Help! Is this guy and his crew good or not?

Illstatereefer · Aug 20, 2022

* Top left corner on the rock.
So I turned on my nano tank light this morning, as I do every day at 7am, and saw about 10+ of these guys all over my one live rock, not the others. I have to get a video to upload because these guys are fast movers and don’t like the light so much. Fairly long whiskers, many legs and about the si
i have a few zoa, live rock and aragonite, skimmer, AI light, one snowflake clown and one BTRA. I do regular WC, and perimeters are very stable. No one is over fed, so I’m clueless how they appeared without me putting atleast one in at some point as a hitchhiker on a zoa which I dip well. Tank has been cycled and does very well but these guys spooked me a bit with the way they crawls on that rock, scatter once the light turns on and hide in the holes. They are too big to be copepods, which I do know what they look like but these don’t seem salt life like if that makes sense.
Almost like a cockroach, but small and grayish. I’ll just get a video if I can.

cdw79 · Aug 20, 2022

Honestly can't tell in the pics but look up amphipods and see if they look familiar. Sounds like what you're describing

Rick's Reviews · Aug 20, 2022

Sounds like amphipods, good critters to have

Hard to catch on video but you can zoom in by placing two fingers on screen the pulling fingers apart on screen (phone)

Nemosis · Aug 20, 2022

Just a quick FYI, dipping coral will not guarantee a pest free addition to your tank. There are MANY reef pest that can and will survive a dip. However, what you are describing sounds like amphipods. Copepods are much smaller and requires the use of a microscope to see that amount of detail.

WheatToast · Aug 20, 2022

Rick's Reviews said:
Sounds like amphipods, good critters to have

Hard to catch on video but you can zoom in by placing two fingers on screen the pulling fingers apart on screen (phone)

+1. They are good scavengers.