One day nothing, next 1000

last night for the first time i say about 1000 little white dots, all over the rocks and glass. i looked a little closer and they look like snails/crabs. they have white shells. they just popped up from nowhere. any ideas what this is? i'd try for a picture but their way to small. tiny little things.

 

Might be nassarius snail eggs. When I put about 7 of those guys in my tank, I had white dots all over my glass in like 1-2 days. They still keep doing it. ;D

 

they could be ambiphods-

 

the nassarius snails idea is good, but still to early to tell, hope thats what they turn out to be.
the ambiphods turned up no results in google.
no other ideas, if they turn out bad im hoping for an early answer so i dont have to suck out monster snails.

 

That's probably because the correct spelling is amphipods Could also be copepods.

 

I dont remember amphipods hanging out in the glass. Copepods move around, do they move around dano?

 

If there's no fear of predators, amphipods will indeed hang out on the glass. I used to see them everywhere on the glass of my nano but not so much now that I put a clown goby in there

 

Thanks for the info. I too have the snails. They are everywhere. They seem to know exactly when the daylight lamps are about to go off as they start to appear on the glass and all over the live rock. I do have a concern if I add a Watchman Gobie will it eat the snails or will it kick them out like sand?

 

Nassarius snail eggs will be a little clear pouch shaped like a tear drop with a white spot in the middle. Chances are it's just some type of desireable fauna and not reason to worry. In fact it's a sign that your tank is in good health.

Watchman gobies don't sift the sand through their gills like the sleeper gobies do. I would recommend if you want corals stay away from the sleeper gobies. The snails are also meat eaters and not algae eaters. They will come out whenever they "smell" food in the water regardless of time of day or lighting.

HTH

 

these guys roam, they are pretty quick for little snails. like fish fan said, they do come out in large numbers when the lights go out.