Cycle is nearing it's end!! but what are these?

[thatreefguy22]

The first 2 weeks, I was confused on my cycle. then the 3rd week, I added a raw shrimp for 2 days to get a noticeable ammonia reading. and continued testing nitrites, and nitrates. no rise in nitrites...EVER. nitrates, did keep rising.

and now, the 4th week in, ammonia is at ZERO, nitrites are at ZERO, nitrates are around 40ppm. (tank is still empty!! don't worry.)

yesterday, I found diatoms, and more green hair algae.
I'd say a small snail only clean up crew will help, and add maybe 1 fish to keep the bacteria thriving.

Also, found these white pod things on my glass. Don't know what they are...
just noticed all of them today! mainly near the bottom by the sand bed. but some are scattered around.

It's almost 5 weeks into the cycle.

Take a look, and see if you know. thanks!

[ca1ore]

Cannot really tell from the photos. Could be copepods/ampipods of some kind, or it could be small tube worms. Do they have a frilly crown?

[cdouble]

Tough to tell from the photos but I noticed similarly sized little creatures swimming in my tank and upon much closer inspection I noticed it's shape and features resembled that of a bristle worm... then a few days later I noticed a bunch of new bristle worms in the tank of varying sizes and length.

Throw a clean up crew in there and they should eat any small creatures and keep populations of stuff like that in check.

Good luck

[themoraykeeper]

Originally Posted by cdouble

Tough to tell from the photos but I noticed similarly sized little creatures swimming in my tank and upon much closer inspection I noticed it's shape and features resembled that of a bristle worm... then a few days later I noticed a bunch of new bristle worms in the tank of varying sizes and length.

Throw a clean up crew in there and they should eat any small creatures and keep populations of stuff like that in check.

Good luck

+1 Same here when my tank started out, definately looks like bristle worms to me.
Good luck

[sh0ck]

check for example http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml

[DRRosen3]

They're definately bristle worms. You can really tell if you just observe them for some time (10-15 minutes) and see them attempting to crawl higher on the glass, only to fall off when they encounter high water current.

[thatreefguy22]

Originally Posted by DRRosen3

They're definately bristle worms. You can really tell if you just observe them for some time (10-15 minutes) and see them attempting to crawl higher on the glass, only to fall off when they encounter high water current.

+1 on this...
I just got out of work, and noticed one moving.
and they have little fuzzy legs surrounding the body.
and I also notice...they are high in population in the whole area where the flow is lower. thanks!

Can't wait until I get my clean up crew. My diatoms started 3 days ago, as well.

[ca1ore]

FWIW, if they are bristle worms (or worms of any kind), then they actually ARE part of the CUC. Aren't too many things in a reef tank that do a better job of scavenging uneaten stuff than bristle worms. Resist the urge to remove them!

[thatreefguy22]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

FWIW, if they are bristle worms (or worms of any kind), then they actually ARE part of the CUC. Aren't too many things in a reef tank that do a better job of scavenging uneaten stuff than bristle worms. Resist the urge to remove them!

Won't my larger sized clean up crew devour them anyway? haha.
But I agree with you, these (i hope) will not become a bad thing.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by thatreefguy22

Won't my larger sized clean up crew devour them anyway? haha.
But I agree with you, these (i hope) will not become a bad thing.

Yeah, probably. Though I've got lots of small worms that live in my sand bed that seem to escape being eaten.

[thatreefguy22]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Yeah, probably. Though I've got lots of small worms that live in my sand bed that seem to escape being eaten.

the benefits of having sand in the aquarium. Yeah, I'll keep the worms in there. the ones on the glass might get unlucky next week, as I most likely will be adding snails. I say snails...only because I've researched that having hermits with snails can be a accident later on, as the hermits will attack snails...sometimes corals. Correct me if I may be wrong. But I am sure.


I get my sump tank today in the mail!

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by thatreefguy22

I say snails...only because I've researched that having hermits with snails can be a accident later on, as the hermits will attack snails...sometimes corals. Correct me if I may be wrong.

Personally, I am a big fan of hermits and would not run a reef tank without them. IME, they only largely attack snails to steal their shells - so you just provide an assortment of empty shells for them (if you buy from reefcleaners.org, they send along a bag of empty shells, which is pretty smart). I've not had hermits try to eat any of my corals, though they will knock over poorly secured frags just by blundering around.

[Meanie]

I had those too when I first cycled. I think they are in there still. I added a second Wp25 to move the water more in an area that didn't have much flow. I thought it was just dead stuff coming from the rocks....hmm good to know.

[thatreefguy22]

Originally Posted by Meanie

I had those too when I first cycled. I think they are in there still. I added a second Wp25 to move the water more in an area that didn't have much flow. I thought it was just dead stuff coming from the rocks....hmm good to know.

you can see them moving, they eat and then move to another spot, and eat some more. they are good!

[thatreefguy22]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Personally, I am a big fan of hermits and would not run a reef tank without them. IME, they only largely attack snails to steal their shells - so you just provide an assortment of empty shells for them (if you buy from reefcleaners.org, they send along a bag of empty shells, which is pretty smart). I've not had hermits try to eat any of my corals, though they will knock over poorly secured frags just by blundering around.

Okay, I am a lover of crabs, too. I guess I could add a few when I go get my cleaning crew.