Anyone

[MWELL706]

Anyone know what these are? When the lights go out they separate and move around. Possibly eating algae? When the lights come on they gather in the top corner. I’ve also had a bunch of them pop up in my sump. Any ideas? This is my first post on here so hopefully I did it right

 

[Soren]

Anyone know what these are? When the lights go out they separate and move around. Possibly eating algae? When the lights come on they gather in the top corner. I’ve also had a bunch of them pop up in my sump. Any ideas? This is my first post on here so hopefully I did it right

Hard to see for sure in your picture, but I would guess they are limpets from what I can see and from your description. Can you give any more information about appearance/shape or get better close-up pictures?

 

[V A R I A N T]

Look like limpets to me - good guys for cleaning crew

 

[vetteguy53081]

Anyone know what these are? When the lights go out they separate and move around. Possibly eating algae? When the lights come on they gather in the top corner. I’ve also had a bunch of them pop up in my sump. Any ideas? This is my first post on here so hopefully I did it right

Reef safe limpets which rest during day and active at night. They in the wild move from the sun and gather in a shady area thinking your light is the sun.

 

[MWELL706]

Hard to see for sure in your picture, but I would guess they are limpets from what I can see and from your description. Can you give any more information about appearance/shape or get better close-up pictures?

They’re like a cone shape with a black dot on the top. All white. I haven’t added anything to the tank. They appeared in the sump out of nowhere and now in the display.

 

[Soren]

They’re like a cone shape with a black dot on the top. All white. I haven’t added anything to the tank. They appeared in the sump out of nowhere and now in the display.

Limpets are cone-shaped and ridged like a conical straw hat. Some have a hole at the point on the cone which could be the black dot you mention. Small limpets can easily be introduced with rocks where they stay hidden. They often reproduce readily in aquariums.

My experience with them is from my ocean-direct live rock order last March. I could not see any anywhere on the rocks when first introduced to my 90g quarantine tank to culture the rock over time and see what life-forms it contained. Within the first couple weeks, I saw a couple limpets cleaning the tank sides. Shortly after, there were 40+ and have sustained to the present day in that tank.