share Posted June 4, 2003 Oops, I can only attach one picture apparently. The worm is a slender light tan worm with bristles along it's entire body, seems to be a scavenger. Link to comment
bgoode Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 The "beetles" are amphipods and the worms bristleworms. Both are good. Link to comment
SuperflyFanatic Posted June 5, 2003 Author Share Posted June 5, 2003 But *that* many? I mean, they are swarming in there. When I drop a single sinking pellet for the shrimp or emeralds, I see anywhere from 5-10 of these beetles swarming and fighting over it. I'm afraid my shrimp will be too stressed from them and not get any food. Link to comment
Acoustic Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 If you can maintain them in your tank for en extensive period of time then your the man. Link to comment
WorldNation Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 hmm, i got some of those in my tank as well. good to know they are my homies Link to comment
SuperflyFanatic Posted June 5, 2003 Author Share Posted June 5, 2003 I actually got them as hitchhikers on some nice live rock a while back. I used to notice only a few. They have multiplied into quite a pack, I honestly couldn't even start to count them all. But some are getting pretty massive, and I still see dozens and dozens of baby ones. I'm also glad to know they are good critters. I was mostly worried about the quantity of them. Do they do any harm to other creatures in the tank? I've seen them crawling all over my sand star and snails, but they seem ok with it. The emeralds usually push them out of the way to get to the food pellets. Link to comment
Crakeur Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 they are very beneficial to the tank. plus, as long as they continue to multiply, they will be a constant source of food for the tank (assuming you have animals that eat meaty foods in the tank). Link to comment
SLOreefer Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 almost any fish will eat them and corals will as well. a very good natural food source for the tank Link to comment
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