Help me ID a hitchhiker in my QT

[SJMelendez]

Hi,
I have a hitchhiker that looks like a dark brownish colored shrimp. It swims like a shrimp when aggitated. I can't seem to find any info on this little guy. Has anyone seen this?

 

[bwils]

It looks like an amphipod, they are good.

 

[SJMelendez]

Thank you for the quick response! Its about a cm in length. Is that too big for them?

 

[bwils]

Yeah I have some that size in my refugium. They are different from copepods which stay small. They are good detritus eaters.

 

[MURedhawk]

Agree - it looks like an amphipod of which most are very good to have (rarely some can be parasitic to fish). Most likely your fish will eat it if in the main tank.
Years ago, when I started my tank systems, I bought extra amphipods and copepods. The copepods live on today, but the amphipods were just “snacks” for the fish and were eaten faster than they could be reproduced.

 

[SJMelendez]

Wanted to thank you guys again for the great info! Much appreciated.