loads of live crawling things on live rock

[jim1411]

Hi there i was wondering if any body can tell me what all these little see through nasties may be crawling all over my live rock? my tank has just cycled one month ago and am goona add a fish this weekend, i wondererd if these could be parasites of some sort? new to reef central and looking foward too some feedback, cheers, jim

[Grouperhead]

Probably some sort of copepod or amphipod. Very beneficial to tanks and they provide a good source of natural food.

[LisaD]

usually a sign of a healthy tank. these are crustaceans, like gammarus or copepods, right? what you don't want are the flatworms, but these are usually on the glass.

gammarus
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Gammarus_roeselii.jpg

copepods

http://microcosmaqx.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/20/aquaexplcopy.jpg

[sunfishh]

Lisa I have always called things that look like the first picture amphipods and not gammarus. Am I incorrect or have I just missed something?