plankton and worms?

[B52boy]

I have been going slow with my tank to keep things stable...perhaps too stable. I set it up 2 months ago... with sand ad solid LR from a buddy. I cycled it...twice..haha.. added lighting, heat and some cool figi LR from an LFS. abot a week ago. Reedings settled back down, nitrates were a bit high so big water change. Next day added 4 blue legged crabs. This morning I saw 2 new things.

First noticed were dozens...no perhaps a hunderd small brown thigs on the sand. they relinded me of .5 mm pencil lead about 2mm long, brown, no other features and not moving.

Then I spoted something fast swim accross. then a second one...that looked whitish clear, 20 leggs, small antenne, about 4 mm long and scooting along at a good clip.

Could the second thing be plankton?

I wish i had a good digital camara.

 

[EDGRAY]

Well what you got in your live sand if is like brownish dots is a bloom of diatom (brown algae) and the clear thing with legs did it had alittle of red if so can be a bristleworm or can be another kind of work nothing to worry about .....and why you are saying plankton??? plankton is really tiny and is a surce of food a microscopic thing. anyways try to identify what you see with this pics and also you will get more info. on all the goodies that you can find in your tank.

http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

 

[B52boy]

The moving thing could be an Amphipod of sorts... I did see it shortly after i turned on the lights. About the brown things. I don't think it is brown alge. The cylinders are to perfect. All a uniform length with definitive chape and a randon but well defined distance between rods. They do look like brown pencil lead. And they arived there through the night. Would brown alge go from zero to this over night? And wouldn't it be fuzzy?

 

[little urchin]

sounds like hermit poo to me ....i get stacks of it:lol3:

 

[B52boy]

Thats what I was thinking... my oh my thats a lot of poo... I guess i have a lot of junk in the tank...good thig I got then eah? :mrgreen:

 

[skipm]

sSounds like someone is pooing in your tank and the whitish thing you described definitely sounds like a pod or grammarous shrimp, both of which are good things to have in your tank.