What The Hell Is This?

[UKSPEED]

I was cleaning my tank and took a plant out and found this on one of the leave. About 1.5-2cm long, what on earth is it??

 

[SchottayB]

What the...

 

[fluttermoth]

It's the larvae of something; probably something like a damselfly at a guess. Shouldn't do any harm, except to small fry, but most people get rid of them.

 

[Delloy12]

Looks like dragonfly larvae

If it is a dragonfly larvae it WILL kill small fish and will even try to kill large fish

 

[UKSPEED]

How would dragon fly larvae get in my house and in my tank? lol

 

[Delloy12]

Things happens......like how did cher Lloyd get to 1

 

[UKSPEED]

Haha, anyone know how quickly these things grow? Like how long could it have been in there?

 

[ian]

it looks like a Dragonfly Nymph and it will kill very small fry, and thats about it. It won't wipe your tank out. Someone on here actually reared one of these in his tank and it was fine. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

 

[Delloy12]

Flew in your tank when you wasn't looking then plopped its eggs into your and then it hatched from the egg. But what ever it is I would get rid of it fast

 

[Shovelman]

Its a nymph! the stage before turning into a dragon fly...

 

[Delloy12]

I know..

 

[sarah40011]

i had two of these last month, came in on some plants, caught one, the other dissappeared

 

[gavinjayanand]

Definitely a dragonfly nymph as previously mentioned and quite an emaciated looking one too! They can take up to 4 years to reach adulthood (although I think most species have a 2-year nymph stage).

I really wouldn't recommend keeping it in your tank. The nymphs have a really powerful 'spike' which they use to impale their prey. It can inflict a painful sting to humans, so imagine what they could do to smaller fish like neons.

Here's a video of what I'm talking about...

Remove it and relocate it to a nearby pond

 

[Ben M]

I've grown a few of these up in a big tub in my garden. They only prey on really small food (mosquito larvae and small fry if there are any) so I wouldn't be bothered about them eating all of your fish. They can often get into your tank on plants when they're small.

How many spikes are on its tail? It looks like a damselfly nymph to me and they will have 3 spikes on their tails. They are great little creatures, mine reached about 2" long before flying (I never got to see one change into a damselfly, all I found was their skins).

If you could catch it you could put it into a water butt if you have one (as long as it doesn't have a lid) or you could put it in a pond if you have one.

cheers,
Ben

 

[sarah40011]

i put mine in a waterbutt, my sister said flush it i think i read somewhere they are protected...