Need an ID

[fawkes027]

Saw these things scurrying around on my living rocks. They look like large fleas with legs. Are these copepods?

[Six]

Amphipods

[goby]

probably amphipods

google it..

http://images.google.com/images?q=amphipod+&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search

g

[fawkes027]

Are these okay to leave in the tank or do I need to try to remove them?

[goby]

you could try and remove them, but you would never catch them all, besides THEY ARE VERY GOOD!!!

did your tank just finish cycling? usually, when i cycle rock, this is one of the second signs that its fairly ready... usually, i see little copepods first..

they are great food for you fish, and are one of the many creatures that live in the microcosm of your reef. they eat wastes of bigger animals, and keep the nooks and crannies of your reef cleaned up.. they also feed your fish and their waste is small enough that even smaller things can use it, and so on and so on..

leave them be! :) and wonder in the marvel of bugs in your reef :)

[Six]

you could try and remove them, but you would never catch them all, besides THEY ARE VERY GOOD!!!

LOL! Thats a funny one. I dont think you could even catch one without some sorta trap. The only way Ive ever caught one was with a bristleworm trap. They are good for your tank. They feed the fish and the fish feed them. And they keep your tank healthy.

[Toby Thompson]

back before i knew what they were i paniced and though my tank was under attack from "some parasite looking thing" I sucked up a tube of water and droped it into a wine glass, slowly removed the water and isolated them onto a microscope slide (no im not a nerd it was my sisters toy microscope i borrowed) actually had good magnification about 100x was able to see them very well. This only furthered my belief that they were a parasite due to the little thorn off of their butt. It took me most of the day to search and find what they were :D