Little pod eating ghosty things in my reef tank !!!

[daclozer]

I have several of these little critters in my reef tank that look like a little ghost. The are semi transparent, white in color with a forked tail and a oval shaped head. The front end of the head opens up wider than the body when hunting. I thought these guys were pretty cool looking until I caught them eating the little shrimp looking pods. Does anybody know what these are? Should I try to get rid of them and how to do it. I watched one laying about 40 eggs last night. I am concerned as one of the large ones had about 5 pods in it last night. They are very small so it is pretty hard to get a good picture of them. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Sound like Mantis Shrimp to me... Bad critters,,, they will decimate things in the tank...even can kill your fish and crabs...
Editing:

They can also get rather large...Did you add LR to your tank recently? This could be where they came from.. Or, LS added could have introduced eggs into the tank and then they hatched...

 

[daclozer]

They are not mantis shrimp, I have experienced those the hard way.. OUCH !!! These guys are some type of copepod or arthopod, they are about 1/16 of an icnh at largest.. and they can change shape. The mainly crawl along the glass, but I noticed the larger ones crawling onto the substrate ( I assume looking for stuff to eat)... They are bizarre, very cool looking, but if they are eating my pods (which are very beneficial) then I need to know if I need to get rid of them. Thanks for the reply though.

 

[Guest]

Cool, I want to know what they are too....

 

[daclozer]

The front side of the head area opens up real wide and surrounds its victim. You can see the pods inside of them wiggling around, I saw one escape when it opened its mouth to attack another one....

 

[kidafius]

Does it look like this?

I'm not sure whether or not these are good, but I have some in my pod pile.

 

[kidafius]

all i know, is it is some sort of flat worm. I'd be interested in whatever you find out, though.

 

[steve-s]

From the outline of the animal (dark pic?) it does resemble a flatworm/planaria.

See if this >>link<< has anything similar.

The only other suggestion would be an >>ampipod<<.

Cheers
Steve

 

[daclozer]

I finally shot some pics of the little beasties.. Any clues???

 

[kidafius]

I have those in my tank also. I think my previous pic is the same thing, just alot worse quality. I think they are flat worms. I'm not sure if they are parasitic or not.

 

[kribbz]

that is exactly what i started with in my 65 when it first began. 6 months later FULL blown infection of flatworms. if you can siphon them out before they begin to reproduce. i use an airline hose. but it is a pain in the butt. saifert also manufacures a product called flatworm exit that works pretty well just be sure to dose a little more than the instructions say.

 

[steve-s]

It is an acoel flatworm

Not really considered parasitic, but not desired either.

Cheers
Steve

 

[steve-s]

saifert also manufacures a product called flatworm exit that works pretty well just be sure to dose a little more than the instructions say.

Flatworm exit does indeed work but sometimes at a cost. This will kill every flatworm in the tank when dosed slightly more than recommended.

It is very important to remove as many as possible before administering the treatment. When the flatworm dies, it releases a very potent toxin into the water which if the concentration becomes too high will damage animals in the tank, fish are the primary ones hit. Syphoning the pests out can be a pain, but it will minimize much of the risk.

It is also advisable to have several changes of carbon at hand as well as 25% change water at the ready.

Cheers
Steve

 

[saltcreep1025]

bump... anyone know what that is?>

 

[Joey]

OMG!!! I do to, and I also have some that kind of look like that, that are brownish,orange and are on my glass,rock and sand! Its covering my rock and it looks like ugly rust!!! HELP!! Is this good or bad? 8O

Thanks!
Joey

joey3292002@yahoo.com