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Thread: Harmful water bug?

  1. #1
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    Harmful water bug?

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    Hi guys

    What bug is this? Found in my tank (pic is cropped):


    Actually this picture was taken in Nov'09, and this guy i fished out.

    BUT just found a similar one in another tank, and it is still in hiding. The fellow is tiny, about less than 0.5cm.
    What is it.....where from?? Have not added any new plants or anything for 3 months now.

    The closest reference i could find from http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=34333 is "Giant water bug from Belostomatidae family", so is that it? Doesn't look (or sound) like it though... "huge... can bite"? .

    Just like to find out what alien I'm keeping! Thanks!

  2. #2
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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    yucks. I wouldn't want that in my tank. Did you manage to get rid of the fella ?

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    ermm... i don't know where it is now, still in the tank...
    think should be about 0.3cm only... tiny...

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    i spotted something like this in my tank last week. but it seemed like the young and not the adult sized. so the colour was whitish and slightly translucent. i fished it out and counted 3 pairs of legs. anyone know what it is? seems to have some sort of parasitic mouth at the front, presumably to feed on small eggs/organisms. unfortunately i don have a photo of it, but the size i noted about 2 mm.

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    it has such wings and underwater? very strange.. heh

    but most likely its carnivorous.. if it is not, its larvae most likely is. So best to remove them.

    used to keep a single water stick insect as a pet, and these guys eats guppies like nothing. and reproduces really fast too, I had a bunch very quickly.

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    it does not have wings yet. as i mentioned, the shape and body looks similar to the above, but it was pretty obvious that it was not full grown. i suspect that the wings would have grown sooner or later cos after fishing it out, i left it in the net in the open for about 10 mins, it did not mind being out of water and in fact, was actively crawling around the net. pretty creepy looking.

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    Did you keep fish in the tank? If yes then this bug should have been its dinner

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    no fish except oto. scared it feast on my shrimplets. any ID on the bug?

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    i have 2 sparkling gouramis in the tank, but they are normally in hiding.
    couldn't find the bug last night...

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    I think the bug became the gouramis' dinner
    Last edited by Wackytpt; 4th Mar 2010 at 22:25. Reason: remove immediate quote

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    Those are probably newly morphed caddisflies beetroot. I have no idea whether they are harmful to your plants or fishes, but the larva are known to make homes out of plant leaves. They usually feed on detritus and the occasional plant leaf, but other than that, most do not survive in a tank with hungry fishes.
    Fish.. Simply Irresistable
    Back to Killies... slowly.

  12. #12
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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    Thanks, Stormhawk! The red eyes looked evil .

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    Re: Harmful water bug?

    You're welcome. The adult form is seldom seen since usually most people just kill or get rid of the larva.

    It's still a funky animal. The larvae sometimes come on as hitchhikers on aquatic plants, especially Vallisneria. I keep finding them every now and then on some new plants. Their homes are mobile and very interesting to see.
    Fish.. Simply Irresistable
    Back to Killies... slowly.

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