Help. Creature From The Deep...

[planterex]

Hi, this is my first post and although I have been keeping fish many years this is a new problem for me.
I have a planted tank with CO2 and as such have many plants. I have introduced a creature which my plant supplier agrees will have come in on the plants as an egg. Their supplier in singapore thought it a water louse but after much searching it appears it's a DRAGONFLY NYMPH about 2cms long and growing fast. I suspect it is living on my baby Guppies and some baby Xrays which bred in the tank as one by one they are disappearing and I have no predator fish. Trouble is I cant catch it as it is too fast. Has anyone experienced this and if so any suggestion as to how I might catch it without a stripdown of the tank??

[Simon]

sorry to hear that, the dragon nymph preys on young fishes, hence always advisable to catch it ASAP. How about baiting it with some bugs in a bottle?

[CK Yeo]

Ambush it with a primed siphon hose.

ck

[thanantosis]

remove all your fish. set a trap with a piece of market prawn inside.

[planterex]

Thank you for your replies. Ill put some of your suggestions into practice, trouble is its such a heavily planted tank I'll need to take plants out to catch all my fish. If I take plants out and use a big net I should catch it but as I have Laterite under my gravel it may be messy.

[planterex]

Well I stripped all plants out and caught it! Hopefully all will settle down again and I'll have a peaceful tank. There is one thing I have learned for sure..If you get one of these it has to come out no matter what. I found one of my lovely cardinals part eaten. It was there last night perfectly ok but had its underbelly eaten out this morning. There are no predatory fish in tank so must have been a victim of 'creature from the deep'''' Thanks all.

[thanantosis]

be sure that there is only one ya. look carefully, might be more then one

[benny]

True. If they came in as eggs. Then it's normally more than one. Do keep a lookout.

Cheers,

[planterex]

Thanks guys, Well I did indeed spend a long time checking after I had caught the critter and I used a garden cane to poke and prod in all the corners and undulations in the gravel just in case another was lurking. I checked all plants carefully and rinsed them off prior to returning them to the tank. I don't know if it came as egg or larvae but as this one was quite large and developed I doubt there will be further eggs to hatch from the same batch (if you see what I mean) but will certainly be watching closely. One can become quite paranoid!! Cheers and thanks for your concerns.

[planterex]

True. If they came in as eggs. Then it's normally more than one. Do keep a lookout.

Cheers,

Cheers Benny...as regards your question No I do not have dwarf cichlids but I do love Ramizeri etc. Prob is I have enough fish as I don't keep too many and like growing plants mainly. In my tank I have a few Guppies, Harlequins,Amandii tetras, xray tetras, True Chinese algae eater, ottocinclus catfish, corydoras and a couple lovely big cardinals (there were 3 before the nymph had his meal!) Oh and I still have a couple of Cherry shrimp.Regards...