What The Hell Is This?

[malfunction]

Hi guys,

I found an unexpected aquatic insect in my shrimp tank this afternoon. No clue what it is. Can someone tell me what it is and if it's any threat to my shrimp or fish fry?









Sorry about all the algae on the glass - I normally let it grow so the shrimp have something to eat.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Damselfy Nymph
 
It is a predator, so your shrimps is basically lunch for this nymph.
 
I have had a few of these critters. They usually come in via your plants, especially if LFS keeps plants outdoors.
 
Best method I find to catch them is using a hose used for syphoning, and suck up this critter into a bucket and dispose of as you will.
 
Here, a link to my thread about these Damselflies 
 
Damselfy Nymph link

 

[malfunction]

Damselfy Nymph
 
It is a predator, so your shrimps is basically lunch for this nymph.
 
I have had a few of these critters. They usually come in via your plants, especially if LFS keeps plants outdoors.
 
Best method I find to catch them is using a hose used for syphoning, and suck up this critter into a bucket and dispose of as you will.
 
Here, a link to my thread about these Damselflies 
 
Damselfy Nymph link

Thanks for the swift reply! I've just read your thread and seriously hope I don't have as many as you had!

 

[Ch4rlie]

I seriously hope you don't either!
 
The norm found if you have them is one or maybe two, three is rare, in my case i got 5!! lol
 
But I did manage to catch and get rid of these nymphs and did not lose many shrimps to be honest, so no real damage done.

 

[l_l_l]

Man!
I found one in my tank the other day.
I have yet to catch the bastard.
Still. I have A LOT of cherry shrimp.. So maybe I got rid of it somehow, some day..
Hopefully.

 

[malfunction]

Ok, thanks for the assist. Hopefully it's just one that found its way into my tank.

 

[malfunction]

Got that sucker!





With a little luck, this is the only one.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Don't want to worry you but is that one is a different colour compared to your first pic?

Maybe it's the background that makes it appear different colour?

 

[malfunction]

Seems I spoke too soon:



However, it didn't take long to catch:



As much fun as it's been catching them, I seriously hope there are no more!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Good, glad you caught these critters. Did you use hose / syphon method  with a dose of patience and a keen eye!
 
Had a horrible feeling there was another one when i saw the colour difference between the brown one and the white/green one in these pics.
 
FYI. its female nymphs that are larger and tend to be brown, whilst males are smaller and usually a very light green / white sort of colour.
 
Fingers crossed no more of these darned things!

 

[malfunction]

I ended up netting them. Tried the siphon technique with the first one, but it simply clung tighter to the moss ball and didn't move an inch. I'm pretty sure it was mocking me!

Eventually, I got tired of trying to siphon it, so simply scooped up the moss ball with a net. That did the trick with the other one too. So now I can relax...until I spot the next one.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Good going 

 
Lets hope there is no next one 

 

[l_l_l]

Glad you got rid of this!
 
I have nightmares where mine suddenly comes back and eats all my cherry shrimp (kidding)