Isopod - Spheromatid or Cirolanid

[Nick711]

Hoping someone can confirm and/or ease my fear… added TBS LR on Thursday. Red light search uncovered plenty of these guys. Was only able to capture 2 in about the span of an hour with a turkey baster. If confirmed the worst, I guess next step would be to try a stinky shrimp trap tomorrow night? Not looking to nuke the tank w chemicals etc., but also do not want to be overran by these guys. Currently no fish stocked.

I fear based on the eye spacing they may be Cirolanids, but would like to see some other opinions as well. Thanks in advance

 

[JoJosReef]

Those eyes don't look good to me. My spheromatids have them smaller and a bit further apart:

Try seeing if they curl up when you take them out and poke them a bit. Cirolanids apparently don't curl as much as the spheromatids do.

 

[Nick711]

Tried poking at them, but no notable reaction. They are relatively small, special grade sand in pics for reference. I did see a few larger ones but was unable to capture them timely.

 

[JoJosReef]

Luckily you don't have fish, although fish would help ID them. There was a post about modification of the stinky water trap that worked best for one reefer, where they just made the stinky water and instead of leaving the bottle in the tank, they injected the stinky water against the glass with a pipette or turkey baster and watched as the cirolanids hit the glass, then they sucked them up. Might be worth reading some of the variations of the method in case any make your life easier.

 

[Nick711]

Luckily you don't have fish, although fish would help ID them. There was a post about modification of the stinky water trap that worked best for one reefer, where they just made the stinky water and instead of leaving the bottle in the tank, they injected the stinky water against the glass with a pipette or turkey baster and watched as the cirolanids hit the glass, then they sucked them up. Might be worth reading some of the variations of the method in case any make your life easier.

Appreciate the insights & assistance!
I’m sure I will be trying every possible method in my quest to catch these buggers

 

[Nick711]

Just a quick update….so far I have caught 15 total over 3 days (probably about 2 hours spent per night). Rate at which I have been able to catch them went from 2 the first day, 4 the second and 9 tonight. Stopped for the night despite still seeing many more that were too quick and/or scared away by light. I have predominately used a red flashlight in the dark, but today noticed once lights went out a couple were freely swimming despite it still being daylight / light in the room. Caught about 3 of them before the dark hours. Mostly small/medium, but two larger ones have been caught as well. Was hoping for only 8 pounds of live rock, I wouldn’t have had to deal with so many but there are many more it seems…hoping they do not reproduce.

Catch methods -
Baiting via stinky shrimp liquid via syringe - not too successful, may slightly bait them out
Stinky shrimp trap (liquid only) - not successful
Stinky shrimp trap w. shrimp piece - caught 1 over about 30 min, but definitely attracted some new ones. Will try this again tomorrow over a longer duration.
Turkey Baster - best for when on or near sand / rock work. One of the more successful methods albeit tedious and rather low accuracy. Annoying capturing so much sand in the process as well and transferring all to cup, but it is what it is
Small Net - very successful when they are freely swimming in water column and close to the glass. Favorite method when the opportunity presents itself.

Have been storing most of them in a bowl of tap water. They eventually seem to settle down / die, but some remain rather active for quite some time.