Aaaarrrrggghh....it is not a root

[Ava_Banana]

Not an immediate emergency (unless there are any others in there).

Just enjoying a drink after work, looking over the "Thin tank" looking for new fry, trying to spot a couple of tiny snails that I had seen the evening before but then lost.

......when I saw what I thought was a root, or dirty gravel........upon closer examination with a bit of light......I saw this:

I gravel vac'ed it out and this is what it looks like out of the water:

Anyone know what it could be?

We think it might have come in on a lump of Java moss (with three unidentified snails... )

 

[Barday]

That dosent look too nice! Looks like a maggot Was it moving? How big is it?

 

[Ava_Banana]

It wasn't moving in the gravel, but when we got it out, it started waving one end of itself around.

That gravel is about 2mm in diameter, he was surprisingly big, in that we hadn't seen him before he appeared there!

I would say he was about 45mm long.......

 

[jflowers]

Dragon fly Larva? Crane fly? daddy long legs, depending where you are from.

Jon

[EDIT]Ah your in the UK Ava, we in the UK usually call this a leather jacket and it is (maybe wrong here) daddy long legs larva, pretty common in the UK this time of year. I would not worry, a daddy long legs got to near my tank this year and my fish wolfed it up in moments[/EDIT]

 

[Barday]

Isn't it a bit big for a daddy long legs larvae?

 

[jflowers]

Looks a little big for that, but without scale looks the same and i find some big ones when digging the garden in the spring.

Jon

[Edit] Pic next to an aa battery? [/Edit]

 

[Ava_Banana]

Sorry, Emma insisted it departed the house immediately ) .......

.....It did look a little long for a Daddy long legs.........but I suppose they are long when you take their folded wings into account.

Thanks......that could be it....

 

[Barday]

I didn't know their larvae survive underwater

 

[black angel]

daddy long legs live in the earth and arent dragonfly larvae predators and have legs and stuff, yeuch barf

i would have taken it to your lfs and see if they could identify it.

 

[The-Wolf]

A quick search came up with this
http/www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/trichoptera.html
a caddis fly lavae

 

[squidlips]

its a catapillar . butterfly larve. must have fallen in . you do have butterflys there ? if ya stick it in a ventilated jar it will form a cucoon and stick to the lid in a shiny capsule ...,then tadaaah . a butterfly . im prety sure coz i puten in jars when i find the od 1 in the garden so my son can watch the metamorfusses..yes the spelling is crap . yhats whe i catch fish for a living coz im not that bright. :
yes i looked again and am positive so whipe the sweat from ya brow fine fellow .

 

[fufanu360]

oh oh i got a good joke for this one... UR FISH TANK IS SO PATHETIC THAT EVEN A MAGGOT COULDNT SURVIVE IN IT!!!

 

[squidlips]

i got 1 4 u ...i know where you live

 

[Ben]

have u got any live plants lately?
couldve come with a plant

 

[black angel]

its not a caddisfly larvae. these build a *house* of whatever they can around themselves to keep protected. they use gravel and any old bits of twigs and plant material. this does look like a maggot. caterpillers have legs and would have drowned in the water.