Mass Critter Spawning? Shrimp? Amphipods?

PotatoPig

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So I quickly checked my tank after lights out and there are literally thousands of little critters flying around in the tank, about 1/32” long give or take.

They have a larger head and a narrower tail

Below is a video of the tank. Pretty much every speck flying around is one. Also is a video of a couple I scooped out, along with a still pic.

Curious what these things are, as they don’t quite look, move or act like any pods/amphipods I’m familiar with.



IMG_0522.jpeg
 

kevgib67

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I get these and it happens every now and then. The fish it to my attention as they start going crazy. I thought is was mysis at first but wondering if hatching from the eggs of my two cleaner shrimp.whatever they are the fish love them.
 

DaJMasta

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Cleaner shrimp larvae look different, while I don't have a positive ID for you, I'd say either mithrax/emerald crab or hermit crab larvae. Usually they all come out pretty quickly, but if you look on the rockwork after dark, you can usually see them being sort of squirted out from under the crab (or coming out in bursts when a hermit sort of shakes their shell).

I think mysids don't spawn in visible bursts like this, and their adults aren't big enough to hatch out larvae like this. I've had mysids in my sump/rear chamber for a while and have yet to observe a spawning event even though the population has grown.
 

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