# Worms/"Shrimplike" features???



## nfgirl54 (Mar 1, 2007)

I am extremely new to careing for a saltwater tank. I have a 20 gal tank with a starfish, a clownfish and some liverock. The tank has been running for about 8 months now. I looked in closely at it the other day and noticed this shrimplike thing moving in the sand about 4 mm long. Couple days later.. theres a million of them! theyre all over.. are they harmful to my fish? is it bad that i have them? should i be soncerned about the health of the overall tank... please help. 

these things have antlers in the front.. about four legs in the front. a long body (which moves like an inchworm) and two back feet... they move fast, and some are big, some are the size of a grain of sand.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Hmmm...Copepods?


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## bobo (Sep 20, 2007)

This is probably wrong, but google mantis shrimp and see if you have babies, cause if you do... good luck? :/ 

If its copepods then they are beneficial to your tank.


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

Amphipod


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## TOOMUCHNH3/NH4!!! (Feb 26, 2008)

this sounds EXACTLY like what i am dealing with. one day i came homw and there were litarlly thousands of these thing that look a lot like what you are describing. they are fast and move in short little bursts. my tanks "seems" OK, but im VERY new to this.... mine have two antennae, a "tail" looking thing.....


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

Amphipods, Copepods, and Mysis shrimp are all common reef "bugs". They serve as a natural food source for a number of fish and inverts. As the tank becomes more established, so do the pod communities. You may consider a dragonette to keep the pod population in check, but take heed that most dragonettes will not readily take prepared foods. If the pod populations dwindle, you may find your dragonette starving itself to death. If you do choose to add one, ask the LFS clerk to feed the fish. see if the fish is willing to eat frozen foods. Your should be regularly feeding frozen brine and mysis to your other fish anyways.


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## chef11freak (Nov 17, 2008)

Could those dragonette fish eat bristle worms too because i think they are eating my fungia plate


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## dallops_of_polyps (Feb 19, 2008)

I would put an arrow crab in there the bristle worms will be gone in a flash.


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

Bristle worms are a beneficial part of a reef system. They do not consume live corals. They are scavengers, they consume excess foods and dead livestock. The bristle worms will make quick work of any livestock that perishes behind your rockwork, reducing or eliminating the need to dismantle your rockwork to remove carcasses. I highly recommend against trying to rid your system of bristleworms.


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## rugie (Dec 28, 2008)

outstanding reply! SKA


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