[Nate_Bro]

ok, this is what i have in my tank... millions of them!!!!

i just upgraded my system from 29 gal, to a 89 gal system about 1 and a half months ago. i used all new water except about 2 gal, because of contaminates.

i always use frozen brine shrimp, never live.... i did not have these larva in my other tank. and i have not added anything new to my system since i upgraded. where could they have come from?????

are they brine shrimp larva??? i also do not have any pairs of fish, so they can't be fish or shrimp larva...

the reason i found them, is i was doing a night feeding of corals, and the corals and the fish have not been eating like they have always done, since about 2 weeks ago. so i was watching them eat something in the water (i didn't feed them yet) and when i put my LED flash light in the water, there where thousands of the light seeking larva...

so i got some under the microscope and they look just like that picture..

???? how did they get in there?

and its making my tank cloudy....

 

[hunterfreeman1]

they are copepods and anthropods and are normal they hitchhike in on your rock and sand. the wont harm the tank if you dont like them get a fish that will eat them like a six line wrasse

 

[rayjay]

That is a mysid shrimp, not brine shrimp.
Probably most salt water tanks have them as I've always had them in all of my tanks, as well as anyone I know with salt tanks has them as well.
Brine shrimp cannot live and breed in any tank with predation of any kind.
Even without predation they would get swarmed up into the filters where they perish.

 

[hunterfreeman1]

Brine shrimp cannot live and breed in any tank with predation of any kind.
Even without predation they would get swarmed up into the filters where they perish.

not true it can and has been done a lot

 

[Nate_Bro]

well i have only natural filtration, and my filter pads are very course, so my copepods and anthropods can pass. i have a breeding population of copepods and anthropods for almost a year now, i know what they look like, these are diff.

but mysid shrimp? really?

and i thought i had to pay $50 to get a starter culture...

these have very big black eyes, and are very bright orange, if that helps...

 

[Tethered_Limbs]

i want mysis swimming in my tank...

 

[rayjay]

not true it can and has been done a lot

OK then, show me the documentation.
I've been studying artemia for over a decade now and raising them for that time period, going commercial with them about 7 years ago.
The only method of dispersion for them to get from the salt lakes/ponds to anywhere else is via birds, and wherever they get deposited there is no way for them to set up breeding cycles where predation exists because they move too slow.
For the most complete information you can find for artemia see the link below.
CLICK HERE AND SCROLL DOWN TO SECTION 4.0 ARTEMIA

 

[rayjay]

i want mysis swimming in my tank...

You most likely have them already.
Put a red cellophane covering over a strong flashlight and shine at the bottom of the tank, especially between rocks, and they are usually found cavorting around, mainly at night when they are safer.
They look like miniature cleaner shrimp.

 

[rayjay]

well i have only natural filtration, and my filter pads are very course, so my copepods and anthropods can pass. i have a breeding population of copepods and anthropods for almost a year now, i know what they look like, these are diff.

but mysid shrimp? really?

and i thought i had to pay $50 to get a starter culture...

these have very big black eyes, and are very bright orange, if that helps...

If you google "mysid shrimp" you will find a lot of info and even pictures.
There are many types and they don't all have the same colouration, but the same basic shape and mostly the same size at adult.

 

[Tethered_Limbs]

You most likely have them already.
Put a red cellophane covering over a strong flashlight and shine at the bottom of the tank, especially between rocks, and they are usually found cavorting around, mainly at night when they are safer.
They look like miniature cleaner shrimp.

have done this since getting the tank and have yet to see anything other than copepods, amphipods, chritons i think theyre called, n baby snails. all on rockx or the glass never anything in the water coloum

 

[rayjay]

That's unfortunate but can be remedied.
Go to your LFS and ask them if you can siphon some out of their holding tank that contains live rock.
You can siphon out from the bottom between rocks if you move the siphon end fast enough and have a strong siphon. Then pour through a net to capture, stirring the water to keep the mysids from clinging to the pail you use. Keep a little water to transport home and put the rest back in the rock tank.
Or, find another hobbyist near you that has mysids and siphon some out of their tank.
If you can get 5 to 10 then in a year or less you will have a density of them that the tank can hold.

 

[Jadinop]

but mysid shrimp? really?

and i thought i had to pay $50 to get a starter culture...

these have very big black eyes, and are very bright orange, if that helps...

If the picture you posted is an exact match to what you have, they are not brine shrimp or mysis shrimp in my opinion.

What fish do you have in the tank? A pair of gobies or similar looking fish?

 

[rayjay]

They ARE mysid shrimp.

Taxonomy

Scientific name:Mysid sp mov 620 (interpreted as Mysid sp mov 620)

GBIF classification:
Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: MalacostracaOrder: MysidaFamily: MysidaeGenus: MysidSpecies: Mysid sp
Phylum:Arthropoda

Class:Malacostraca

Order:Mysida

Family:Mysidae

Genus:Mysid

Species: can be various ones.

http://www.reedmariculture.com/mysidshrimp/
http://www.mblaquaculture.com/content/organisms/live_mysis_shrimp.php

 

[Nate_Bro]

I have no pairs in my tank, only single sexes.

the other thing is, i have never seen an Adult Mysid shrimp.. only copepods and anthropods. i have spent hours at diff times of night, and never seen anything, exept copepods and anthropods.

if i have such a dense population, wouldn't i need a lot of adults?
i'm not saying your wrong, i'm just trying to understand...

i'm going to see if i can snag a picture of one tonight...

 

[sc9854]

if you can have one i'd get a sea horse lol you've ot plenty of food

 

[rayjay]

I have no pairs in my tank, only single sexes.

No pairs of what? And how does this query relate to mysid shrimp?

the other thing is, i have never seen an Adult Mysid shrimp.. only copepods and anthropods. i have spent hours at diff times of night, and never seen anything, exept copepods and anthropods.

A lot of hobbyists don't know what they are looking at in their tanks and don't know the real difference one from another. Most copepods are so small you will have a great deal of trouble seeing them.
Probably the most common "bug" in all of my tanks are gammarus and mysids with a couple types of arthropods (not anthropods) that can be found in smaller numbers.

if i have such a dense population, wouldn't i need a lot of adults?

Indeed, if you have mysids then there are adults there. You won't see the small ones usually but the adults are large enough to be seen.
The mysids eat their own young but enough survive to keep the populations up to whatever the food level is in the tank.
They are difficult to culture in any meaningful numbers because of this cannibalism.

Mysids exist in quite a few different species and I think some of the larger ones get up to 3/4" long or slightly more. The species we normally find in our tanks are much smaller. The adult ones in my tanks generally run about 1/4" in length.
I've seen 3 distinctly difference species of mysids in my tanks, but none of them are the large sized species.
Frozen mysis shrimp fish food are larger than the mysids in my tank.(other than the mini mysis that is)

 

[Jadinop]

I've seen plenty of mysids in my tanks and they look nothing like the picture at the top of this thread.

Nate Bro, can you post the link where you got the example picture from?

Edit. Nevermind, I found the link. The picture you posted is a juvenile salamander.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/images/articles/raising/larva.brineshrimp.jpg

 

[rayjay]

Hopefully what you have looks like the ones shown on the sites linked to in post #13, Reed Mariculture and MBLA pictures.

 

[Nate_Bro]

ok, i finally got a specimen under the microscope here is what i have been looking at...

this is a smaller one, but there are others that look just like that juvenile salamander image i posted in #1

this img is at 75X magnification

i'm also updating my tank specs tonight: here

 

[rayjay]

Wish I had a scope and camera to take pics like that. Heck, I can't even get top line pics of my tanks with what I do have, and it's not the camera's fault!!:angry:
Anyway, I'm unable to determine from that picture as I can't see enough detail to tell but someone else with better sight than I have might be able to tell you.
I'll see if I can have a board member from MOFIB have a look.
Anyway, here is another profile shot of a species of mysid shrimp.
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=ig60_Bowmaniella_02.jpg&title=Bowmaniella%20portoricensis&cap=This+mysid+shrimp+generally+resides+a+soft+burrow+in+the+upper+few+centimeters+of+sediment.+It+is+a+nocturnal+filter+and+suspension+feeder+that+may+have+a+large+impact+on+the+structure+of+zooplankton+communities+from+its+selective+feeding+habits.+Click+to+enlarge.

Here is a page with various shrimp but show seven species of mysid as well starting about the fifth row down. Just hover your curser over a picture.
http://www.oceanwideimages.com/categories.asp?cID=70&p=4