Red_Rose

Does anyone know what this is? I found it in my 2.5g and I've never seen anything like it before and I definitely never found one in my 10g. The brown stuff on the measuring spoon is just some Black Water Extract, in case anyone was wondering about that.



If anyone knows what it is, could you tell me if it could harm my guppies or plants?

Thanks.

majolo

Can we get a size estimate? Looks a bit like a water boatman:
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg40.html
If so, it's a plant-eater according to that website (but I don't know how much harm it would do to plants).

Red_Rose

It was about 1mm in size. I looked through the link you posted and it's definitely no where near 3-11mm.

majolo

Hmmm, well the juveniles of that family are supposed to look similar to adults (also they lay eggs on submerged plants, so there would be a definite route of entry), so I wouldn't rule it out -- here's another website with lots of photos: http://bugguide.net/node/view/4964/bgimage
Can you see if it swims with those side appendages?

Red_Rose

It did look like it moved around with its side appendages. I didn't put it back into the tank though because I wasn't sure if it would be wise to leave it in there.

If there is another one in there, should I be concerned for my plants?

BiscuitSlayer

Looks like a water boatman to me. We used to get those things in our pool all the time when I was a kid in TX.

They shouldn't cause any harm to plants, but I would probably get it out of there anyway.

Red_Rose

Will do. I've only ever come across the one but I will check the tank more often to see if there are any more in there. Could they hurt my snails or guppies?

Thank you.

mommyeireanne

Looks like Daphnia magna, a water flea, to me. People culture these for live foods. Daphnia are filter feeders, and won't harm flora or fauna. Fish love to eat them. They are the largest of the Daphnia cousins at 0.2 to 5 mm.