Found this on a coral my LFS said I didn't have to dip because they quarantine their corals

[Tryp72]

I bought a zoa frag at my LFS and they said I actually didn't have to dip the corals prior to placing in tank since they "quarantine" everything there.  I'm new to all this so I dipped the frag anyways and this is what I got.  Are these bad guys or good guys?

[Tired]

Those are amphipods. They're generally harmless and make good fish food, but in large numbers they can harass corals. Usually they don't do that in a tank with fish. They're also pretty much inevitable in a reef. 

 

Dipping is probably a good idea anyway. You could always ask about their quarantine procedures and run that by the people here, see if it seems good. 

 

In future, you may want to check out the thread at the top of this forum page. You'll notice it has an amphipod as its display icon. The fastest answer is one you find yourself. We're always glad to check out critters for you, but learning to do your own research is a valuable skill in this hobby. 

[Tryp72]

thanks for the fast reply.. I actually did check the first thread and I didn't know for sure if it was an amphipod or not which is why I posted.  Its all good.  I understand theres a lot of gatekeeping in any hobby when newbs ask stupid questions.

[Tired]

Gatekeeping is when people try to keep newcomers out by setting requirements that don't actually exist, like if we were to say "actually you have to spend $5000 on your reef to be a reefkeeper, otherwise you don't count". Being short with newcomers who ask very common questions is... I think just called being short with newcomers. I'm not sure there's a word for that. 

 

A thing that can really help with this forum, and I think with a lot of hobbies in general, is if you provide some evidence that you've tried to find an answer on your own. Like if you said in your post, "they look like the amphipods in the ID thread, but I wanted to be sure". It's always nice to know that someone's put some thought into their questions. 

 

It's also nice to see that you've clearly done some reading and come across the "every coral should be dipped" advice. Which is quite good advice! More often than not, it's the right thing to do, even if the specific coral doesn't end up needing it.

 

I have an additional piece of advice for that: place a net into the dipping container, and dip the coral contained in the net. If you see interesting creatures in the net, quickly transfer the net into a container of clean, pure tank water. That will hopefully save the creatures from dying, in case they're harmless and/or beneficial. It also allows you to have the option of quickly killing any unwanted critters (usually via squishing), instead of leaving them to die slowly in the dip. Even pests deserve the respect of a quick death; they're still animals, and crustaceans in particular are thought to feel pain.