teeny tiny yellow wormy things

[EMdina]

Hi
I have 46gal bowfront that has been up and cycling since 5/9...I have crushed coral for substrate- dead rock and live rock (added two weeks ago), 7 blue legged hermit crabs and 4 astrea snails....my amonia is 0 and my nitrites are through the roof (for about 2 weeks now) and I haven't measured the nitrates yet because the nitrites are still so high....
Yesterday I noticed these yellow crawly things on my glass....tons of them...and it looked like there were little egg clusters, too.....naturally, I got totally creeped out and cleaned the glass ( I really don't know what I thought that'd accomplish, but, at least, I didn't see them anymore)....well, today they're back.......
I would love to know what they are.....and how to get rid of them or if I even need to............
thanks in advance....
Ericka

 

[impur]

Probably copepods. Do they look like tiny little white bugs? Do you have a pic? Copepods are a good sign that your tank is maturing and healthy. The little egg clusters could be snail eggs.

Pics would be helpful.

 

[EMdina]

They're so tiny that I don't think they'd show up on a picture...I'd say about 2-3 mm in length...I'm going to get a magnifying glass out and maybe that will help me see what they really look like...I looked up 'pests' and found some pics and from what I've seen they could be copepods....
If they're a good sign that that makes me happy and relieved...
thanks...

 

[leanne]

If your nitrites are through the roof I would suggest doing a 50% ish w/c. High nitrite levels actually inhibit the bacteria that convert the nitrite to nitrate. If you get the nitrite levels down a bit they will start to multiply like billy-o and you tank will cycle quicker.

 

[EMdina]

really...a water change will help? I thought that by doing a water change it would, actually, slow the cycling time down...my friend and I always debate this (he set up his tank a few weeks before I did)...if a water change will help, than I will certainly do it, but I don't want to be hasty....
I'm beginning to think the nitrites are just never going to come down....

 

[leanne]

You need the nitrites to be converted to nitrates but the high nitrite levels actually inhibit the nitrifying bacteria if the levels are allowed to get too high. Doing a partial water change will give them a bit of help.

 

[hyrookin]

leanne is right, but how are you cycling the tank? not with the hermits
and snails? if so they will not produce enough waste to establish the
nitrifying bacteria.( Im sure you probably are cycling properly,but just in
case I wanted to point that out).

 

[EMdina]

No, I'm not using the snails/crabs for cycling...I have them in there to clean up a bit, but mostly just so there is some type of movement to watch... I had a cardinal in there but took him out, because I don't want to harm any fish (my neighbor gave him to me, insisting that put him in the tank)...I was feeding him krill and since removing the fish, I've just kept adding smashed up krill to the tank (every other day)...

 

[impur]

My suggestion is to simply wait it out. I don't know if your snails and hermit will survive. The best thing to have is patience. ONLY BAD THINGS HAPPEN FAST IN A SMALL TANK. My tank cycled in about a week. All the dieoff is just more food for the cleanup crew when conditions are right to add them. Sometimes it takes awhile for the cycle to finish. I've seen it take a month. Depends on your LR. Also, if you can, i would recommend you remove the crushed coral substrate and replace it with argonite sand. This will help to buffer your pH, whereas the crushed coral won't. Also, detrius can fall through the cracks in crushed coral where your cleanup critters can't reach it. Not many critters like to burrow in crushed coral, its to heavy for them. With argonite sand, they dig constantly, keeping the sand turned and preventing anarobic spots.

 

[hyrookin]

yeah, you may want to wait at least a week, and see if everything
spikes... as far as the cardinal, I think that would have worked fine, depending on the hardiness of the fish. I have never owned a cardinal,so I couldnt say for sure,but using a very hardy fish,this method works fine with no
ill effects to the fish. I myself cycled my tank with a large panther grouper my lfs
lent me.(before I added the grouper, my lfs also gave me a piece of his
established filter media, which I put in 2 weeks before adding the grouper).

 

[EMdina]

thanks for the advice...it's greatly appreciated....I definitely have patience and want to do things correctly...so,I will continue to wait it out....
I'm not sure I want to switch over to sand (not yet anyway)...the crushed coral I'm using is pretty finely crushed (not as fine as sand, but not large chunks)...I have one snail (in addition to my astrea snails- they're black) that burrows down in the coral (had two but I think the crabs got to it as one of the crabs is now in it's shell)and I always think its died someplace and then a couple of days later I'll see them scooting across the tank....

 

[leanne]

had two but I think the crabs got to it as one of the crabs is now in it's shell

That happened to me too I now have a few empty shell scattered about...