Mysis Shrimp, benificial???

reefnewbie54321 · 05/15/2006, 09:27 PM

Ive noticed Mysis shrimp are part of many detrivore/refugium kits on the web but from what I understand they eat pretty much everything and whipe out all the other pods.

Are they actualy benificial? If so how ... more then my other pods?

What is better, add Mysis and have them be the dominant pod species or keep the pods I have. Is it a fact that they will overrun my other pods?

Copepods:

Harpacticoids
250-500 microns in size
"A small/medium copepod that will propagate nicely in an aquarium or refugium"

Tigriopus californicus
2000 to 2500 microns
"A very large copepod that is excellent for feeding mandarins and predatory fish"

Amphipods:

Grammarus
"They consume enormous quantities of diatoms, hair algae and other nuisance algae"

Various other "pods" that came with rock/sand/online kits

If they are not better then my other pods I see no reason to let them overrun my tank and wipe out all the great pods that I have.

iCam · 05/15/2006, 09:31 PM

Mysis shrimp won't eat other pods. They're quite small.

They're beneficial because they generally reproduce fairly rapidly, and make a good food source for fish and invertebrates.

reefnewbie54321 · 05/15/2006, 09:47 PM

I'm almost positive that Mysis eat other pods, I appreciate the input though. The information underneath will explain why I believe Mysis decrease pod population.

I;m mainly interested in the benifits of adding them and want to know if its woth killing of my other species. If its only benifit is live food I will stick with my pods ... the mandarin goes crazy for trigger pods and gammarus much on nuisence algae and I see my clowns muching on them alot. Mysis are too big for alot of my fish.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...t=mysis+shrimp

For those who wont bother to read through the link,

"Over the past few months I have noticed an aboundance of what I think are mysis in my tank. They started in the fuge aaround Jan and then I started to see a few in the tank along with a ton of pods. It did not matter what time of day it was I could always find pods or gamerids on my LR and sand. However now the few mysis shrimp that were in the tank and fuge have totally taken over and I have to stare and stare at the tank during the day to find A pod. (I have not had time to look at night but I will tonight) What I want to know is are these mysis shrimp and do mysis shrimp or whatever small shrimp I have some how deminsh the pod supply? I want to get a manderin and was really excited that my pod pop was so large and that the fuge could only help the pop but know I am worried that he will have no food unless he eats these tiny shrimp. If he does though then I am set cuz the tank is covered in them.
The shrimp are not the spawn of any of my other shrimp in the tank (im 99% sure about this) the bigest ones are no bigger then half a centimeter and are clear with maybe a slightly redish hue. I can not seem to catch any or take a pic right now. But any ideas would be great! Thanks
Derek"

"sry to dig up an old thread, but....i was searching for the same problem shy07guy is having. most of my pods are gone but the mysis shrimp are everywhere. have you found out any info in any other forum about this shy07guy?"

"I have the same problem. I used to have tons of copepods until the mysis started thriving. It looked like a swarm of bees around some rocks in my fuge. I have heard that mysis eat copepods but I could be wrong. The amphipod population is about the same as it has always been though."

Im to lazy to dig up some other quotes but I remeber reading a thread called Using A Refugium As A Zoo Plankton Producer and many people were saying not to add Mysis becuase it would kill off everything else.

I also thought there was a thread about a live food surger called a Geosapper or something like that and people were talking about how the Mysis had to be ad the bottom ofthe live food reactor becuase they would consume the other pods to fast if they were higher up in the device

Sorry for super long post

iCam · 05/15/2006, 10:05 PM

Mysis shrimp eat detritus and other such particulate matter.

It's possible that the other pods aren't as apparent due to competition for food. Mysis are pretty tiny, so I don't see how they would be any more difficult for your fish to consume than any other pod.

Also, it seems that mysis shrimp like to hide out during the day, so maybe your mandarin is depleting your other pod population since they are more often out and on the rockwork.

rayjay · 05/16/2006, 08:41 AM

Mysid shrimp found in most marine tanks, (brought in with live rock and corals) eat their own young as well as the young of pods. You probably already have them. To check, after lights out with the room darkened for a while, shine a flashlight down low between the rocks and the mysids should be swarming in one or more areas. (a red lens over the light will make it much easier as they won't be scared into hiding)
While they do eat algae and other particulate matter, I raise them for sale by feeding them brine shrimp Nauplii.
If there is enough live rock in a tank, or macro in a refugium, then a balance of the different life forms should happen, and while young of various types will get eaten, many will survive to perpetuate the species.
In my mysid rearing tank, I have no rock or protection and all the pod life died off as the mysids fed on the young that had no cover for hiding.

reefnewbie54321 · 05/16/2006, 12:50 PM

For me it would be very easy to avoid in my new tank ... I am using 100% DIY Rock and its going to be an open aquascape so there will be very minimal rock anyways. There will be seagrass and feather caulerpa and a few red macro varities scattered through uot the tank as pod breeding zones. I will be adding all the pods manualy as none will come on the DIY rock.

Thanks, anyone else?

RichConley · 05/16/2006, 12:51 PM

You dont think any are going to come in on the seagrass? Frags? Etc?

reefnewbie54321 · 05/16/2006, 04:23 PM

You make it seem like everything in everyones tank is infested with these.

I'm just saying theres alot less chance I will get them becuase I;m not using any live rock. I QT all my frags and plants and a quick fresh water dip would eliminate any Mysis. I think It would be pretty easy to aviod these species.

Amphiprion · 05/16/2006, 05:05 PM

Like rayjay said, mysids will eat other smaller crustaceans, copepods, amphipods, other mysids, as well as phytoplankton and organic particulate matter.

05/15/2006, 09:27 PM	#1
reefnewbie54321 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 1,263	Mysis Shrimp, benificial??? Ive noticed Mysis shrimp are part of many detrivore/refugium kits on the web but from what I understand they eat pretty much everything and whipe out all the other pods. Are they actualy benificial? If so how ... more then my other pods? What is better, add Mysis and have them be the dominant pod species or keep the pods I have. Is it a fact that they will overrun my other pods? Copepods: Harpacticoids 250-500 microns in size "A small/medium copepod that will propagate nicely in an aquarium or refugium" Tigriopus californicus 2000 to 2500 microns "A very large copepod that is excellent for feeding mandarins and predatory fish" Amphipods: Grammarus "They consume enormous quantities of diatoms, hair algae and other nuisance algae" Various other "pods" that came with rock/sand/online kits If they are not better then my other pods I see no reason to let them overrun my tank and wipe out all the great pods that I have.

05/16/2006, 08:41 AM	#5
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	Mysid shrimp found in most marine tanks, (brought in with live rock and corals) eat their own young as well as the young of pods. You probably already have them. To check, after lights out with the room darkened for a while, shine a flashlight down low between the rocks and the mysids should be swarming in one or more areas. (a red lens over the light will make it much easier as they won't be scared into hiding) While they do eat algae and other particulate matter, I raise them for sale by feeding them brine shrimp Nauplii. If there is enough live rock in a tank, or macro in a refugium, then a balance of the different life forms should happen, and while young of various types will get eaten, many will survive to perpetuate the species. In my mysid rearing tank, I have no rock or protection and all the pod life died off as the mysids fed on the young that had no cover for hiding. __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

05/16/2006, 12:51 PM	#7
RichConley Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bostonian in Chicago going to DC Posts: 9,908	You dont think any are going to come in on the seagrass? Frags? Etc? __________________ NO TANKS!!!

05/16/2006, 05:05 PM	#9
Amphiprion Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 6,611	Like rayjay said, mysids will eat other smaller crustaceans, copepods, amphipods, other mysids, as well as phytoplankton and organic particulate matter. __________________ You've done it now, haven't you? Current Tank Info: 40g breeder patch reef w/ seagrass; 2-250w XM 10K; Vortech MP40wES & MP10wES; BM Curve 7 skimmer; carbon & occasional GFO

05/15/2006, 09:31 PM	#2
iCam Window Seat Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: D/FW, Texas Posts: 4,135	Mysis shrimp won't eat other pods. They're quite small. They're beneficial because they generally reproduce fairly rapidly, and make a good food source for fish and invertebrates.

05/15/2006, 09:47 PM	#3
reefnewbie54321 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 1,263	I'm almost positive that Mysis eat other pods, I appreciate the input though. The information underneath will explain why I believe Mysis decrease pod population. I;m mainly interested in the benifits of adding them and want to know if its woth killing of my other species. If its only benifit is live food I will stick with my pods ... the mandarin goes crazy for trigger pods and gammarus much on nuisence algae and I see my clowns muching on them alot. Mysis are too big for alot of my fish. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...t=mysis+shrimp For those who wont bother to read through the link, "Over the past few months I have noticed an aboundance of what I think are mysis in my tank. They started in the fuge aaround Jan and then I started to see a few in the tank along with a ton of pods. It did not matter what time of day it was I could always find pods or gamerids on my LR and sand. However now the few mysis shrimp that were in the tank and fuge have totally taken over and I have to stare and stare at the tank during the day to find A pod. (I have not had time to look at night but I will tonight) What I want to know is are these mysis shrimp and do mysis shrimp or whatever small shrimp I have some how deminsh the pod supply? I want to get a manderin and was really excited that my pod pop was so large and that the fuge could only help the pop but know I am worried that he will have no food unless he eats these tiny shrimp. If he does though then I am set cuz the tank is covered in them. The shrimp are not the spawn of any of my other shrimp in the tank (im 99% sure about this) the bigest ones are no bigger then half a centimeter and are clear with maybe a slightly redish hue. I can not seem to catch any or take a pic right now. But any ideas would be great! Thanks Derek" "sry to dig up an old thread, but....i was searching for the same problem shy07guy is having. most of my pods are gone but the mysis shrimp are everywhere. have you found out any info in any other forum about this shy07guy?" "I have the same problem. I used to have tons of copepods until the mysis started thriving. It looked like a swarm of bees around some rocks in my fuge. I have heard that mysis eat copepods but I could be wrong. The amphipod population is about the same as it has always been though." Im to lazy to dig up some other quotes but I remeber reading a thread called Using A Refugium As A Zoo Plankton Producer and many people were saying not to add Mysis becuase it would kill off everything else. I also thought there was a thread about a live food surger called a Geosapper or something like that and people were talking about how the Mysis had to be ad the bottom ofthe live food reactor becuase they would consume the other pods to fast if they were higher up in the device Sorry for super long post

05/15/2006, 10:05 PM	#4
iCam Window Seat Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: D/FW, Texas Posts: 4,135	Mysis shrimp eat detritus and other such particulate matter. It's possible that the other pods aren't as apparent due to competition for food. Mysis are pretty tiny, so I don't see how they would be any more difficult for your fish to consume than any other pod. Also, it seems that mysis shrimp like to hide out during the day, so maybe your mandarin is depleting your other pod population since they are more often out and on the rockwork.

05/16/2006, 12:50 PM	#6
reefnewbie54321 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 1,263	For me it would be very easy to avoid in my new tank ... I am using 100% DIY Rock and its going to be an open aquascape so there will be very minimal rock anyways. There will be seagrass and feather caulerpa and a few red macro varities scattered through uot the tank as pod breeding zones. I will be adding all the pods manualy as none will come on the DIY rock. Thanks, anyone else?

05/16/2006, 04:23 PM	#8
reefnewbie54321 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 1,263	You make it seem like everything in everyones tank is infested with these. I'm just saying theres alot less chance I will get them becuase I;m not using any live rock. I QT all my frags and plants and a quick fresh water dip would eliminate any Mysis. I think It would be pretty easy to aviod these species.