Frequent Aquarium Questions

• There are tiny white-ish brown critters crawling near the water line and even bouncing off the surface of my aquarium. How do I get rid of them?
  
  
• I have just recently set up a small saltwater tank with live rock. I have noticed tiny white bugs in my tank that seem to be mutliplying each day. I have read that these bugs occur in the tank due to "over-feeding", however I don't yet have any fish in the tank. Will these creatures cause a problem when I do add fish?
  
  
• I have a 10 gallon tank with 1 male guppie, 1 female guppie, 1 pleco, 1 red tail shark, and 1 dwarf gourami. How do I prevent the female guppy from nipping at the dwarf gouramis?
  
  
• I have a sea mat soft coral, between the polyps there is some type of 'pest' with long threadlike 'tentacles' there are many of them and they seem to be killing the sea mat, they are white and black striped appear segmented and when I pull one off there seems to be more the next day, they seem to come out at night, when I turn on the light in the morning they are out and draped over the coral, looks like the coral is covered in thread. I have put the coral in a seperate tank and now can see that this critter it originates in a crack between the polyps. What is it and how can I save my sea mat which is now about 50% gone?
  
  
• I have a 55 gallon fish-only tank with new live rock. Recently, I have noticed hundreds of tiny white spots on the inside glass of the tank as well as all over the live rock. What could this be?
  
  
• I have an overwhelming problem with worm type feather dusters that my Copperband Butterflyfish was unsuccessful at removing. What else do you recommend?
  
  
• How do you get rid of pest anemones in a coral reef tank?
  
  
• I have a snail problem in my 10 gallon tank. Other than a Clown Loach, what can I add to eradicate these pests?
  
  
• I just set up a 180 gallon reef tank with Fiji live rock. I want to know if the ugly looking snail/slug with feelers is harmless? Also, I saw this crab/spider looking creature. What is it?
  
  
• A spider fell in my tank while cleaning the filter. Do you know how the spider got in the filter and is it bad that the spider fell in the tank?
  
  

• There are tiny white-ish brown critters crawling near the water line and even bouncing off the surface of my aquarium. How do I get rid of them?
  
  These sound like either spingtails or mites. They are harmless, but unsightly. To get rid of them completely it is often necessary to break down the aquarium and rinse the tank, tops, and filtration with saltwater.
  
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• I have just recently set up a small saltwater tank with live rock. I have noticed tiny white bugs in my tank that seem to be mutliplying each day. I have read that these bugs occur in the tank due to "over-feeding", however I don't yet have any fish in the tank. Will these creatures cause a problem when I do add fish?
  
  These "bugs", called copepods, are scavengers that feed on all sorts of organic matter. While they may reach plague proportions if a tank is overfed, their presence is not always indicative of a problem. New aquariums with few or no fish may contain large numbers of them as they feed on the detritus that falls off of new live rock and multiply unchecked due to the lack of predators. As this food source is depleted, or when fish that prey upon them are introduced, the population will diminish. Copepods are a normal part of your reef aquarium, and serve vital roles as both scavengers and food for your livestock. Once your tank is established, small numbers of them are typically no cause for concern.
  
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• I have a 10 gallon tank with 1 male guppie, 1 female guppie, 1 pleco, 1 red tail shark, and 1 dwarf gourami. How do I prevent the female guppy from nipping at the dwarf gouramis?
  
  You have aggression in the tank because your tank is overpopulated. You'll need to remove some fish.
  
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• I have a sea mat soft coral, between the polyps there is some type of 'pest' with long threadlike 'tentacles' there are many of them and they seem to be killing the sea mat, they are white and black striped appear segmented and when I pull one off there seems to be more the next day, they seem to come out at night, when I turn on the light in the morning they are out and draped over the coral, looks like the coral is covered in thread. I have put the coral in a seperate tank and now can see that this critter it originates in a crack between the polyps. What is it and how can I save my sea mat which is now about 50% gone?
  
  
  
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• I have a 55 gallon fish-only tank with new live rock. Recently, I have noticed hundreds of tiny white spots on the inside glass of the tank as well as all over the live rock. What could this be?
  
  They are probably a species of nematod.
  
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• I have an overwhelming problem with worm type feather dusters that my Copperband Butterflyfish was unsuccessful at removing. What else do you recommend?
  
  You can try a Six-line Wrasse or Orange-spotted Filefish.
  
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• How do you get rid of pest anemones in a coral reef tank?
  
  You can try Peppermint Shrimp, a Copperband Butterflyfish, Red-legged Hermit Crabs, and certain nudibranchs. Elegance and Meat corals, if placed near the aiptasia, will sting them to death.
  
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• I have a snail problem in my 10 gallon tank. Other than a Clown Loach, what can I add to eradicate these pests?
  
  Most reputed snail eaters grow too big or are not compatible with your current fish. You can try a skunk loach, assuming that you don't have any other loaches. You can try a Banjo Catfish only if it isn't capable of swallowing your fish.
  
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• I just set up a 180 gallon reef tank with Fiji live rock. I want to know if the ugly looking snail/slug with feelers is harmless? Also, I saw this crab/spider looking creature. What is it?
  
  If you have one of the common sea slugs, they are mostly herbivourous and should be harmless. It sounds like the spider-like creature you are observing is an arrow crab.
  
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• A spider fell in my tank while cleaning the filter. Do you know how the spider got in the filter and is it bad that the spider fell in the tank?
  
  I would not be too alarmed because a spider crawled into your filter. Afterall, it is an insect that is able to get in small, hard-to-reach areas. If you see the dead spider, simply net it out. Chances are that your fish, if they are freshwater varieties, ate the spider before it had time to die.
  
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