Damselfy in my aquarium!!!!

[naturestee]

I love those things! They were some of my favorites when i studied entomology in college! I *think* that they usually eat smaller larvae, though they may eat fish fry or even fish if they are small enough.

If it were me, I'd leave it in my tank to see if I could raise a full grown damselfly. That would be sweet! :

 

[Veneer]

****ing kill it!

Bleahhhhh, I hate those things. Should I ever find one in my tank carnage will ensue.

Why? I always strive towards a more naturalistic setup, replete with the various macroinvertebrates many others would kill on a visceral whim. Besides, damselfly larvae and the like often prove as aesthetically pleasing and behaviorally intriguing as most fish.

 

[Veneer]

If it were me, I'd leave it in my tank to see if I could raise a full grown damselfly. That would be sweet! :

To end up with anything other than a drowned corpse, one would have to provide some emergent vegetation or similar haul-out platform (along with netting about any gaps in the hood).

 

[PJGirl112]

That is the weirdest looking thing...

Honestly I might be tempted to see if 1) the fish eat it. 2) what it actually does in that tank???? 3) if it reproduced in any way I would have to kill it. It looks like an alien fish/insect hybrid...kind of gross, but shrimp aren't that much better looking in honesty.

Gross looking, but if the fish eat it...

 

[cyberbeer65]

They also eat mosquito larve. :thm:

 

[OrionGirl]

Damselfly larvae are voracious predators of smaller invertebrates, such as mosquito and mayfly larvae. They typically ignore fish fry, but a small enough fry might be at risk. As for the timing--most frequently that are imported to our tanks as eggs, which incubate for a while before hatching, and the new hatchlings are quite small, easily avoiding detection. The molt several times before getting big enough to be obvious.

I wouldn't worry about it--it mostly likely will be able to climb out onto the glass or the plumbing, and be just fine for quite some time.

Dragonfly nymphs are much more aggressive, and do pose a threat to fry.

 

[PurpleSmurf]

Why? I always strive towards a more naturalistic setup, replete with the various macroinvertebrates many others would kill on a visceral whim. Besides, damselfly larvae and the like often prove as aesthetically pleasing and behaviorally intriguing as most fish.

I just have this thing with bugs. I know it has a right to live, just not in one of my tanks. The damselfly doesn't bug me nearly as much as the dragonfly larve.

 

[Gambusia]

Damselfly nymphs are no big problem and actually food for fish.

Dragofly nymphs are will eat small fish however.

 

[greendeltatke]

Yep, my son watched dragonfly nymphs eat big tadpoles at his camp's pond last summer.

 

[tbone]

eat small invertabrates .....as in snails? or would they be to hard for it?