Captain Retardo
Fish Herder
Today I took a trip to the local pond, and saw some cool critters swimming about in there, so I went my house and came running back with a net and a baggie, I caught a whole bunch of two different kinds of animals, can someone help me identify them? (I'll have pics and a maybe a vid soon)
My ideas on the the two creatures I caught are that I have brine shrimp and mosquito larvae, here are some paint drawings that I did of the creatures:
First one (brine shrimp maybe?) (side view, and what it looks like how they swim) :
Second one (mosquito larvae?):
P.S. I just did a google search and brine shrimp and mosquito larvae match exactly with what I saw:
First one:
^^^I google image searched brine shrimp, and this picture looks exactly like what I have, except mine is orange, and a bit less feathery.
Second one:
^^^I google image searched mosquito larvae and looks exactly like what I have
P.P.S. I also recognize that I caught some daphnia in there! Woo!
So I have some questions now, if the first creature is brine shrimp, then how the heck would they be in a pond in Minnesota, which is in north central US, very very far away from saltwater. Perhaps someone could help me if I described this pond, okay here it goes:
This pond is somewhat large, it is usually covered by dense tall terrestrial plants because during the summer it completely dries, but during spring, like now, it floods and there is about a foot of water. The water looks extremely red and black, and probably has a low pH becuase it has a huge amount of decaying leaf clutter on the bottom. (BTW-When taken out of the pond the water looks yellow). I guess this would fit brine shrimp becuase their eggs can stay in dry conditions (like fall,summer,winter) then hatch when wet (spring). But I have no idea how brine shrimp could live there, I can't see how the water would be salty. I have seen animals like leeches in the water, I caught some daphnia, and last year frog tadpoles could be seen in the water, and I don't think these animals can survive saltwater. Also the pond borders a new development, and a forest-type area (or what used to be one, before the construction workers came in)
Second question: Could I feed all these animals to my fish? Would there be any adverse effects? (like bringing in other pests?) Could I breed these animals?(brine shrimp and daphnia i mean, I want to feed the fish the mosquito larvae quickly, so that they wont turn into mosquitos in my room!)
Third question: Could I transer these guys into a 1 gallon ice cream bucket with added dechlorinated tap water? Right now they are swimming in some pond water that I collected and put in a plastic bag, and they have been like that for about 6 hours already, and looks like all are alive.
BTW - I will upload a video in some time, if dialup and photobucket cooperates with me...
Also, If it is brine shrimp, daphnia, and mosquito larvae, then my fish are going to be having some nice food for the next few days!!!
My ideas on the the two creatures I caught are that I have brine shrimp and mosquito larvae, here are some paint drawings that I did of the creatures:
First one (brine shrimp maybe?) (side view, and what it looks like how they swim) :
Second one (mosquito larvae?):
P.S. I just did a google search and brine shrimp and mosquito larvae match exactly with what I saw:
First one:
^^^I google image searched brine shrimp, and this picture looks exactly like what I have, except mine is orange, and a bit less feathery.
Second one:
^^^I google image searched mosquito larvae and looks exactly like what I have
P.P.S. I also recognize that I caught some daphnia in there! Woo!
So I have some questions now, if the first creature is brine shrimp, then how the heck would they be in a pond in Minnesota, which is in north central US, very very far away from saltwater. Perhaps someone could help me if I described this pond, okay here it goes:
This pond is somewhat large, it is usually covered by dense tall terrestrial plants because during the summer it completely dries, but during spring, like now, it floods and there is about a foot of water. The water looks extremely red and black, and probably has a low pH becuase it has a huge amount of decaying leaf clutter on the bottom. (BTW-When taken out of the pond the water looks yellow). I guess this would fit brine shrimp becuase their eggs can stay in dry conditions (like fall,summer,winter) then hatch when wet (spring). But I have no idea how brine shrimp could live there, I can't see how the water would be salty. I have seen animals like leeches in the water, I caught some daphnia, and last year frog tadpoles could be seen in the water, and I don't think these animals can survive saltwater. Also the pond borders a new development, and a forest-type area (or what used to be one, before the construction workers came in)
Second question: Could I feed all these animals to my fish? Would there be any adverse effects? (like bringing in other pests?) Could I breed these animals?(brine shrimp and daphnia i mean, I want to feed the fish the mosquito larvae quickly, so that they wont turn into mosquitos in my room!)
Third question: Could I transer these guys into a 1 gallon ice cream bucket with added dechlorinated tap water? Right now they are swimming in some pond water that I collected and put in a plastic bag, and they have been like that for about 6 hours already, and looks like all are alive.
BTW - I will upload a video in some time, if dialup and photobucket cooperates with me...
Also, If it is brine shrimp, daphnia, and mosquito larvae, then my fish are going to be having some nice food for the next few days!!!
But yeah, do feed them quickly, they turn into mosquitos fairly quick. >.<
) there, so perhaps there is no chemical runoff.
/s51.photobucket.com/albums/f361/sk_...Animal005-1.flv
