Nano fish for shrimp tank: Fish ID please !!!

[Byeiksar]

Hi Gents,

Please help me to identify the fishes in the photo (Lower left corner, sorry can't take the photo well as they r extremely active).
And can I add them to my shrimp tanks to prevent from breeding mosquito.. Or they will eat shrimp offsprings? Please advise...Thanks

[Urban Aquaria]

Those are Boraras species fishes... looks like you might have 2 variants, the Boraras brigittae (deeper red color with black stripe) and Boraras merah (less red color with black oval patch). Note that the ones in your photo are relatively young juvenile ones, they will still grow abit larger over time.

Anyways, those boraras fishes could help to eat mosquito larva (depending on the larva growth stage, early instars are usually small enough to be eaten, later instars may be too large), along with other tiny critters too. But due to their smaller size, they may not be able to consume all the larva in time (especially if there are alot of larva and few fishes), so you may need to stock more of the fishes or continue monitoring the tank and physically netting out any larva that manage to escape.

They will snack on some newborn shrimplets though (shrimplets and mosquito larva are similar size), so thats a trade-off. But if there are sufficient hiding places in the tank (ie. lots of plants, hardscape etc), a percentage of the shrimplets will usually be able to hide and survive long enough to grow larger and not get eaten.

[Byeiksar]

Those are Boraras species fishes... looks like you might have 2 variants, the Boraras brigittae (deeper red color with black stripe) and Boraras merah (less red color with black oval patch). Note that the ones in your photo are relatively young juvenile ones, they will still grow abit larger over time.

Anyways, those boraras fishes could help to eat mosquito larvae (depending on the larvae growth stage, early instars are small enough to be eaten, later instars may be too large), along with other tiny critters too. But due to their smaller size, they may not be able to consume all the larvae in time (especially if there are alot of larvae and few fishes), so you may need to stock more of the fishes or continue monitoring the tank and physically netting out any larvae that manage to escape.

They will snack on some newborn shrimplets though (shrimplet and mosquito larvae can be similar size), so thats a trade-off. But if there are sufficient hiding places in the tank (ie. lots of plants, hardscape etc), a percentage of the shrimplets will usually be able to hide and survive long enough to grow larger and not get eaten.

Thanks for the help,, In that case I will take them out and try other method to stop mosquito breeding. I cant let my shrimplets being eaten.. yesterday i saw 5 dragonfly larvae in my tank , need to solve that too

[Urban Aquaria]

Thanks for the help,, In that case I will take them out and try other method to stop mosquito breeding. I cant let my shrimplets being eaten.. yesterday i saw 5 dragonfly larvae in my tank , need to solve that too

Wow, okay... those dragonfly nymphs really do need to be found and removed, they will actively hunt and eat your shrimps, even the adult ones.

Interestingly though, those nymphs also hunt and eat mosquito larva, as thats part of their diet in nature. I guess they could also be considered a way to prevent mosquito breeding too.

[Byeiksar]

Wow, okay... those dragonfly nymphs really do need to be found and removed, they will actively hunt and eat your shrimps, even the adult ones.

Interestingly though, those nymphs also hunt and eat mosquito larva, as thats part of their diet in nature. I guess they could also be considered a way to prevent mosquito breeding too.

I removed 5 of them yesterday but not sure how many still left in the tank..They are very small, only around 5mm may be just hatch from eggs..Normally how do you remove them? just manually ?

[Urban Aquaria]

I removed 5 of them yesterday but not sure how many still left in the tank..They are very small, only around 5mm may be just hatch from eggs..Normally how do you remove them? just manually ?

Yeah, once they are hatched in a tank, the only way to remove them is to physically catch any that you spot.

The other option is to remove all livestock, then dose anti-pest treatment into the tank... but that will require a fair bit of follow-up work after the treatment, as you will then need to do 100% water changes, clean the tank and filter, and run activated carbon for a while to remove all the chemicals (especially if you are keeping shrimps or other invertebrates in the tank).

In the future, its best to check and treat all plants for pests, and also quarantine them for 1-2 weeks, before introducing the plants into your main tank.

[Byeiksar]

Yeah, once they are hatched in a tank, the only way to remove them is to physically catch any that you spot.

The other option is to remove all livestock, then dose anti-pest treatment into the tank... but that will require a fair bit of follow-up work after the treatment, as you will then need to do 100% water changes, clean the tank and filter, and run activated carbon for a while to remove all the chemicals (especially if you are keeping shrimps or other invertebrates in the tank).

In the future, its best to check and treat all plants for pests, and also quarantine them for 1-2 weeks, before introducing the plants into your main tank.

Thanks for the advise and I have learnt a great lesson