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ray356

Amphipods eating coral??

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3 Comments
by
ray356
, 06-12-2012 at 06:55 PM (3100 Views)
I have or should say had a acro frag and noticed that it was not doing well. When I looked closer it had a number of what I think are amphipods on it and looked like they were eating it. I have looked on the web and it seems that most people feel that amphipods do not eat corals and are only cleaning up dead or dying tissue. The now seem to have moved to another coral. Any advise or comment would be appreciated.
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‎ Questions - Need some input

Comments

  1. blakew's Avatar
    Is it possible that they are eating dead matter off the frag plug and it looked like they were eating the acro frag. I've never notice these eating any of the corals in my tank, but then again I've never tried any sticks...haha. Maybe the frag was dying from other causes and the pods were eating the decaying matter?

    Be interesting to see what others have to say.
  2. Paul B's Avatar
    I dump a 5 gallon bucket of amphipods that I collect into my reef a few times a year and I never noticed them eating corals. My corals do fine even with thousands of amphipods.
  3. melev's Avatar
    The only time I heard negative stuff about Amphipods is when they affect zoanthids negatively. We all love our zoanthids and when you see that pricey polyp withering away with one of these nearby, they get the blame. Could be true, although I've never seen it in my own systems.

    In the meantime, if you have too many amphipods and they are all seeking out a meal, a coral could become a victim. So either feed the tank more (and risk getting even more pods --- plus water quality issues to contend with), or maybe pick up a small wrasse or mandarin to keep these tiny bugs to a lesser volume in your tank.