Weird Bug Identification Needed

[klevin]

Hi, while i was doing the regular maintenance on my shrimp only planted tank, i had my pumps off and i saw this little critter floating around the water. I scooped it out and at first i thought it's a tiny shrimplet (i've never had any before, this is my first time trying to breed cherry shrimp & malayan shrimp)

I went and googled and found out that it MIGHT be a PEST

Here's the link(for those without account can view) the photos, sorry for the bad quality, the only camera i have is my smartphone's
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Ws&usp=sharing

As you can see from the photos, it's extremely small, maybe 4-5mm. Dragonfly/Damselfly nymphs are all quite large 10mm atleast from what i found out, the only possibility is mayfly but
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...ph&FORM=RESTAB as it is, they're quite different for their looks, so i have no idea what it is now

i hope experienced aquarist here can help me identify it, i reeeeeaaaally want to have my shrimps breed safely in my 10 gallon heavily planted with moss(that's why i'm having a headache on how to catch or even find "it" if i have to)

*P.S btw, it only have two "tail/gills" instead of three
*reference: http://users.eastlink.ca/~dryfly/aqua.htm http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...your-aquarium/

[Urban Aquaria]

Looks like a small damselfly nymph to me, might also be a small mayfly nymph too... they are tiny when hatched and grow larger over time. The info you see online are their max average sizes.

Either way, even if its another related species of nymph, you still have to get rid of them as they will usually hunt shrimplets and shrimps.

Most of the time, the eggs of these pests hitchhike in with plants and wood/rocks, did you boil the hardscape and quarantine/treat the plants before introduction into your tank?

[klevin]

Hi, this one might just be the molted shell tho, cause it isn't moving and literally just floated around when i scooped it out.
I got some duckweed and Dwarf Lettuce from my LFS but i did quarantine them in another tank(about 1-2 weeks) with tiger barbs and guppies before moving them into this main tank. i removed them already when i saw this.

Could molted shells stick to the roots of floating plants, then when disturbed they just drop off? i didn't see any thing weird during the quarantine period(about 1-2 weeks), that tank was a bare-bottom, only had a filter and just a small handful of these floaters, i swear i would've seen them otherwise, thought i did caught a snail tho.

The rest of the plants and hardscapes are all about 3 months old along with the tank, so i doubt they brought in the pest so early on.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hopefully its just a molted shell of the nymph... have to keep monitoring to see if live ones are still in your tank.

Yeah, the roots of floating plants tend to harbor alot of critters, those creatures are experts at hiding so even a tank full of fishes could miss them. I usually treat all my plants with anti-pest chemicals in a separate plastic container and its surprising how many of those critters drop out over the course of the treatment.

The other explanation could be that the insects flew onto your tank and laid their eggs in it, while that is a rather unlikely it could be a possibility, especially if you live near nature park areas or waterways.

[klevin]

Yeah, *cross my fingers
I've been avoiding having any chemicals near my tanks because i'm keeping shrimps. Btw, that quarantine tank is just a 2 ish gallon container i use just for new plants and separating bully fishes.

I do like to ask tho, anyone having luck trying to catch these little buggers in a tank planted with lots of moss and carpeting plant?
Previously when i wanted to remove my neon tetras and pearl danios i nearly wreak havoc to the whole tank chasing those buggers around, even thinking of it now gives me a headache

Thanks to Urban Aquaria for the info tho Very informative blog you have there too