Harmful to my Zoa? Critter ID

[DAWREEFER]

Just woke up this morning and got ready to do my daily zoa growth picture and I found these little guys on one of my frags. Should I be concerned, my zoas don't seem to be closing at all. They're white and have very small antennas from what I can see.

 

[ying yang]

No picture if video fyi.

Maybe a pod or spiniod worm or possibly a zoa eating nudi.
But others will need picture or a good description to be able to id

 

[DAWREEFER]

No picture if video fyi.

Maybe a pod or spiniod worm or possibly a zoa eating nudi.
But others will need picture or a good description to be able to id

Might need to refresh the page. There is a picture that I added after the initial post

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Might need to refresh the page. There is a picture that I added after the initial post

Hard to tell from pic, but possibly gammarid amphipod. Give that a quick look on google and compare images there to what you are seeing.

 

[DAWREEFER]

Hard to tell from pic, but possibly gammarid amphipod. Give that a quick look on google and compare images there to what you are seeing.

Are they beneficial or harmful?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Are they beneficial or harmful?

They make tasty snacks for fish, eat micro algae and detritus. They can annoy zoas if they get over populated, but I have never seen then damage any. Just walk on them and annoy them. Their population is usually regulated by food supply and predation.

 

[ying yang]

Umm hard to see, picture little bleary sorry.
But the bottom ine looks like a spionid worm but could be an ampripod

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

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Pods most see as beneficial micro members

 

[DAWREEFER]

They make tasty snacks for fish, eat micro algae and detritus. They can annoy zoas if they get over populated, but I have never seen then damage any. Just walk on them and annoy them. Their population is usually regulated by food supply and predation.

I definitely think they're gammarid amphipods, I have two clowns, 2 dot blenny, and a mandarin dragonet, but he's pretty small. I have a 20g long so I don't think I'll be adding any more fish. I also have a few snails and an arrow crab. Do you think any of these will eat them?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I definitely think they're gammarid amphipods, I have two clowns, 2 dot blenny, and a mandarin dragonet, but he's pretty small. I have a 20g long so I don't think I'll be adding any more fish. I also have a few snails and an arrow crab. Do you think any of these will eat them?

Clowns may from time to time, and same for the blenny. They are too big for most mandarins. They eat smaller pods like copepods. In addition, unless you have a captive bred mandarin, a 20 long is not much of a breeding ground for smaller copepods. With that said, you may need to supplement the tank with copepods for the mandarin. They are eating machines and can decimate a pod population very quickly.

Just watch the mandarin for how much girth it has and make sure that is belly stays a tad puffy. If it doesnt and the fish doesnt have noticeable "filets", then you will need to supplement its food by adding pods. Provided it is not captive bred and eats frozen/pellets.

 

[DAWREEFER]

Clowns may from time to time, and same for the blenny. They are too big for most mandarins. They eat smaller pods like copepods. In addition, unless you have a captive bred mandarin, a 20 long is not much of a breeding ground for smaller copepods. With that said, you may need to supplement the tank with copepods for the mandarin. They are eating machines and can decimate a pod population very quickly.

Just watch the mandarin for how much girth it has and make sure that is belly stays a tad puffy. If it doesnt and the fish doesnt have noticeable "filets", then you will need to supplement its food by adding pods. Provided it is not captive bred and eats frozen/pellets.

Yeah, I dose the tank with pods and put phyto in daily to feed them I did my research before getting the fish and it was the last fish I added, so whatever pods were in there from the liverock/overtime I've been adding to them

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Definitely not a copepod could be some type of amphipod but no worries either way they won't much on zoas annoy yes eat no .