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View Full Version : WHat happened in my reef tank?? PICS!


Pike614
02/03/2010, 09:45 PM
OK, came down to the 450g reef tonight and the skimmer was going crazy...nothing had changed in the tank as far as I could tell, but the skimmer looked like this after taking the lid off for a few seconds!! SO I cleaned the skimmer and notices the water in my tank was cloudy...millions of tiny little cyclops looking things...have a head pointed downwards, and a tail upwards, move quickly from right to left about 1" at a time. Smaller than a grain of sand but everywhere in my tank...
ANy idea what happened? A spawning? An outbreak of some sort?
ANy ideas?
Thanks!!

kingfisher62
02/03/2010, 09:52 PM
You are most likely right . Some sort of hatching, I am guessing Copepods. Do they look like this?
Good fish food!
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=copepods&FORM=BIFD#focal=2f060ff15f66fab480d4e19d8030400b&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fmysciencefairproject.net%2Fimages%2Fmacrocyclops1_zexs.jpg

Poeticlydead
02/03/2010, 09:53 PM
Spawning most likely. My skimmer did the same thing when my snails apparently had an orgy one night.


Hmmm snail orgy just makes you want to stick your hands in the tank don't it?

Pike614
02/03/2010, 10:24 PM
yeah, looking closer, they look like small fry....the only 2 fish I have in my tank of the same species are a pair of cleaner wrasses...not bought as a pair though....these little guys are attracted to light, dont look like pods, might be though....they actually coil up a little before they move...trying to get a better picture...

Pike614
02/03/2010, 10:32 PM
here's a close-up! Best I could do.
http://www.paulsbutterflies.com/spawn%20zoom.jpg

evsalty
02/03/2010, 10:38 PM
That is a pretty good close-up. Not sure what they are but tagging along. Hopefull someone has seen these before.

Fishamatank
02/03/2010, 10:41 PM
They do kind of look like fry

kingfisher62
02/03/2010, 10:41 PM
I agree, not too shabby picture! Possibly shrimp fry!

Hillbilly318
02/03/2010, 10:42 PM
i would be keeping my filtration off for now until we get a positive ID, incase your sucking in the little babies

fleming3
02/03/2010, 10:43 PM
I agree with Kingfisher - they do look like shrimp fry!

fishieness
02/03/2010, 11:03 PM
Either that or a mysis shrimp boom.
I've had both before. I noticed that my pair of clowns were going CRAZY one night in the moonlight and would shine a flash light in the tank and see swarms of these little guys.

dalston
02/04/2010, 12:05 AM
... a mysis shrimp boom.

I would agree with this.

iamwrasseman
02/04/2010, 12:49 AM
yes looks like a mysis shrimp bloom get a wrasse and they will quickly be gone !

Pike614
02/04/2010, 06:59 AM
wow, so how did I get a mysis shrimp bloom!? They will soon be gone as the lights will turn on in a couple hours and I am sure they will be devoured quickly. Thanks for the help! Glad it is nothing bad!!

Chiefsurfer
02/04/2010, 08:08 AM
you ever cultivate live mysis shrimp? IF so, maybe enough of them hid that they did the nasty and now have babies.

Way to go on a nice big source of free food for your fishies. Will probably be gone in short order once the lights come on.

ChadTheSpike
02/04/2010, 08:13 AM
Those do look like shrimp, Im not convinced at mysis though... do you have peppermints or cleaners in your tank? When the eggs hatch they 'explode' like that, I have seen it in my tanks a few times.