ity bity critters on my live rock!

[WillyWonka]

i just started my tank up a week and a half ago.  its a 12 gallon eclipse with about 12 lbs of uncured fiji and tonga live rock.  i put the rock in a week ago and took a  close look at it today.  i'm seeing extremely small tan colored critters crawling all over the live rock very quickly.  what are these little devils and how should i go about treating the tank or rock?  thanks

[Sahin]

Those little devils are the pods-copepods, amphipods etc.

They perform a valuable function in the reef tank.

 

The rocks will take about two to three weeks to cure.

You dont really need to do anything other than to check the parameters- Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at this stage.

The cycle will complete itself and requires no doing from you other than to make sure the ammonia levels etc dont go up too high.

 

What you could be doing while you wait for the tank to cycle is research about the kind of corals you would like to keep and read up about general reef keeping as well as nano-reefing.

 

Hope that helps.

[printerdown01]

Congrads on the pods... Every beginer's first shock and amazement . And yes they are good.

[Stang69]

Congrats on your pods. This is a good start on a healthy reef. The reasoning behind not letting your Am. Lvlvs go up is to preserve the life on the rocks you now have.  Part of the function they do in a reef is to 1 provide food for some fish 2 Most act as a kinda like little vacume cleaners if that makes any sence to you. Ya also might want to find a LFS or a friend that has some LS in thier tank and take out about a cup or so to bring more life to your sand bed. Good luck and looks like you are off to a good start.

 

   Jeff

[Joxer the Mighty]

Hi Mr. Wonka,

 

You've gotten some great advice so far. Keep an eye on that Ammonia and do water changes if needed. Try to save as much life on the rock as possible.

[My Alife 7]

Yes, all life on those live rocks are wonderful. Keep them alive.