Amphipod Problem!

[ChiTownRomeo]

I hate to keep posting all the time like this but It's like once I got back into the hobby it's been problem after problem. First that weird algae, then the killer clowns and now I have a serious amphipod infestation. I mean I have THOUSANDS of them. They always keep my zoas closed up crawling all over them constantly.

At night they come out in the thousands and make everything close up. Anything small that I can get that is reef safe that will eat them?

Don't wanna get a mandarin cause then I would have to keep supplying the pods. I'm not even sure they eat amphipods though.

Tank in question is only a 55 gallon so nothing big. Thanks for any advice!!

 

[Autumnsky]

For this I have read overfeeding can be causing them to get too happy and have a breeding explosion. Reducing feeding will allow the numbers to reduce naturally, but it would take a little while.

What fish are you considering in the future for the tank. Maybe try and combine both objectives, a fish which doesn't only eat amphipods but loves to eat them if they are there.

If you have certain fish you for sure want, and the selection of an Amphipods eater conflicts, make a better tank mate choice.

One of the problems of tank predator selection, is that sometimes the "temporary" fish (shrimp) is near impossible to capture in a tank later. So if you do go with a fish/predator, check out the bad things about the creature! Just in case.

 

[ChiTownRomeo]

Very true. I already know the pains involved in removing fish. I had to relocate 4 green chromis once in a tank full of caves and trust me that was NO fun lol. Right now the tank is empty (had to remove some killer clownfish) I know I want a diamond goby and a clown goby for sure. I wanted a royal gramma or dottyback but after my research I concluded they an get territorial. So I'm thinking about making this tank a Banghaii cardinal tank with a diamond goby and maybe a tailspot blenny with some cardinals. Gotta do more research though. I stayed up and took a flashlight to the tank last night and omg soooo many pods were everywhere. Even my Duncans were feeding on them as they got trapped in the polyps.

 

[Autumnsky]

Yikes! That sounds like a terrible thing. Time for them to go on a diet.

 

[Sniperhank]

Some tanks just produce large amounts of them. I wish my systems would. Toss filter floss into your sump and pull them out by the loads. Give/sell them to friends.