What is it? I saw my first bug?

[FLReefGirl]

Sorry, no pics.
My tanks is 7 weeks old and I saw my first bug. I read that all kinds of things show up at night when you shine a flashlight on the rocks and this is what I did. It sort of looked lik a small termite, maybe light brown or dark tan. What do you think? Good/Bad?

[Orca33]

its probley good, some type of copeopod

[papagimp]

Amphipod? Sounds like one to me anyways. Most coepods/amphipods are going to be great for your tank. There are a few bad ones out there, this is where having a picture available will help. You definatly want good bugs in the tank, to keep em though, you will need to ensure they get food. Coepods will need addition of phytoplankton and filter feeding foods, the amphipods can feed on leftover bits of flakes and pellets, but the phyto will ensure there offspring get enough food to grow completely.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/4449/123821294177110_b73f454e9e.jpg
Larger amphipod- "grammarus shrimp"
My tank is infested with these and they keep my mandarin and scotter blenny nice and fat. Also help feed the "tank" with lot's of amphipod nauplii, the pod nauplii are tiny water column dwelling dots that will feed many corals and filter feeders.

[FLReefGirl]

I only saw one and it was such a surprise I didn't have my camera handy. It ran into a whole in the LR when I flashed the light on it and I didn't see it again. It was so quick but I don't think it looked like that pic. Maybe, I'll have to try to find another one. What should I look for as signs of bad bugs?
I added a some zoo's 2 weeks ago and have been feeding it DT's live marine Phytoplankton 2 x a week. Is this ok or is it too much?

[papagimp]

twice a week may be too much for a 55g. I culture my own phyto, so it's not as densely packed as the DT's stuff. I feed 1/2 cup daily. (that big of a density difference) So I'm unsure if that's enough or too much for you. If you start getting lots and lots of algae growth then slow down the phyto feeding. too much in the tank and eventually some will die and raise phosphates, fueling an algae spurt. Also, smell the DT's before using it. I know it's nasty, but it gets far worse when it goes bad. Worse than skimmate in my opinion.

As for the pic, there are so many varieties of pods, it doesn't surprise me that your didn't look like that. It was for education purposes more than comparison. As for the Bad bugs, I don't know what to look for. I don't worry bout stuff like that unless I see something negative happening in the tank, which I don't. And fwiw, it took a long time to get that picture. they are lighting fast critters.

[Paintbug]

take a look at this site http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm it has some nice pics of a little bit of everything and is labeled good or bad.

[FLReefGirl]

Ok, that was very helpful. Thanks. I'll cut back the feeding to one time a week. I did recently get an outbreak of red slime. The LFS said 1 x per week but the bottles says different. Live and learn.
The bug looked more like the copepod, sort of flea like or ant like.
So Good Bugs :D.
Thanks Guys.

[papagimp]

fwiw, LFS are not always going to be the best source of information. Look at there tanks, compare with other peoples. Obvious differences? the red slime (cyno most likely) is a normal occurance in new tanks. Too much phosphates from overdosing phyto will really help fuel it though. With a newer tank, you'll also see more pods. Eventually numbers will die back some, but a refugium will greatly help to keep numbers in the tank for future fish to eat on.

[FLReefGirl]

I added phosphate removing pads to my media chambers and I installed my skimmer a week ago. So I'm moving along.
I've been doing some reading about the refugiums/sumps. I'm still learning. My tank is not drilled so I have to figure out how it would work w/ my tank. I've seen the HOB. I have an Emporer 400 bio-wheel. I recently took out the wheels so I now have the unit just for water flow. I will keep my filters in there. Would I be better off making this a tiny refugium. Someone suggested I remover the carbon & phosphate filters and add LR instead.