Mytes in my substrate?

Shack · 12-12-2001, 10:08 PM

I have hundreds of little bugs running around my substrate. They are absolutley tiny, very hard to see. At first i thought there was ust one or two but closer look shows tons and tons. Any idea what they are? Good or bad?

FishDaddy · 12-12-2001, 10:38 PM

Shack,
That's good!!! What you are seeing are part of the infauna that makes live sand "live"! These are generally crustaceans, mostly Amphipods and Copepods. I really shouldn't reveal this to you, (it's part of the rite of initiation as a reefer

) but one of these days, you will see some of these:

The first reaction is usually: "OMG, I've got a whole spawn of Mantis Shrimp"!!!!

The picture is a common Amphipod, Maera mastersi.
For some ID of the things you are and will be seeing, see the Hitchiker FAQ:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/
And a really great site with Indo-Pacific stuff you might see:
http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/page1.html

Your next required equipment is a magnifying glass and a flashlight with red lens for night viewing.....no joke; we all have them!!!!

Dick

beach bum · 12-12-2001, 11:05 PM

Hey FishDaddy, what do you use as the red lens for your flashlight?

thanks,

Shack · 12-12-2001, 11:09 PM

ROTFL!
THanks Dick! I did see a couple of those guys in the picture running around the LR, and a whole gaggle of smaller ones in the substrate. Im glad they are good because they are too numerous to count! You guys crack me up on here! ( I laugh now, but in a week Ill be asking where I can get a red flashlight!)
Thanks again! Its very frustrating when you see something new and you are not sure if it should be in the tank or not. But releif is a great feeling knowing something is actually going the way it should!

FishDaddy · 12-12-2001, 11:22 PM

Shack,
Sounds like you have a healthy population of critters and that's good!

Beach Bum,
The red lens flashlight lets you spy on your critters after lights out in a dark room without spooking them....most can't see light in the red spectrum.
Many of the LR/LS critters are nocturnal and you can see animals with the red light that you would never know are in your tank.
Dick)