What Are These Little Creatures?!

[tqfan]

hi

we recently set up a new, larger tank, and the old, smaller tank the fish were in was put outside on the patio (no more room in the shed without a tidy out, lol!).

it was emptied of water, and has the gravel still in it. obviously we've had rain so it filled up a couple of inches. there was a yucky green slime film over the top at one point, but that's now gone.

i looked into the tank yesterday, as i was near it, cos you know... never know what you might find, lmao! lo and behold, there were little creatures swimming about.

they seem to come to the top and just sit, but with their tails to the top of the water, and if you move, they dart to the bottom. they swim rather strangely.

any ideas what they may be?

my dad came away with - bloodworm but whatever they are after they are bloodworm - and - mosquito larvae - both seemed strange to me...

we scooped some out and fed them to the fish and they snapped them up. we've added more water to the tank, so they are easier to catch.

i've got a picture, but it's not that clear. hopefully you can make them out enough to give you an idea. if not, i will try to get a better pic.

thanks

 

[england]

mosquito lavae

 

[gremlin]

not being horrible but could you take another picture

 

[matchstickman47]

harmless....fish food

 

[england]

 

[Bebobb]

harmless....fish food

Yeah, I think your fish will have a nice munch on them.

 

[mooey65]

Look here

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

They're mosquito larvae a.k.a tasty fish food .

 

[tqfan]

so my dad was right, lol!

gremlin - that picture was taken from above, when there wasn't much water in the tank, but then i put more in, so if i got a picture now, i'd be able to see them a lot better!

the fish do enjoy them, especially the mountain minnows. hopefully we have a good supply in there, there are loads!

thanks

edit: can someone point me to the thread where it tells you about growing your own, sort of thing? i saw a topic a while ago, talking about how if you put lettuce in water, these lil beasties will grow. i can't find it now...

 

[afishdude]

I'm not sure if you want them to grow... they will turn into mosquitoes. If you want more just put a dish of water outside for a few days, you will get loads.

 

[saz326]

Yeah - whatever you do - dont go outside and sit next to the tank on a warm evening wearing shorts and t-shirt. YOU WILL GET BITTEN!!

Id tip the tank out after a few weeks to prevent them becoming mozzies, and let a new batch grow. Of you could always run a fish net through the tank and bug what you catch into ice-cube trays and make your own frozen foods.

 

[tqfan]

i thought if i was catching them and feeding them to the fish every few days, they wouldn't have a chance to grow on? but i guess i wouldn't just be catching the oldest and biggest ones!

could go the ice cube route though, that would be handy.

thanks

 

[keenonfish]

i thought if i was catching them and feeding them to the fish every few days, they wouldn't have a chance to grow on? but i guess i wouldn't just be catching the oldest and biggest ones!

could go the ice cube route though, that would be handy.

thanks

You can tell a mile off when the mozzies are getting ready to emerge - they are unusual in that they have an active pupae stage. They will take on the shape of a comma, and you will notice they come to the waters surface head first , with the tail curled round underneath them. AT this stage you might have a day or so before emerging.

Horrible things but quite essential to our environment I suppose lol!

 

[OldMan47]

Great fish food. Just scoop them up whenever you see some and distribute to your tanks. If you overfeed them, they will survive fine for a few days in the tank until the fish get hungry. I have actually had one survive a whole day before being eaten but that day I fed what I thought would be 4 or 5 days worth to the tank.