Damselfly nymph

[Wills]

I've just pulled out my first Damselfly nymph from my 8 gallon Cherry Shrimp tank!

Its right next to my work desk and something caught my eye and I thought 'I don't think thats a shrimp' so looked over and this alien looking thing was staring back at me. It was about an inch long and clear so I don't think very old...

I am keeping a keen eye out for more, I don't really want to have to take the tank apart to find more... I just can't believe it got in here the window is tiny and only opens 6 inches or so. I have seen them in the garden though, I thought they were Dragonflies but apparently Damsels are different. The nymph had 3 'fins' to its tail which is apparently how you tell.

Just thought I'd share.

Wills

 

[Wills]

Though actually after a quick read, it sounds more likely it came in as a contamination rather than a fly by deposit. I would probably guess it came from the person I got my shrimp from! She gave me Ramshorn Snails and Duckweed so why not Damselfly larvae! Hmmm maybe not be as trusting with home sellers now...

Wills

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Creepy-crawlies and their eggs/cocoons etc can sneak in anywhere. Not just "home" sellers but also larger firms can have things with sneaky hitchers that wait for your back to be turned before they emerge to cause as much havoc as they can.......and good old chuckyweed, is a prime candidate as a smuggler transport

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Though actually after a quick read, it sounds more likely it came in as a contamination rather than a fly by deposit. I would probably guess it came from the person I got my shrimp from! She gave me Ramshorn Snails and Duckweed so why not Damselfly larvae! Hmmm maybe not be as trusting with home sellers now...

Wills

Sounds like she's probably growing the aquatic plants out in the garden, which makes sense with the weather we're having and practically speaking. Still sucks for you, and I would probably send her a message about the damselfly nymph... I'd think a fine netting over the containers might be enough to prevent the adults laying their eggs on the plants, but that's only a guess.
I've seen them when messing about with the pond, and they are freaky looking! You can tell immediately that they're predatory, right? They just look like a predator through and through.

Sadly, if there was one that came from an egg on a plant, there's a good chance there's a few more in there... But I wouldn't panic and tear the tank apart, unless your shrimp colony is shrinking fast? I think the adults are safe from them, but the shrimplets are vulnerable. Since the tank sits right near you, just keep a close eye out for them and remove any you find.

 

[Wills]

Whats chunkyweed? I've not come across that before. I think it must have either been from the person I got the shrimp from or it came in from outside, I'm hoping its the first one as they lay a lot of eggs!!!

I do have quite a lot of shrimplets at the moment, really tiny ones so if I start to notice them thinning out I'll take a judgement. Though I have to admit if I took the tank apart I'd loose a lot of shrimp as I just wouldnt be able to catch them all.

At least in my other tank I have the puffers - so good luck to any that enter that tank haha!!

Wills

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Chucky being evil and getting everywhere....

Chuckyweed = Duckweed

 

[GaryE]

I had them get in to my garage in the old house. I guess they were flying by, sensed water and realized I had a door open. I shooed them out, but not long after, I realized what they'd been up to.
The species that laid eggs in one of my tanks was a small one, and they flew around the garage for a short period. They ate no fry, and never went upstairs to get me into trouble with my wife. It was the dead of winter when they took wing, so I couldn't let them out.

Jut a question. I'm hardly a world traveler, but it seems everywhere I went in England, on 3 different trips, I never saw window screens.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Whats chunkyweed? I've not come across that before.

I'm wondering about that too. I assumed duckweed, but I don't know why.

I do have quite a lot of shrimplets at the moment, really tiny ones so if I start to notice them thinning out I'll take a judgement. Though I have to admit if I took the tank apart I'd loose a lot of shrimp as I just wouldnt be able to catch them all.

When I emptied my 220 L that had fish and endless shrimp, even after I'd "vacuumed" the gravel many times and rescued all the tiny babies, I still found shrimp every day in that tank. Refilling it 25% full several times so I could continue sucking them up, spending hours rescuing them all from the bucket and moving them to their new home. You can get them all, if you're determined and can waste that much time!

It's strange though how I'm always determined to rescue every tiny shrimplet, and feel horrible at the thought of accidentally throwing any out in the bucket, but then again I love to eat prawns and can't/won't give them up. I've sorted the cognitive dissonance by thinking of our tank ones as shrimp, and edible ones as prawns. Even the giant ones, they're now prawns to me. Eat 20 prawns in a jacket potato, no worries, but accidentally discard one of my shrimp? Nu uh, not happening on my watch!

At least in my other tank I have the puffers - so good luck to any that enter that tank haha!!

Wills

I miss my black mollies for that! Big mouths, big appetites, fast and pretty smart (relatively speaking) fish. When I collected a bunch of hornwort from my pond, I used my mollies to clean it up! It was spotless within a day or two, they really went through it gobbling anything creepy or crawly. They go wild for live food, and will snap up any nasties like hydra or damselfly larvae. Man, I need to get a molly trio or something once my tanks are settled.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Jut a question. I'm hardly a world traveler, but it seems everywhere I went in England, on 3 different trips, I never saw window screens.

Yeah, we don't really do window screens here, not sure why, except that usually, the weather is so mild we're not being eaten alive by insects or anything. I remember bead curtains for doorways being a thing when I was a kid, strings of beads hung from the doorframe so you could leave the back door open and wander in and out of the garden and let some air in the house, without loads of insects coming in.

 

[GaryE]

I wonder with climate change if window screens will become a thing. If I sit in my backyard in August, when it's warmer and humid, the mosquitoes dive bomb in droves. In July, when it's less humid, no problem. Last night, they had already started to thin out.

I remember sitting in a room in east London during a heat wave, looking 3 stories down into a lane with some formidable rodent traps spaced along the back walls of some restaurants, and wondering why the rats weren't climbing up through the open windows. Even the flying rats, the pigeons, had free access if they wanted.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I wonder with climate change if window screens will become a thing. If I sit in my backyard in August, when it's warmer and humid, the mosquitoes dive bomb in droves. In July, when it's less humid, no problem. Last night, they had already started to thin out.

I remember sitting in a room in east London during a heat wave, looking 3 stories down into a lane with some formidable rodent traps spaced along the back walls of some restaurants, and wondering why the rats weren't climbing up through the open windows. Even the flying rats, the pigeons, had free access if they wanted.

Mozzies attack you in Scotland mainly and in areas where bracken grows......its not a big issue in suburban areas though (apart from Scotland where the Scottish Midge is the equivalent of a Great White Shark and will gang up on you and bite you to pieces)

The Scottish Midge Forecast

The Scottish Midge Forecast uses data from biting midge traps and mini-weather stations across Scotland to give you a view of midge levels in Scotland.

www.smidgeup.com

 

[Deleted member 149562]

The Scottish Midge is legendary.....the fish love them, humans...not so much

Midges in Scotland: A complete guide on Scotland's midge

A guide on the Highland biting midge, what you should wear, repellents, treatment for bites and best times to visit. A real pest in the west!

www.livebreathescotland.com

 

[Wills]

Lots of interesting info in here Just pulled a second one out though so lets see where this goes.... could well have been on the duckweed as thats where that came from.

It is a shame as she was starting out with her fishroom and selling to public - she has a facebook page etc. Really happy with the shrimp overall but...

I still don't know what to do with these snails, they don't seem to be eating the plants in this tank and seem to be the ones eating the biofilm on the wood so they can stay a bit longer but if I start seeing nibble marks they can visit the puffer tank for dinner...

I've also now spotted Hydra in the tank too... honestly probably the biggest issues I've had since starting back up 2 years ago!

I miss my black mollies for that! Big mouths, big appetites, fast and pretty smart (relatively speaking) fish. When I collected a bunch of hornwort from my pond, I used my mollies to clean it up! It was spotless within a day or two, they really went through it gobbling anything creepy or crawly. They go wild for live food, and will snap up any nasties like hydra or damselfly larvae. Man, I need to get a molly trio or something once my tanks are settled.

Interesting on the Mollies, contemplating some for my 4 foot. I had some Mexican Mollies in my old 6 foot for a while and I liked them, but kind of resented them as they looked better than the actual feature fish of the tank haha! But if I got them in this 4 foot tank I could give them a posting to the 8 gallon just to clean up - would they go for the shrimp though?

Wills

 

[GaryE]

Hydra. Grrr. If the duckweed is from outdoors, it will be there. No question, almost no dodging it.

But the damself flies can lay eggs in deuckweed if they get indoors. It's where they'll be.

Mollies allowed some hydra through here.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Lots of interesting info in here Just pulled a second one out though so lets see where this goes.... could well have been on the duckweed as thats where that came from.

It is a shame as she was starting out with her fishroom and selling to public - she has a facebook page etc. Really happy with the shrimp overall but...

I still don't know what to do with these snails, they don't seem to be eating the plants in this tank and seem to be the ones eating the biofilm on the wood so they can stay a bit longer but if I start seeing nibble marks they can visit the puffer tank for dinner...

I've also now spotted Hydra in the tank too... honestly probably the biggest issues I've had since starting back up 2 years ago!

Oh no... a second damselfly larvae and now hydra too?? Dude, I'm sorry. I'd definitely message her. You don't have to put her on blast publicly if it makes you uncomfortable, but I would see how she handles it, whether she posts a warning on her ads that the plants are grown outdoors and may contain eggs and predatory insects! I mean, come on. You're experienced enough to at least know what these things are and that they're bad news, to remove them. But what if other buyers have no idea why their shrimp and baby fish are vanishing? I'd be really unhappy to have paid for plants, only to wind up with this.

But, I'm also stubborn and have a mean streak, and I understand that you're not going to be nasty about it

Interesting on the Mollies, contemplating some for my 4 foot. I had some Mexican Mollies in my old 6 foot for a while and I liked them, but kind of resented them as they looked better than the actual feature fish of the tank haha! But if I got them in this 4 foot tank I could give them a posting to the 8 gallon just to clean up - would they go for the shrimp though?

Wills

They'd snag shrimplets if they find them, sure. A large molly might try to eat an adult shrimp, not sure, I never actually put them together. But mollies are greedy and like live food and insects, so can imagine them going for shrimp if given the chance.

Mollies allowed some hydra through here.

Dang, that sucks. I watched mine eat one once. But mine were also huge, around 7 years old and had grown really big, maybe that's why hydra were easy for them?