Are these Copepods? (pic ID)

[Sitarangi]

Found a bunch of these little buggers when I was replacing my biowheel filters. I got a 29 gallon tank, and the 2 wheel filter combined with weekly water changes keeps the nitrates in check. Anyway I thought they were copepods, they look like tiny krill and like to jump around.

Kind of off topic, but if they are copepods, could I reintroduce them into my tank and keep a mandarin? Mandarins are kind of my dream fish.

[Sitarangi]

Forgot to add the pics

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/Sitarangi/IMG_6214.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/Sitarangi/IMG_6213.jpg

[Floridaboy704]

Chances are they are already in your main tank. Do you have LR? I have a 24 gallon reef and these guys are everywhere. They are beneficial. Mandarins will eat them. Every time I change my filter I siphon them up and put them back in the DT lol. Harmless critters.

[Sitarangi]

Yea I got about 30ish pounds of FLR and TLR, so their harmless? What exactly are they?

[SleepyJ]

Amphipods. They are good to have although they can irritate some coral if they nest around them. Free fish food for the most part.

[mat167]

Amphipods, exactly. Also called scuds. Copepods are quite a bit smaller, and more rounded. I'm pretty sure your a mandarin would enjoy these as well, but you definitely have copepods with that amount of liverock and no predators. The copepods only come out to scuttle around when the lights are off, so after you turn off the lights wait a few hours and look over the sand with a flashlight. I guarantee you'll find some cool little critters