Crazy Critters !!!With bunny ear like antenna!!

[Steviereefs]

Hi y'all
My tank is teaming with these critters filtering the water with their bunny ear like antenna. Do you know what these guys are ?
Thanks
[video]https://youtu.be/nD1_ASTkeN8[/video]

 

[reefstarter]

http://www.masa.asn.au/masawiki/index.php/Flabelligeridae

maybe this ? either way they are a good thing for the tank as with most filter feeders good score !!!!!

 

[Steviereefs]

I found out what these are and they are called Emerita (mole crab)
The males stay small while the females can grow up to 2 inches . One in my tank iscertainly female she is about 2"

 

[STiTCH87]

Wish I could snag a few!

 

[Steviereefs]

Wish I could snag a few!

Hey stitch if you go to the cape bring a five gallon bucket with a shovel and scoop sand not deep right from where the water washes the shore, you can catch plenty. BTW are you a 87 baby , I am and I went to Somerset high

 

[reefstarter]

So sand fleas?

 

[Steviereefs]

So sand fleas?

Yes but sand fleas sounds so repulsive , these guys are hardly repulsive, they are very interesting to watch. Considering they are heavy filter feeders it may be difficult to provide them proper nutrients. Do that kinda stinks . But I'm giving them 5 gallons of ocean water changes 3 times a week to make sure they eat. They go nuts when I add the fresh ocean water

 

[STiTCH87]

Hey stitch if you go to the cape bring a five gallon bucket with a shovel and scoop sand not deep right from where the water washes the shore, you can catch plenty. BTW are you a 87 baby , I am and I went to Somerset high

I sure am! Grew up in Dighton though, but if I don't know you, I'm sure I know your friends and you know my ex girlfriends lol. Lots of time spent in this town.

Cape Cod doesn't have big ones do they? I've gone every year for 28 years and never saw one of these before. =/

 

[Steviereefs]

I sure am! Grew up in Dighton though, but if I don't know you, I'm sure I know your friends and you know my ex girlfriends lol. Lots of time spent in this town.

Cape Cod doesn't have big ones do they? I've gone every year for 28 years and never saw one of these before. =/

LOL man the good old days!!! I'm from Berkley but that group of people from Berkley Dighton and Somerset was a crazy mix. I ended up using sand from craigville beach in centerville for my new setup, so after I got setup and put the light on in the tank I saw about 20 or so of the sand fleas , they look awesome .From what I read and it wasn't slot is that the females are the ones that get big and the max size is 2" the males are smaller but I don't know the specifics. But I thinky could catch tons of these if you dig the shore line. Some people eat the big ones

 

[STiTCH87]

Pretty awesome. Hopefully they live long for you. Any I'll effect seen on coral or livestock from using Massachusetts ocean water in a reef?

 

[Steviereefs]

Pretty awesome. Hopefully they live long for you. Any I'll effect seen on coral or livestock from using Massachusetts ocean water in a reef?

I don't know, but I do know that there was a gentleman who used to reef from near to Boston who had a very successful full blow reef using only ocean water . Plus the ocean water in the cape is some of the best quality in the US . I've pulled buckets so clean it's awesome and it's free so I'll take my chances . Winter time might be a bit of a challenge getting water and also when we have long storms like now with so much runoff I'm going to wait a little while before I go harvest more water.