Green House Pests
DO i have saltwater pests?
Ive had my tank now for going on 6 months i currently have 2 green chromis and a cleanup crew consisting of a few hermit crabs and 3 snails the tank also houses about 30lbs of live rock and 40lbs of live sand. my question is during the daytime everything in my tank looks great all the little creatures go about there business and the colerpa grows like wildfire and ive even had some coriline algae growth HOWEVER at night nightmarish looking creatures come out from my live rock the first of such beasts are millipede looking guys about an inch long with about a zillion legs second are what look to be little clear uncoradnated shrimp that just swim with no direction at all third are tiny TINY snails that come out and stick to the front glass lastly are little things that look like termites that appeare to grab one grain of sand at a time and drag it back into the holes in the live rock…are any of these little guys anything to worry about? And if so how would i get rid of them?
The “millipede looking guys” are probably bristleworms (if they look kinda “fuzzy,” it’s definitely a bristleworm). Most species of bristleworms are harmless scanvengers, and, unless you catch one causing trouble, you can leave them alone. Whatever you do, don’t touch them with your bare hands, as they have toxic bristles on their skin that make them painful to handle. If you need to get them out, little plastic traps are available at virtually any aquarium supply shop.
The “uncoordinated shrimp” are probably a mysid or gammaria of some sort. Technically, they aren’t shrimp, but a tiny crustacean (they look a lot like a tiny shrimp). They’re picking whatever food they can out of the water and rocks, and are generally harmless. If your other fish ever see them, the mysids will be a nutritious snack.
The snail-like things and the “termites” are other microcrustaceans living in your rocks and substrates. Again, they’ll be a healthy snack for any fish that might find them during the day, and they’re just out at night hunting for anything edible, including tiny bits of food that might have fallen on a grain of sand. They’re harmless.
After several months, it’s common for a tank to be bristling with these tiny animals. They’re mostly tiny nocturnal crustaceans that live in the substrate and the rock, and generally aren’t anything to worry about. If you google “amphipod” or “copepod,” you’ll probably find some familiar pictures of what you’re seeing.
Pest Control @ Large Scale Greenhouse