Tiny White Shrimp Black eyes

[sen5241b]

Got a tiny 'white to clear' shrimp with black eyes less than half the size of my pinky fingernail. Anyone know what he might be? Harmful?

[Nautilus291]

is this in your marine tank or freshwater. If its in your freshwater then it is a ghost shrimp and it isnt harmful.

[cocoa_pleco]

i dont know of any clear marine shrimp, maybe it will gain color as it ages

[Fenix]

i have those, they dont seem to be harmful.

Is it this?
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9412/139unknowngr8.jpg

[cocoa_pleco]

ahh, those guys, yeah, they are harmless, just food for fish

[coachfraley]

If it is an isopod, it is bad. Here is everything you ever wanted to know about idopods. They are usually identified by their big black eyes, so it sounds to me like that might be the guy.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php

[sen5241b]

i have those, they dont seem to be harmful.

Is it this?


Good pics. Looks similar but the one I have is much whiter.

[fishista]

if it grows a red stripe it's a fire shrimp
those are cool :)

Fishfool @ The Reef Tank (http://thereeftank.com)

[kaybee]

What you're likely seeing are mysid shrimp. Do they look similar to this?
http://mblaquaculture.com/content/organisms/americamysis_bahia.php

If so, then they're harmless detritivores (just like the 'pods that fenix posted pics of) and are also beneficial in a reef tank because they (both the adults and larvae) are great food sources for corals (and any fish which are able to catch them).

I have a countless number of them in my tank (though they seem to only come out at night in my tank, where they hide during the day I don't know; my fish would eat them if they swam around in the open while the lights are on).

On irregular intervals of time I see clouds of the smaller ones (~3mm) swimming around. The smaller ones are attracted to my flash light beam. I've witnessed my corals capturing and eating any that come in contact with their feeder tentacles.

[Halelorf]

I have tons of those in my nano reef tank. The first one I ever saw freaked me out because it was a huge one and I thought it might be a baby mantis shrimp so I caught and flushed it :scry:. They have exploded in population in my tank and pick all over the rocks and sand. They are out in the day light but are hard to see until they move, at night they really come out and play.

[Red]

This thread was old

[cocoa_pleco]

if it grows a red stripe it's a fire shrimp
those are cool :)

Fishfool @ The Reef Tank (http://thereeftank.com)

sorry man, old thread, and you cant advertise other sites, against forum rules