Unknown fry

seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
I have a bunch of tiny, tiny fry of something swimming around in cracks in my rocks. I know this thread is worthless without pics, but they are so tiny and move so fast, I really can't get any pictures of them. Best way I can describe them is they pretty much look like a tiny body with eyes and a little tail. They can swim in all directions and move very fast. They stay in holes in the rock where there's not much flow. I'm thinking hermit crab fry, cause I don't have any male/female pairs of anything else in the tank other than snails.

Anyone know of a good site to identify fry or one with good pictures of hermit crab fry? BTW, some of these appear to have been living for at least a week!
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Might be pods (good) see if they look like any of these

Melev's Reef - Visual Identification

here one... type of pod, a copepod

copepod2.jpg
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
No, they look similar, but I have those in my tank too (had them in almost all of my tanks) and they aren't the same. These things don't crawl in the glass. They just swim.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Oh and the ones that are at least a week old are slightly bigger (they've grown!) and you can see the light bounce off their silver eyes.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
My camera won't focus on something that small, but I think I got a good video of them. It'll take me a while to upload it onto my computer and YouTube, so check back in in a while.
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Great vid, I actually saw them... a head & a tail swimming ... looks like you described "fry" but not sure of what... maybe some other member can make a guess.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

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Do you have a pair of cleaner shrimp in the tank? I've had live mysis in my tank - maybe young mysis? Just guessing. Might even be the crab larvae you mentioned.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
No shrimp except for one pistol shrimp, that's why I was thinking hermits. I've seem skunk cleaner shrimp larvae before and they were bigger than these. And I've seen what I'm pretty sure was emerald crab larvae and these are different.
 
G

Gfoot2000

Member
if they really are fish fry, none of us will be able to identify them because all fish fry look the same. nauplius of copepods or barnacles or larva of snails or others will be easier to identify cuz they look different at fry stage. your convinced they are fish fry and this i believe you cuz not really hard to mistaked a fish fry from other larvas, all here is now is to sit back and watch them grow
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
No. They aren't fish fry. I only have one fish in that tank, unless he's sneaking in a girlfriend on the side. lol. That's why I thought hermit crab larvae. I think next time I go to my parent's house I will try to find my old microscope and look at one of these things under it.
 
Uslanja

Uslanja

Active Member
Hi seafansar! Sounds like you might have hermit crabs. The above links are very good! Nice work Reefmack!!! We had something hatch in our tank as well and we are leaning toward hermit crabs because we just do no have anything else in there that could be paired, as well there had been no new additions for quite a while prior to the discovery. Here are two shots that Tracy was able to grab the night they were discovered. Since then the total number appear to be down but there are some still seen living and swimming around inside the rock.

Do yours look anything like these?

2010_1117frye0006-copy.jpg




2010_1117frye0005_edited-1.jpg
 
scottsdale454ss

scottsdale454ss

Member
i wouldve assumed mysis shrimp, i have hundreds of them. I had no idea hermit crabs could spawn in an aquarium. I wonder if i've had any, they look very similar to mysis
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

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Now I'm wondering if what I've seen are hermit larvae, and not mysis, although I did once have mysids come in with some Chaeto (unless those were actually hermit larvae). Good pictures Dave & Tracy!
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Great pics Dave & Tracy! I will let you know if they look like that when they get bigger, cause right now they are too small to see that much detail with the naked eye.
 
Mischko

Mischko

Member
Just as I read this thread, today I noticed my Gramma going berserk on stuff floating around in the tank. When I had a closer look I could see it was some kind of larvaes floating around. Since I have shrimps and hermits in the tank, I do assume either of them had eggs and they hatched. From what I could see and observe it did look like lil' crabs or shrimps. My Gramma had a field day for sure and got quite some belly.
I got 2 pepermint shrimps and one had for sure eggs, about 2 or 3 weeks later I could see some lil empty shrimp molts floating around at times. I doubt any would survive with fish and corals feeding on such stuff, but hey, cheap good healthy life food for your tank! Besides, shows your tank is healthy for your critters to multiply.
 
cbrownfish

cbrownfish

Well-Known Member
seafansar said:
Great pics Dave & Tracy! I will let you know if they look like that when they get bigger, cause right now they are too small to see that much detail with the naked eye.
Click to expand...

Sara, neat stuff! I have schools of copepods swimming in my fuges but they are much smaller. They do look a bit like fish fry from what I could see. Do you have a pair of clowns or bangaii cardinals? I have isolated critters like this in a gladware/clear cup for closer examination and pictures (or video). Have you tried to harvest a few with a turkey baster to do just that?
 
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