Ahh! Fly Invaders! They Are Nasty!

[milkton]

THIS may be one of the most terrifying and disgusting things that have ever happened to me.

It started like this:

I have this small 2.5 gallon shrimp only tank in MY ROOM, and one of the cherries in there had babies. When i came to check on them, i noticed there was a baby that was sucked up in the filter but was still alive. I decided to get it out, but when i opened the filter lid, about 10 1-2mm fly/mosquito babies flew out and bumped me in the face.

I HAD TO GET A SHOWER after, what do i do now? I'm willing to check up on my shrimp again if i could get some advice. Do you now why i got flies in my tank? How do i treat this? Should i worry?

PLEASE HELP ASAP!

 

[keenonfish]

Mosquitos and midges primarily breed in water. If you see wiggly things suspended from the surface that dive when alerted it is generally the larval form of a mosquito (or maybe phantom midge) and anything that lives in the substrate (filter in your case) or is seen in a figure of eight moving round the tank (bloodworm) is a midge larvae.

As there are no preditors in your tank (I assume) then they will hatch out and might even successfully breed.

I suspect predation is the only answer or a fine net over the tank to stop further midges getting in their..

 

[milkton]

thanks keenon!

this might be a stupid reply but im a stupid person haha. Are you basically telling me that a mosquito flew into my filter, and layed her eggs? Then, since there were no predator fish, it hatched successfully and now there are baby mosquitos everywhere?

There are ALOT of nematodes in my tank in the substrate. How do i clean it up without having to take out all the grass and hardwork out of the tank? The substrate is sand btw. Also, my shrimp just gave birth to ANOTHER batch of shrimplets.... All this is really annoying, for the people thinking of getting a fish/shrimp tank, think twice before getting one.

sigh..

 

[keenonfish]

thanks keenon!

this might be a stupid reply but im a stupid person haha. Are you basically telling me that a mosquito flew into my filter, and layed her eggs? Then, since there were no predator fish, it hatched successfully and now there are baby mosquitos everywhere?

There are ALOT of nematodes in my tank in the substrate. How do i clean it up without having to take out all the grass and hardwork out of the tank? The substrate is sand btw. Also, my shrimp just gave birth to ANOTHER batch of shrimplets.... All this is really annoying, for the people thinking of getting a fish/shrimp tank, think twice before getting one.

sigh..

Ah well they will be the larval stage possibly likely midges then, as you would see mozzies wiggling all over tank. It don't matter what they are I guess cos you got a bit of a problem lol!

You could put a fine mesh over the water surface, so that oxygen exchange can happen but the midge larva cannot emerge as an adult and will drown. Then a daily scoop will rid the problem but I would be worried about oxygen content of water so keep an eye on the shrimp.

Or get a fish that will not threaten shrimp and will happily snack on said larvae..?

Maybe someone else can think of a better way?

 

[Nick16]

put the mosquitos in your fish tank, the fish love them. (if its not just shrimp in there)

 

[keenonfish]

put the mosquitos in your fish tank, the fish love them. (if its not just shrimp in there)

I think that;s the problem Nick, no fish!

 

[milkton]

hey guys, thanks for helping! but i still have a bit of a problem and im still not quite sure how to resolve it. I just found 2 of some type of larvae thing wiggling around my tank today. When i came close to them, they quickly made a sudden dive underwater so i stayed there till they came back up and i picked them up and killed them in hot water haha! What i did was put a mesh over a small gap between the water surface and the open air. Right now, are the wierd larvae things the phantom midges u were talkin about? They were about 1-2mm in length.

PS. i will try to get a picture posted about how my tank looks like and what i did for a more accurate answer.

heres the picture. The red part i outlined is the mesh thats covering the gap. The blue part i outlined is the small gap some type of mosquito got into... If i;m corerct (about the mosquito gettin into the gap)

 

[keenonfish]

Phantom

Mozzie

 

[keenonfish]

If these are mozzies which it sounds like they are they need to breath air as you can see in image above. Putting the mesh an inch below water surface will still allow oxygen exchange but will prevent them reaching the surface so they will drown. You will need to remove the body's to prevent ammonia spike.

 

[milkton]

actually i think they look like the phantom cause they are just squigling around the surface of the water...

if it is one of those phantom midges, should i be worried?

thanks

 

[milkton]

actually i think they look like the phantom cause they are just squigling around the surface of the water...

if it is one of those phantom midges, should i be worried?

thanks

bump

 

[keenonfish]

No they look gruesome but harmless. adult does not bite man. Can you not net them if the are wrigglers?