Dead blue-green chromis... and found this after

[RiversideReefer]

This morning i found my blue-green chromis dead and just sitting on a rock upside down... yesterday i noticed he wouldn't come out to eat and has been just hiding in the cave.

Upon closer inspection.. found these little micro organisms crawling all over the inside of my aquarium glass!!

What are these?!?! its hard to get a good picture of them, but they are tiny like grains of sand, varying in size, and they move around!!

 

[lpsouth1978]

Impossible to tell from the picture, but most likely copepods!

 

[RiversideReefer]

Impossible to tell from the picture, but most likely copepods!

my last blue green chromis seem to enjoy eating them off the glass..

 

[RiversideReefer]

also if they are copepods, i didnt realize those are naturally occurring in a new tank? i was under the impression you had to introduce pods into the tank..

 

[lpsouth1978]

Just saw that this is a pretty new setup. Seeing a massive number of copepods in a newer aquarium is quite normal, and a good sign that things are going well. They will be all over the place for a bit and then their numbers will equalize and you wont see them as much. Most fish will eat them, some exclusively, and they are a great source of food.

 

[lpsouth1978]

also if they are copepods, i didnt realize those are naturally occurring in a new tank? i was under the impression you had to introduce pods into the tank..

Did you add any live rock, sand or corals? Anything other than fish?

 

[RiversideReefer]

Did you add any live rock, sand or corals? Anything other than fish?

i added used live sand (bought the tank used as package), which i washed with tap water... and dry rock and fish so far.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Then I can only assume that at least a few survived the rinsing of the sand. They can multiply astoundingly fast in the right conditions!