Tyekidd
Guest
Hi everyone,
So I have what I believe are amphipods. First time I saw one shoot out of the live rock, I thought it was a baby mantis ... hopefully this is not the case. Now I see several of them on the sand bed and in holes in the live rock ... they are semi-clear in color and are nocturnal. I'm pretty sure they're amphipods because they look like the images I've seen online.
I noticed the first time I introduced a trochus snail in my tank, the next day he had a couple of these amphipods crawling on him ... I didn't think anything of it. I think they may have been stressing the snail though, crawling in and around his shell. Eventually the snail died and my peppermint shrimp finished him off. So 2 days ago, I bought another trochus and noticed the same behavior. When I turned the lights on yesterday morning, I saw a bristle worm and 1-2 amphipods around or in his shell, they scurried away when the light came on and the snail seemed to be fine again. This morning, the snail was dead and again the bristle worm and about 5-6 amphipods were all over him.
The only other snails I have in the tank are 2 ceriths, 1 nassarius, and 1-2 stomatella snail hitchikers which have recently multiplied. Maybe the Ceriths don't get bothered because of their shell shape and the fact that they burrow?
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I hope I don't have killer carnivorous amphipods ... if they are in fact amphipods.
Other than the snails, other inhabitants include 2 sexy shrimp and 2 dwarf blue legged hermits. No one else seems bothered, except that my GSP has retracted the last 3 days =(
Any advice on the topic? I guess I could try a third time with an Astrea/Trochus type snail and see if it gets molested and raped.
Oh ... and there are about a dozen little stomatella snails running around now ... guess the original one multiplied somehow =P I'll need to get rid of most of them probably in a few weeks if anyone wants some!
So I have what I believe are amphipods. First time I saw one shoot out of the live rock, I thought it was a baby mantis ... hopefully this is not the case. Now I see several of them on the sand bed and in holes in the live rock ... they are semi-clear in color and are nocturnal. I'm pretty sure they're amphipods because they look like the images I've seen online.
I noticed the first time I introduced a trochus snail in my tank, the next day he had a couple of these amphipods crawling on him ... I didn't think anything of it. I think they may have been stressing the snail though, crawling in and around his shell. Eventually the snail died and my peppermint shrimp finished him off. So 2 days ago, I bought another trochus and noticed the same behavior. When I turned the lights on yesterday morning, I saw a bristle worm and 1-2 amphipods around or in his shell, they scurried away when the light came on and the snail seemed to be fine again. This morning, the snail was dead and again the bristle worm and about 5-6 amphipods were all over him.
The only other snails I have in the tank are 2 ceriths, 1 nassarius, and 1-2 stomatella snail hitchikers which have recently multiplied. Maybe the Ceriths don't get bothered because of their shell shape and the fact that they burrow?
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I hope I don't have killer carnivorous amphipods ... if they are in fact amphipods.
Other than the snails, other inhabitants include 2 sexy shrimp and 2 dwarf blue legged hermits. No one else seems bothered, except that my GSP has retracted the last 3 days =(
Any advice on the topic? I guess I could try a third time with an Astrea/Trochus type snail and see if it gets molested and raped.
Oh ... and there are about a dozen little stomatella snails running around now ... guess the original one multiplied somehow =P I'll need to get rid of most of them probably in a few weeks if anyone wants some!