Ack -- Nymph Or Something.

[soritan]

So, I had this weird urge to turn on my aquarium's light, even though it was "light's out", already. And I was treated to this bugger:

More research to do.

How did it manage to get so big in a tank full of african dwarf frogs and ghost shrimp? I'd have thought it'd be "lunch" well before now...

edit: i see two, now. i think they're coming out of my filter. Can anyone help me ID this bug so that I can properly google/treat? Please?

edit: I just searched high and low, and found someone else who has a picture of something simmilar in their tank, and it was suggested that it was a midge, which has a larval state often called 'blood worm', could these guys have actually got into my tank because I feed frozen bloodworms to my ADFs?

 

[trace1]

if i remember rightly its a damsel fly larve, looks pretty much like what i had in 1 of my tanks, i just up the gravel vacs until they went.

 

[soritan]

I wonder what the odds are my ADFs eat them?

I seem to have quite a time with insects in my tank. Today isn't the first day I've wanted to strip the whole thing apart and start over again.

 

[prankster705]

It's more plausible that a big damsel fly larvae could kill the frog, they have incredibly strong yaws get it out imediatly, and yes it is a damsel fly larvae. To bad you arent from around here, I would actualy buy it, as they are absolutely fascinating.
NOTE:If it's brown it's a damsel fly larvae, if it's green it's dragon fly larvae.

 

[soritan]

Yeah, a bit of googling about once I got the thing's name, brought me to the same conclusion.

So here's what I have planned, tell me if it sounds plausible, please:

1) Remove my African Dwarf Frogs, I have an empty 5gal that they can go into. It's uncycled and unfiltered at the moment, but it's better than the alternative, especially when you consider that damselfly might harm them, and the food I feed my ADFs also nourishes damselfly nymph (frozen blood worms). Leave the ghost shrimp in, because there is no way I can catch the buggers as they're fast fast fast and vanish like ninja.

2) Start damselfly nymph hunting, suck 'em up with a turkey baster and dispose of 'em.

3) Begin vacuuming my tank frequently doing tiny water changes so as not to harm my shrimp. 1-2 US gallons every 3 days sound appropriate?


During this time, I figure I might as well simply concentrate on beautifying my tank and growing my plants out, until it's heavily planted in there. Could take weeks to do this. I'll leave the filter running, simply to keep the current up. The tank will uncycle. When I'm heavily planted, I'll add a small amount of fish for a light bioload and maintain.

Heck, I like the shrimps. Maybe I'll even just buy some fancy dancy shrimps and make it a shrimp-only tank. I have time to ponder, at any rate.


Removing the ADFs was something I had planned on doing, anyways. I can't see them half the time in the 10gal, because they're always hiding in the back of the tank. Also, I can't tell if all three are eating appropriately when I feed them their bloodworms.


Sound good?