[barthed]

Hi,

we just found this nasty-looking bug in our heavily planted NPT (substrate: potting soil + gravel) and would like to know what it is: it has six legs, brown, seems to move in the water by "jumping". I removed one yesterday and another one this morning while trimming my plants. They are afraid of anything moving toward them and seem to live in our Limnophila sessiliflora (Dwarf Ambulia). The tank currently has tetra neons and snails and is 2 months old.

I put a picture in the post too. Any idea about what it is and how to get rid of it?

Thanks,
Bart

 

[CaptainNemo]

Kind of hard to tell from the angle, but it looks like a dragonfly nymph. There's risk as it grows that it could eat your neons.

As for how to get rid of them, catching them would be the only thing I could think of. They won't multiply in your tank.

 

[clearleaf]

Yuck. I can't offer any expert advice. But fish *do* like to eat bugs. So maybe get a larger fish (apisto?).

 

[supersmirky]

It's one creepy looking bug....I hadn't seen these before

 

[[__--MUD--__]]

WOW, i just found the exact same looking bugs in my aquarium 2 weeks back. I removed them. only thing i can think of is eggs came in the plants from aquariumplants.con and finally hatched. They are some nasty looking creatures..

 

[essabee]

Yes! It is a dragonfly nymph. They are predatory so squish them.

 

[info scavenger]

I had these in my tank also after I put in plants from aquariumplants.com. It took me a few weeks before I finally got rid of all of them. I would think I had gotten rid of them all and another one would show up (15 in all). :mad2: They are aggressive and will go after anything that moves, check your tank carefully everyday for them, they hide very well. Good luck.

 

[barthed]

Thanks for all of your answers!

I googled about dragonfly nymphs and after seeing a couple of pictures, I think this is it. I already killed two, but they hid so well that I thought I was lucky to find them. I saw some empty "shells" hanging on my plants last morning (they molt those little buggers). I'll be actively searching for them today I guess.

Btw, although they hide well, they are relatively easy to catch because they are afraid of my long tongs and they tend to throw themselves on the glass when they see it coming in their direction. They are slower than my neons, they sometimes stay in place for a couple of seconds, and I'm not afraid of hurting them when catching them (as opposed to catching a diseased fish).

Like some of you said, it probably came with the plants because the two pieces of driftwood we bought had been kept on the store shelves for many weeks (dry) and the soil is cheap potting soil (relatively dry and not a likely place for dragonfly eggs, if I understood their reproduction cycle correctly). Gravel is commercial gravel, so I really think the plants are the culprit.

I never had problem with the plants from my LFS before (except snail eggs, but I consider snail eggs to be a free extra the first time you plant). Maybe if I ever buy plants again, I'll use quick bleach/alum bath :-(

thanks,
Bart

 

[barthed]

Other pictures. That's the third one we just captured. It was hidden in the driftwood and we had to remove it from the tank :mad2:

 

[Afyounie]

These may come in with plants, but not on anything that has been kept dry like driftwood. Dragonflys lay their eggs in the water, and if your tank is an open top, it is likely a dragonfly laid the eggs in your tank. I think this is rather neat having something lay its eggs in your tank.

 

[barthed]

Hehe, my tank is indeed an open top, but it is located in an apartment on a second floor, far from water, and probably too cold for dragonflies (it's currently -4 degree Celcius outside ). As you suggested, I'll put my bet on the plants. I do hope that we won't have to kill 15 of them like one of the posters did, because it's a pain to chase once it gets into the cracks and holes of our two driftwood pieces!