tank comes alive at night

l3fty999 · 10-30-2009, 07:04 AM

I'm not real sure how they got in there, but I have a larval crustacean of some sort, it's either some kind of mysis or maybe a krill. I first noticed them when the main lights turned off and the moon lights turned on. At first, it appeared as though something stirred up a little debris, but upon closer examination, I could see that these "particles" were moving on their own. Anyway, I know that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go. The first shot is my tank at night, the other two were taken with my microscope, two different lighting options.

charlesr1958 · 10-30-2009, 11:10 PM

Do you have any shrimp in the aquarium? Because those sure do look like larval shrimp.

Chuck

redsea reefer · 10-30-2009, 11:13 PM

That looks like Mysid shrimp

l3fty999 · 10-30-2009, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redsea reefer

That looks like Mysid shrimp

I have one fire shrimp and one pistol shrimp that I know of. I say "that I know of" because the pistol shrimp was a hitchhiker. I've been to several sites dedicated to plankton and I narrowed it down to some kind of mysid, but some of the krill larvae also looked similar. I would really like to know how they got in there, because I haven't added anything in months. I have used frozen mysis shrimp to feed my tank's inhabitants, but I'm sure if any eggs were in there they wouldn't be any good since they were frozen. At any rate, it's nice to see food show up naturally in my tank.

Aaron

redsea reefer · 10-30-2009, 11:26 PM

They most likely came in with the live rock.

Frankie · 10-30-2009, 11:35 PM

Great pictures! I sent a pm to Boomer for a more accurate ID. I am guessing some type of shrimp myself.

l3fty999 · 10-31-2009, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankie

Great pictures! I sent a pm to Boomer for a more accurate ID. I am guessing some type of shrimp myself.

Thank you, a positive ID would be cool. As far as the pics go, the first one was taken with an Olympus SP500UZ. Because of the low light and the fact that they didn't want to cooperate, I had to monkey with some of the manual settings (very nice set of features to have) and take several pics before I got one that I felt was good enough. The other two were taken using the DR Instruments Reefer's Digi-Microscope I bought from Live Aquaria. I started wearing gloves right after I began using it.

Aaron

Boomer · 10-31-2009, 01:58 PM

Eddie has it correct they are Mysid shrimp

l3fty999 · 10-31-2009, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer

Eddie has it correct they are Mysid shrimp

That's kinda what I was thinking now that they're getting bigger. Now to figure out where they came from. I haven't added any major amounts of live rock in several months, although I did score some free rubble from the lfs about a month and a half ago. However, that tank is well established, doesn't get any new live rock and doesn't appear to have any kind of shrimp in it. I have also used "reef bugs", which supposedly will add live planktonic critters to the tank. Is it possible that eggs could have made it in that way? I didn't think so myself, considering that I've been using that for quite a while and didn't see any kind of shrimp larvae before. Well, enough rambling for now, and Boomer, thanks for your input!

Aaron

Reefmack · 11-01-2009, 04:33 PM

Probably came in with the rock or the rubble. Mysids are a very tiny shrimp and you probably just didn't see them till they multiplied. I have them too and figure they must have come in with the rock or some chaeto I added.

l3fty999 · 11-01-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reefmack

Probably came in with the rock or the rubble. Mysids are a very tiny shrimp and you probably just didn't see them till they multiplied. I have them too and figure they must have come in with the rock or some chaeto I added.

You know, I got to thinking, at one time I had more fish in there and they were probably keeping the population down to levels that wouldn't be noticeable unless I was looking for them. By the way, they are now big enough to be seen at a few feet from the tank without any magnification.

Aaron

10-30-2009, 11:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
charlesr1958 Scopas Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Mactan Island, The Philippines Posts: 431 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: tank comes alive at night Do you have any shrimp in the aquarium? Because those sure do look like larval shrimp. Chuck __________________ __________________________________________ Chuck's Addiction Reef & Reef Aquarium Articles and Links

10-30-2009, 11:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
redsea reefer Golden Moray Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: L.A, California Posts: 2,148 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: tank comes alive at night That looks like Mysid shrimp __________________ Eddie 34g RSM 130 with 45#'s live rock and 30#'s aragonite reef sand. Tunze 9002 skimmer with inTank media rack - Koralia 2 My Tank Thread

10-30-2009, 11:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
redsea reefer Golden Moray Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: L.A, California Posts: 2,148 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: tank comes alive at night They most likely came in with the live rock. __________________ Eddie 34g RSM 130 with 45#'s live rock and 30#'s aragonite reef sand. Tunze 9002 skimmer with inTank media rack - Koralia 2 My Tank Thread

10-31-2009, 01:58 PM	#8 (permalink)
Boomer Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Duluth, Minnesota Posts: 2,609 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: tank comes alive at night Eddie has it correct they are Mysid shrimp __________________ Boomer Want to Talk Chemistry ! The Reef Chemistry Forum Want to See More ! The Coral Realm If you See Me Running You Better Catch-Up An explosion can be defined as a loud noise, accompanied by the sudden going away of things, from a place where they use to be.

11-01-2009, 04:33 PM	#10 (permalink)
Reefmack NaClH2O Addicted Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Charlotte, NC, USA Posts: 6,160 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: tank comes alive at night Probably came in with the rock or the rubble. Mysids are a very tiny shrimp and you probably just didn't see them till they multiplied. I have them too and figure they must have come in with the rock or some chaeto I added. __________________ aka Terry Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. No such thing as an evil crab. Only humans have the ability to be evil. "If you don't like what your fellow forum neighbors are doing, then don't pay so much attention to them" 34g Red Sea Max 130 (April 07), ~50-60 lbs. live rock, Aragonite substrate. Lighting: Current USA Outer Orbit Pro - 150W HQI, 2 x 24W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent by ATI, 2 x 24W Super Actinic T5 HO Fluorescent by UVL, Vortech MP20, LifeReef RSM Siphon, EShopps RS-75 Sump, Euro-Reef custom sump skimmer, Simplicity media reactor, Tunze Osmolator ATO, ReefKeeper Lite L3 controller Reefmack's RSM 130 and...Red Sea Max Owners Club and My JBJ 6G in this thread[/color][/i]

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