unknown critter questions.

[fiftymillimeter]

i have a few things in my tank that i didn't put there. unfortunately, things are either too small to get photos of or nocturnal, so no pics.

 

1) tiny white things, smaller than fleas that float around and congregate near the glass. are these "pods"? if so, is it time for a fish or something?

 

2) a very small red and black worm that seems to live under my gsps, though i have seen him on other live rock.

 

3) a small white "roly-poly" looking guy that i saw last night between some yellow buttons. i couldn't get a good look at him, but he was small and kinda grubby.

 

anyone have any ideas on what these are? good/bad/ugly?

[fiftymillimeter]

also, i received, dremeled and installed the maxijet 900 and hydor flo yesterday and believe it or not saw zoanthids open up that i had never seen. all the corals really seem happier.

[NanoBob]

1 and 3 sound like young and mature pods. I don't know about 2? Sorry

[fiftymillimeter]

so what is the deal with pods, then?

 

if i have no fish. the black brittle star eats them, according to my wife. but they are still multiplying quickly.

[fiftymillimeter]

hm, found this in another post:

 

"the little cirlces with the dots in the middle are flatworms. As long as they stay a clear to gray color, then they are fine and will just eat pods. The red ones are the bad ones as they will eat coral."

 

that's not good.

 

does anyone know how to catch that guy? he was too quick for my forceps.

[xdannyx_]

2. bristleworm probably, describe it a little more.

[NanoBob]

More than likely you don't just have one, if it's a flatworm. He's just the only one you have seen. I have never seen one in my tank and don't know how to get rid of it or even if you should. I have heard of people using a red flashlight and tweezers or a turkey baster after the tank lights go out to catch bristle worms, maybe that will work.

 

Pods are a good thing they don't do any harm and will never get to the point where they overrun your tank. I am no expert, but pods in my cube seem to come and go. At first they were everywhere then nothing and now they're coming back. Any number of animals eat them I would imagine so no worries there.

Bob

[fiftymillimeter]

thanks. doing more research on pods has convinced me that those guys are nothing to worry about.

 

the possibility of the bristleworm is a little worrisome, however.

 

he is small and thin, red at the business end and black near the back, with (unless i am mistaken - i've only seen him a few times and not for very long) tiny legs like a very small centipede.

 

last night on flashlight patrol he was just sitting on top of my gsp. when i reached in with the forceps he ducked out of sight.

 

red flashlight, huh?

[MadTownMax]

bristleworms are nothing to worry about either, detritus eaters usually. If the "worm" you have does actually have legs - see if it has antennae - if it does, then it's not a bristleworm, it's something else - and a picture will be needed for ID.

 

If you want to get a good picture of stuff at night- focus your camera on something (like the wall) at approximately the same distace of the thing you want to take a picture of in your tank (maybe an inch further if you wanna get picky)and then take the picture using the flash and you should be able to snap a shot before they can run away.

[fiftymillimeter]

this is def. him, though the one in my tank is tiny.

 

[fiftymillimeter]

okay, so he's not so bad…

 

"This is probably your average, run of the mill "bristleworm". That's right a "bristleworm". All "bristleworms" are members of the Phylum Annelida, Class Polychaeta. Should you take it out? No way, most errant polychaetes (errant meaning that they move about freely searching for food) are beneficial scavengers and crucial members of the live sand community. Probably ninety-nine percent of the "bristleworms" are harmless and are reef-safe. These animals are active scavengers and predators, but most are strictly opportunistic. The predatory ones usually only consume other worms, detritus, bacteria, algae, micro-crustaceans and other things. This is a very positive and desirable activity. There are only a few notable exceptions to this rule that aquarists should be aware of, and even these exceptions are somewhat rare in aquaria. The primary exceptions are a few species of the Family Amphinomidae. One species in particular has become the stereotypical bad "bristleworm", the Caribbean Hermodice carunculata, but is rare in aquaria (probably due to the small amount of Caribbean rock used in our tanks) and it's diet is primarily gorgonians"

[NanoBob]

That doesn't look like your ordinary run of the mill bristle worm. They are usually white. If that is a bristle then I learned something today.

[fiftymillimeter]

here is the reefs.org link that i found him on:

 

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_page...s/faq_rock3.htm

[xdannyx_]

i think they look cool, i leave em alone

[firefishbrain]

after reading this, I don't feel so paranoid about them thanx for setting up this post, the LR that I had, had tons of these little guys, they were tiny and I tried to rid the rock of them, I've just learned something today, Thanx!!!!