Enourmous Bug in tank!!

blackwolfXKAV

blackwolfXKAV

Homo sapiens
Apr 20, 2006
828
0
0
New England Abroad.
Ok, for those of you who didnt know, i happent o have a huge and often obstructive mass of java moss that is currently anchoring down quite well to my driftwood, thus providing a perfect home for my cories. The reason that i say this is that moving, dismantleing, or cutting it is out of the question.

A wile back, i found the dead body of some extememly large insect (six legs; three on each side, and a VISCIOUS looking abdomen; black 1") in the back of the java wher, after several hopeless attempts, it became lodged in the back where i could not remove it. recently, i found what i though to be this same bug near the front of my tank; having moved presumably due to the addition of a flow geneating filter. It was removed and ID by my father as a dragonfly nymph(?) so, it looked like i was on track. Then, just today, when i was peering around the side of the tank to spot my cories (btw, most personality, so they are a good addition to any tank) and lo and behold, Bugger #2 was entombed about 2/3 of the way into my java mass (yes mass.) He was still enourmous, ie almost as big as the cories w/ out fins (1"+, est.).

Question 1: what does it sound like?
Q2: what is the best course of action?
Q3: how did it enter, is it possible to get out, and how had it been sustained?
Q4: What dose it pose tothe dynamics of the tank? (decay, agression from offspring?)
Q5: Is it possible that the combined decay of these bugs could have contibuted a substantial amount to the rising nitrogen products (though currently taken care of) ?

thanks all for your help, Wolf.
 
Try getting a picture of the insect. If it is infact a dragonfly larvae (naiad aka aquatic nymph) you should remove it. Naiads are predacious in nature usually feeding on tadpoles, and other insects. I suppose it is possible to prey on fish if they are small enough, i.e. young Neon Tetras, espcially if you say it is quite large. As for how it entered your tank, most likely an adult dragonfly laid eggs onto the Java Moss (or another freshly introduced plant) you recently planted. best thing to do is try and spot any and all Naiads that maybe lurking in you java moss. It is possible that your fish will eat the naiads while thay are smaller, but to be on the safe side try to catch and dispose of any eggs or naiads you see. Hope this helps.

Joe
 
cant get a picture but i'll try and describe it the best i can. One thing i did notice was that it had some strange row of curved spikes on its abdomen, Cant tell if it was top or bottm though. Is there a way to make sure the tank is a little more safe from these 'naiads'? Thank You.
 
hmm

you said it was black right? that sounds like a water bug to me.
 
Dragonfly nymphs molt, and are light-colored for a while after that.

Ever see the movie "Alien" etc? The mouth design for that creature was designed after a df nymph!

They can eat fish just about as long as they are. Water beetle larvae can also be really bad. "Water tigers"

They're really small when they hatch, and can easily hitch a ride on plants. I wonder if there's any treatment for plants that will kill the insects without killing the plants?
 
plah831 said:
blackwolf, see this thread for a picture
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31798

as said, dragonfly nymphs are vicious predators on small fish. I've seen videos of them catching fish and it's scary! I would hate to have one in my tank. For your sake, I hope it's the more benign damselfly nymph. I'm sure you can Google images for both, too.
Click to expand...

I believe the predator in this thread is actually a damsel fly nymph.
 
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