hi bros out there.. i have found 3 of this in my shrimp only tank.. do not know is there anymore inside my tank .. should i remove them? Or is it mayfly?
Hi bro
I dont know what is it but i had got a few from my snail tank when i decomm it . It actually surprise me how they appear in my tank without my notice .. Some came from the plants we bought from LFS .. And yes i think you should remove them as they do hunt for shrimps as their food ..
Damselfly larva. Very common in our tanks, especially uncovered ones. They come as eggs on plants so if you didn't quarantine the plants, especially ferns and mosses, you will get this.
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But is it going to kill our shrimp? oh , yes .. damsefly.. thanks for correcting me.... I spotted 1 adult damselfly near to my tank when i used to have rcs few years back.
It most likely will make a quick meal out of your shrimp.
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God... have to look out for them more..
They are mostly active at night, so prepare your torchlight and watch the bottom of the tank. The larva should come out of their hiding places. They are pretty slow moving.
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They look gross..
Since we are on this topic, can i assume that if there is damsefly larve in the aquarium, there will not have plarnia since i suppose the damsefly will eat it up. Assume that there is no shrimp in the tank with a few oto catfish.
Damselfly larva prey mostly on fish and shrimp and other invertebrates, including other nymphs. Planaria are very fast and will probably not feature on their diet.
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Yep, damselfly nymph.
I caught and raised a couple of them earlier this year. Kept them with small fishes (gobies and guppies) and snails, which they left alone. I never saw them feed, but I had plenty of tubifex worms in the aquarium to feed the fishes, and I guess the damselfly nymphs were feeding on these.
P1260996.jpg
Even at their largest, they were only ~2 cm long.
Both of them managed to reach maturity and developed into adult damselflies. There was a piece of rock that had the tip sticking out of the water, and the damselfly nymphs selected this rock as the place to climb out and emerge as adults.
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Exuvia (shed skin) of 1st damselfly to emerge.
Unfortunately, the first one to emerge couldn't escape my aquarium and fell into the water while I was away at work. The wings got all mangled and it eventually died later that night without ever taking a proper flight.
The second one was much luckier. One morning while preparing to go to work, several days after the first damselfly nymph had metamorphosed, I noticed the second one had crawled up onto the tip of the rock, out of the water. I managed to transfer it to another container with a short twig inside, and brought it to the workplace. My colleagues and I watched it for some time as it emerged from the skin and waited while it pumped blood to the abdomen and its wings. We released it outside when we were sure that it was fully capable of flying.
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P1270583.jpg
Attachment 28966
You can see how the damselfly, even after emerging, doesn't fly off straightaway, but needs time and privacy to rest for a while.
Based on the adult damselflies, I think I can identify them conclusively to a species known as the blue sprite (Pseudagrion microcephalum), and specifically females. You can find more information here.
Damselfly and dragonfly nymphs are certainly pests in the aquarium, but I could see the value in raising them separately, especially in helping children understand insect life cycles, and helping them overcome any fear of dragonflies or damselflies. I see too many people, even grown adults, dodging or screaming because of the dragonflies flying above them.Besides, both adult and nymphs of damselflies and dragonflies fulfill an important ecological role by preying on mosquitoe larvae, pupae and even adult mosquitoes.
Oh, by the way, I don't have any decent photos of live mayfly nymphs, but here are some images of 2 of the more commonly encountered mayfly families in Singapore, the Baetidae and Caenidae. Thw photos are of North American species, but their Singaporean counterparts from the same families look similar. (Photos from here)
090713002baetis.jpg
Nymph of Baetidae
caenidaecaenis.jpg
Nymph of Caenidae
The 3 long 'tails' are quite distinctive, and found in most mayfly species.
They can stay up to 3 years in that stage feeding i have seen one that is about 5-6cm in size in polyart marimo ball partition. You will need spend your time hunting them got hit by them before my last resort was to remove all the plants and driftwood out. Left a small marimo ball and a small piece of Driftwood with some moss tied to it. They love to hide in dark or is moss area for them to hunt. Spend over a few getting rid of them.
I have caught more than 10 before in my tank. I believe there are still alot in my current tank. Is there any ways to permanent to destroy it?
Reset your tank. Move your shrimp to a new tank. Then search and destroy. After reading these posts, I felt pretty uneasy and spend an hour to observe my tank. Lol
Haha... I was spending days catching those little fellows..
Actually im in the midst of preparing another tank.
Originally Posted by chansl
Last edited by Navanod; 29th Feb 2012 at 18:59. Reason: Typo
You don't have to reset your tank. Net out all your shrimp to a separate tank and let the tank stay this way for a day. Once starved of prey these larva will come out of hiding at dark.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Just curious, why are mayfly nymphs considered 'pests' in shrimp tanks? Are they competitors? I know that mayfly nymphs from some families feed on rotting wood, algae, detritus, and leaf litter, but are there also predatory species found in the aquarium?
Speaking of which, anothergroup of insects with larvae that are commonly found in freshwater environments in Singapore would be the caddisflies. I wonder if anyone has encountered them in their pond or aquarium before.
I haven't found caddisfly larva yet. I should go netting at Bukit Timah or Bukit Batok Nature Park just for fun. Might turn up some weird results.
People consider any other "creepy-crawly" to be an automatic pests in aquariums. That might explain the aversion to mayfly larva. Besides, some folks are ultra squeamish when it comes to insects, especially their larvae.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Just a hint: caddisfly larvae can be found in quite a few urban ponds and even in drains. They can be quite abundant, though not as abundant as bloodworms though. They're most commonly found at the bottom, amongst sediment and debris.
Oh, and now that the Kallang River at Bishan Park has been opened up to the public, there's always the opportunity to wade in, and look beneath the rocks or amongst the sunken leaf litter and sediments. I'm a little worried that we'll be getting all sorts of people catching fish, fouling up the water with their trash and litter, so now might be the best time to go see what's in there before the water quality deteriorates.
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