Dahlia
10-17-2003, 1:37 PM
I had previously posted about an unusual new pet... a giant diving beetle... that I picked up out of a feeder tank at the LFS. I thought I'd post an update on it since it has surprised me by being a pretty non-aggressive tank mate after all.
I am now unsure if it ever killed any of the feeder guppies I provided for it (I never caught it doing this or eating them, and even when they swam right into it, the beetle seemed to ignore them or to swim away). When they were first added to the tank a decent number of them died, but it seemed like they were languishing away for some reason or another. A couple of them had very weird symptoms, but I never conclusively linked it to the beetle. The water parameters tested fine and it was usually only a few guppies at a time. I now suspect the deaths may have been caused by particles from the crushed coral that the lady at the LFS recommended I add slowly to raise the pH. Or that it was a product of poor breeding, since some of the feeders had bent spines or looked stunted and malnourished when I received them.
For almost a month now the remaining (very healthy) feeders have lived peaceful lives, and the only thing I have witnessed the beetle eat are the frozen bloodworms I feed the tank. It comes out of hiding during feeding time and eagerly scavenges the gravel for them.
So... now I have a lot of guppies and guppy babies. Hehe.
I am now unsure if it ever killed any of the feeder guppies I provided for it (I never caught it doing this or eating them, and even when they swam right into it, the beetle seemed to ignore them or to swim away). When they were first added to the tank a decent number of them died, but it seemed like they were languishing away for some reason or another. A couple of them had very weird symptoms, but I never conclusively linked it to the beetle. The water parameters tested fine and it was usually only a few guppies at a time. I now suspect the deaths may have been caused by particles from the crushed coral that the lady at the LFS recommended I add slowly to raise the pH. Or that it was a product of poor breeding, since some of the feeders had bent spines or looked stunted and malnourished when I received them.
For almost a month now the remaining (very healthy) feeders have lived peaceful lives, and the only thing I have witnessed the beetle eat are the frozen bloodworms I feed the tank. It comes out of hiding during feeding time and eagerly scavenges the gravel for them.
So... now I have a lot of guppies and guppy babies. Hehe.