Are these Mysid shrimp?

[hopperjl16]

These little guys are swarming over my rocks at night and seem to hatch more every couple of days. I think they're mysid shrimp? Hopefully the video is clear enough to see them. Are they beneficial? I haven't noticed anyone in my tank eating them (clown, watchman goby, firefish). What fish would eat them?

Shoot I thought I could post a video but I can't figure it out. So they're tiny, prob about 3-5mm, their eyes reflect the light really well. And they're always skimming around the rock surface. Very fast little guys. They look like they have a roundish body near the eye and then a tail, kinda like tiny tadpoles. I can prob count 50 or so at a time on one rock.

 

[Diesel]

Without a pic it's hard to tell but I think we talking copepods here.
Show us a picture or Google one if you think you can find the same for what you experience.
BTW, good guys if they are pods.

 

[Naiad]

Without a pic or video I can't tell for certain. You can try using photobucket to upload it if this site is giving you trouble.

 

[twilliard]

Google amphipods and copepods and let us know

 

[redfishbluefish]

Agree with others, without a picture, don't know for sure. However, I'm going to venture that they are most likely amphipods considering they are a common addition to our tanks, and like like a baby shrimp:

 

[hopperjl16]

Maybe this will work....I tried to put the video on youtube. Here's the link:

 

[hopperjl16]

The video looks blurry on my ipad but if you view it on a pc it's good.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Nice video....but too far away to identify the type of pods. What we usually see is a frantic "newbie" posting that they have bugs running all over their rocks. It is fair to say that you have a healthy population of pods in your tank....and, for the most part, that's a good thing....and these "bugs" are good. Sign of a healthy tank.

 

[Diesel]

Natural food source for all kinds of fish.

 

[Naiad]

Actually from their movement I do believe they are a type of "fairy shrimp". To far away to say for sure they are mysid but at least close enough for any fish that wants live food.

 

[hopperjl16]

Here's a better video, much closer up.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would hazard a guess and say shrimp. That is great! Should be a great addition to the ecosystem.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Yup. Definitely mysids.

 

[hopperjl16]

Ok cool. So will most fish who need pods or other live food eat them? I'm specifically eyeing up a red dragonet goby at my LFS but I want to be sure my tank can handle it. My research claims it's an "easy" fish to care for, but I haven't had a fish yet that needs live food.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Fish go crazy for them.

 

[Zoey]

Thats a great populations, you'll have some happy fish!