I don't know what this is...

Miss.Shelle · Jun 9, 2021

I need help identifying this please. I think it's a tiny, baby shrimp???
He must have been a tiny, tiny, tiny hitchhiker though because I don't have shrimp in my tank... and its not like they can just spawn from nothing. What I have in there so far is one keyhole limpet, one cerith snail, 3 astrea snails, and one ninja star astrea.

Eagle_Steve · Jun 9, 2021

Miss.Shelle said:
I need help identifying this please. I think it's a tiny, baby shrimp???
He must have been a tiny, tiny, tiny hitchhiker though because I don't have shrimp in my tank... and its not like they can just spawn from nothing. What I have in there so far is one keyhole limpet, one cerith snail, 3 astrea snails, and one ninja star astrea.

Google this and compare. My old eyes ain’t so great lol.

gammarid amphipod

Sharkbait19 · Jun 9, 2021

Looks like an amphipod. Hitchhike on rock and sand and coral. Good guys.

Miss.Shelle · Jun 9, 2021

Eagle_Steve said:
Google this and compare. My old eyes ain’t so great lol.

gammarid amphipod

I googled it and came up with this. The screenshot is identical to what I can see with my eyes and it is a grammaridean amphipod. Thank you!

Miss.Shelle · Jun 9, 2021

This is so cool guys!! How do I keep them alive? If they have survived this long soes that mean my tank is doing better than all of my texting shows? What do they do?
Lol sorry if I seem over excited. This is my first saltwater tank and it's cool

I've already seen copepods on the glass but they are too small to take pictures of.

Sharkbait19 · Jun 9, 2021

These guys come with most live rock. Pretty hardy, but a good sign that life can be sustained.

Miss.Shelle · Jun 9, 2021

Sweet

I've been reading that they feed off of copepods though... is that true? If it is, how do I keep my copepod population alive? It's kind of nice seeing them.