Visitors in the tank

[Eunen_de]

The fishtank is starting to resemble a small ecosystem. Algae, hitchhiking snails eating the algae. Vinegar eels. One guest I can't figure out though. I found some sort of insect on the glass (squashed by the small floating driftwood). I thought it fell in until I saw another one in it's ...chrysalis? I don't know if that's the right word for them underwater. There are little clear brown tubes on the hornwort. Most are empty but one has another bug in it. They have long antennae like moths but I couldn't tell much else about them as one is all rolled up and the other was squished. I think they have see-through wings, unlike moths.

Anyone ever had these in their tank?

 

[morgan]

If you catch the creature and send it to a fishkeeping magazine they may try to identify it for you. That's in the uk, I am sure they would do the same wherever you are. I read it in a magazine, the person sent it in squashed but they still identified it. They prefer it not squashed!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I know the creature you are talking about but i can't remember its name; i used to have loads in a pond back at my mums home and from what i have gathered, they are an endangered species.
I would just colect them up and put them in a pond somwhere that has floating plants and no fish- either that or put them in a slow moving stream.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Damselfly larvae?

 

[Eunen_de]

It's not a damselfly, I know that. They swim to the surface and hatch right out into the air. They're bigger too, I think.

All the tubes are empty but one and it looks like it's starting to get fuzzy (decomposing, getting fungus or algae or something) it's hard to tell. I want to put a small pond out back so if I find any more I'll put the whole piece of hornwort in the pond. I guess the fish ate the rest that hatched- I didn't find anything buzzing around the house.