[IUnknown]

Does anyone know what this is? It looks really mean. I get every kind of weird thing in my tanks.

 

[John P.]

Looks like a damselfly nymph to me. Check my journal link in my sig--I had some interesting experiences with those little buggers. Make sure to read the whole journal--there are several instances in there of these things in my tank.

 

[JanS]

Here's a pic of a Dragon fly larva that hiked in on one of my plants. Grrrr....

Your guy doesn't look quite as cute.... ;-) Whether it's a Damselfly or Dragonfly, I understand they can be nasty predators, so you'll want to get it out of there.

 

[bharada]

And dragonfly nymphs can get big enough where you don't want anything to do with them! Damselfly nymphs are pretty dainty in comparison.

 

[TomE]

On a stream, I watch a dragon fly nymph capture an inch sunfish fry. Those things are really quick. I heard they also consume other nymphs too.

If you have tetras in that tank, I would get that nymph out of there.

 

[nonamethefish]

Thats a damselfly nymph. Still an interesting critter though. I have a sequence of a damselfly nymph that had molted to a damselfly showing the wing buds swelling and the damselfly getting final colors. Cool stuff to watch.

 

[John P.]

Some of the damselflies from my tank:

 

[dwhite645]

I found an adult leach at the LFS once on a bunch of stem plants I was GOING to buy...yuck! It got stepped on.

 

[HeyPK]

Exposure to a solution of one percent liquid bleach in water for a minute is not long enough to damage the plant, but it makes leaches and other creepy crawlies let go and thrash around. It also makes snails drop off. It is not, however, strong enough to kill eggs of most creepy crawlies.

 

[JanS]

Interesting pics.

The thing I'm starting to wonder is, why are these different nymphs becoming so much more common lately. I've heard quite a few people say they've gotten them in on plants in the past few months.

I know I will be dipping all of my new plants from now on, unless they come from someone I know well.

 

[IUnknown]

Now that I think of it, I know exactly were this guy came from. I got some Ranalisma rostrata from aquabid. The guy must have grown them emersed outdoors. I thought the three claws at the end were stingers.

 

[John P.]

Re: Stingers--LOL! Nope, just gills!

I'm guessing here, but I think my "imports" came with plants purchased from AquaticPlantDepot.com. There were many critters swimming around in that shipment. Despite my best efforts at cleaning, some of them were introduced to the tank. Oh well!

 

[jsenske]

I know every time I get a lot of plants for a tank from Florida Aquatic Nurseries I end up with a bunch of little fly larvae. I've been told they are Mayflies- they can be quite beautiful but I have also been told that at the water-borne (I guess larval stage) they are very aggressive and will even attack small shrimps/fish. It's only in the past year or so that I've been seeing them real consistently.

 

[bharada]

Just quarantine all new plants in a tank full of trout. That should put a stop to any nymphs.

 

[skylsdale]

Anytime I collect plants in the native streams, I introduce tons of nymphs, snails, occasional leech (although they often drop off into the bucket before the plants go into the tank), etc. The fish go NUTS over the stuff. I'd like to work on some little in-tank refugium for freshwater amphipods sometime...probably just a "cage" to keep fish out with some filter sponge material inside, inoculated with some wild 'pods, and you could have a nice little supplemental food source.

 

[Cavan Allen]

I soak all incoming plants in Jungle Clear Water. It contains potassium permangenate. It doesn't hurt the plants, but nothing has made it past the stuff.

 

[JanS]

Now that I think of it, I know exactly were this guy came from. I got some Ranalisma rostrata from aquabid. The guy must have grown them emersed outdoors. I thought the three claws at the end were stingers.

Mine came from a "Crazy Eddie" type seller at Aquabid too. I won't name names, but you may know who I'm talking about. He also has an outdoor setup and probably isn't particularly careful. [smilie=s:

 

[John P.]

Mine came from a "Crazy Eddie" type seller at Aquabid too. I won't name names, but you may know who I'm talking about. He also has an outdoor setup and probably isn't particularly careful. [smilie=s:[/QUOTE]

"All Plants Must Go!"

 

[gnome]

I thought the three claws at the end were stingers.

I called those "butt prongs." Sort of reminds me of an earwig. I found a damselfly nymph on two separate occasions. First time, I nearly wet myself. I managed to muster enough courage to net it out of the tank and I dumped it onto some rocks in the backyard. And it squirmed and stuff, and I hoped it would never happen again. Second time, I was more of a "pro" at it. I sucked it up with my handy-dandy turkey baster and dumped it out in the same spot.

Yeesh - I'm getting the heevie-jeevies just remembering the incidents. ::Shudder::

-Naomi

 

[HeyPK]

Those little thingeys are gills. Damsel fly larvae lurk quietly, depend on camouflage, and snag little things like Daphnia. I had some in my tank from the plants I collected in Florida last summer. I only saw one, which stayed in the same two square inch area for more than a week. My Daphnia population was never affected in any way I could see, and I was surprised when the tank hatched out about 10 damselfly adults altogether.

Dragon fly nymphs are bigger, much wider, and eat bigger things like tadpoles and small fish.