Critters Population boom

[nakazoru]

Hi guyz;

Came back from China and notice that my tank has a overwhelming population of:

1. minature feather duster on my glass and LR.

2. flea like bugs on sandbed and LR, I mean everywhere. Even on glass where flow is low.

3. Hair algae everywhere now, though no trace of diatom.

4. trace of cynano at a spot of low flow area. I thought I run rowaphos and this should not happen.

For 1 and 2, my tank has no natural predator for these guyz so what fish should I get to get ride of them?

For 3, I guess 2 mini blue tang may do the job.

Item 4 confused as this is the first trace of cynano in my tank, as I ran rowa for a while now.

[dreamzcape]

hey naka, just sharing what i think. your rowa may have been exhausted and it may be time to replace it? Also i think the critter population is supposed to be healthy for the sandbed. Just my thoughts cheerz

[iantoh]

hi bro nakazoru,

if youre able to catch some of the critters- probably benthic copepods and amphipods, id be really interested to buy some.

if youre looking for a natural predator, a scooter blenny or mandarin would be a good bet, though youd do best to add only one and see if your pod population can sustain it.

cheers,

ian

[nakazoru]

hey naka, just sharing what i think. your rowa may have been exhausted and it may be time to replace it? Also i think the critter population is supposed to be healthy for the sandbed. Just my thoughts cheerz

Haiz;

When I say alot I really meant alot. They use to come out only in the night, now even day....

Like they have built a colony somewhere...

[nakazoru]

hi bro nakazoru,

if youre able to catch some of the critters- probably benthic copepods and amphipods, id be really interested to buy some.

if youre looking for a natural predator, a scooter blenny or mandarin would be a good bet, though youd do best to add only one and see if your pod population can sustain it.

cheers,

ian

Bro Ian;

These guys is really small... They float after I try to pinch it. I think they are amphipods bcos they have legs and climb the glass...

If you really wants I sell you 1 dollar a piece. Joking Free lah.

Just scope some of the sand and you will have some I guess.

[dreamzcape]

hoho i would actually like some too man....my sand bed is dead. IMO i think generally any fish would serve to control the population but the scooter or mandarin would be more adept due to their habits.

ian what does benthic mean?

anyway would be glad to trade some scoops of sand with u naka!

[chrisyew]

Bro Ian;

These guys is really small... They float after I try to pinch it. I think they are amphipods bcos they have legs and climb the glass...

If you really wants I sell you 1 dollar a piece. Joking Free lah.

Just scope some of the sand and you will have some I guess.

Are they shape like little crockroach??

[nakazoru]

Are they shape like little crockroach??

Yep, they certainly do, look transparent and got more legs.

[chrisyew]

Yep, they certainly do, look transparent and got more legs.

OK you are not alone. My new small nano tank has quite alot this morning when I juz on the lights to check. Look quite nice if they are under the blue light with their transparent body hehe. But when they move about in a group, kinda quite creepy.....

[cjh]

haha... gd wat... got all this thing can keep nice nice madarin fish... i also got alot in my tank and sump also but scare keep madarin fish eat finish all the pod then die of hunger...

minature feather duster very nice wat... like small flower will not harm ur coral some more ...y want to get rid of them??

[iantoh]

ian what does benthic mean?

hi there bro dreamzcape,

benthic organisms refers to organisms that occur or relate to the bottom of a habitat, in this case, the substrate of the ocean or our tanks. for example, take copepods- free swimming planktonic copepods are referred to as calanoid copepods, whereas benthic (tending to stay on substrate surfaces) copepods are classed as harpacticoid copepods.

basically, it kinda just means lives on the substrate, rather than in the water column, etc. for bro nakas case, i mentioned benthic because, if his pods are benthic and tend to linger on the substrate, then more likely than not theyre amphipods as opposed to copepods.

bro naka! i would love to have some sand from you. may i offer an sps frag in exchange?

thanks,

ian

[nakazoru]

hi there bro dreamzcape,

benthic organisms refers to organisms that occur or relate to the bottom of a habitat, in this case, the substrate of the ocean or our tanks. for example, take copepods- free swimming planktonic copepods are referred to as calanoid copepods, whereas benthic copepods are classed as harpacticoid copepods.

basically, it kinda just means lives on the substrate, rather than in the water column, etc.

bro naka! i would love to have some sand from you. may i offer an sps frag in exchange?

thanks,

ian

Aiya;

No need anything lah. Just let me know when and where u wana pick it up?? B4 or after CNY?? Better aft lah.

[dreamzcape]

ah thanks....i'm too lazy to actually remember so many details man...haha thanks ian..but actually hor...naka...what u can do is set up a mini tank using some old sand and actually let the critter population explode then every month u so some sand exchange, help keep the sandbed populated.

[Maverick77]

Anyone knows what's the reason for such bloom? Is it due to lack of predator?

My tank also has lots of critters crawling ard recently... Will there be any harm in the long run?

[dreamzcape]

probably due to lack of predators or there's an area in ur tank where they can flourish( usually also without predation)...that's my opinion!

naka how? exchange some sand with you leh..