# What the h*#? is this??? Creepy



## AquaDean (Oct 29, 2009)

I've been working on setting up a new 12" cube 7.5 gallon shrimp tank. So far I've just put in ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II, some Christmas moss that I'm trying to make a moss wall out of, a piece of driftwood, a dwarf lily plant of some type, and water.
With the Amazonia II soil the tank clouds up quite a bit at first and then has ammonia spikes that last for several weeks.
So this tank has been going on for about a month now and today I find two ½" long red cherry shrimp in the tank and this ugly wormy thing.
I'm thinking it is possible that the shrimp came in on the moss but I gave all the moss and lily a potassium permanganate dip before putting them in the tank.
The piece of driftwood in the tank I boiled for about a half hour.
So any ideas how these critters could have survived the PP dip and the ammonia spikes?
And what is this ugly wormy thing? The small black end seems to be its head and it has these tentacle like things on the other end. Talk about a creep show this could cause me nightmares. It actually is pretty quick and evasive as in can burrow through the Aquasoil pretty quick. It took me three tries to catch it.
I can deal with the shrimp but this other creature has to go.
Anybody want it?

Now I really want to completly start over on this tank, serilize everything and start fresh. Just in case there are more. . .:scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

what you got there son is a gen-U-ine texas nasty creepy crawly worm and the only way to eradicate that nasty in-fest-ation is to get you a 12 guage wolly slayer and blow it to smith-er-ines. 

dont let it touch you though. if it touches you your nervous system will go nuts and you will spasm so hard your back snaps and your will cough up your left lung and crap out your intest-eynes.

good luck with yoru creepy crawly partner.



but on the serius side it looks like a common meal worm.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Ehh yea that is pretty ugly. Looks like something from a local pond. I'm guessing its some type of larvae.


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## Elohim_Meth (Nov 4, 2007)

Looks like crane fly larva: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34333


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## Noto (Oct 26, 2009)

I agree, it is a crane fly larva. Totally harmless filter feeders; transform into long-legged, non-feeding adults (often mistaken for giant mosquitos). That's not even a very big one. I find finger-sized tipulids in my local streams.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

doubleott05 said:


> what you got there son is a gen-U-ine texas nasty creepy crawly worm and the only way to eradicate that nasty in-fest-ation is to get you a 12 guage wolly slayer and blow it to smith-er-ines.
> 
> dont let it touch you though. if it touches you your nervous system will go nuts and you will spasm so hard your back snaps and your will cough up your left lung and crap out your intest-eynes.
> 
> good luck with yoru creepy crawly partner.


Hahahahahahahahaha!


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

that thing is soo cool! nothin kool ever shows up in my baggies...except some nice extra plants maybe


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

i had to read my own post three times to get the laughs out flashbang009


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## AquaDean (Oct 29, 2009)

I agree, it looks like a crane fly larva but from what I've read crane fly larva do not live in water they live in dirt. This has been alive in this aquarium for over a week. 

I'm thinking it is a larva of some sort and still haven't figured out what it came in on but it must have been in the egg form because I would have seen it if it was in its present form.


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## Noto (Oct 26, 2009)

Some cranefly larvae live in damp soil or organic muck, but most are aquatic. If you want to get a more specific identification (the craneflies are a diverse family), take the specimen to an entomologist or aquatic biologist at a local university. They will probably kill it before identifying it, but it sounds like you're not too interested in keeping it anyhow.


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Hi Dean,

Wow, not much fun to find. I know that the crane flies around here will drown in water, so I doubt that it is that. I am trying to remember if there is any native insects around that look like that. 

Good luck

Karen


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Ugh, I hate those things, lol. They're so gross - I have to thoroughly sift through my locally-collected river gravel/sand over and over every time I want to put some in an indoor tank (I don't mind them so much outdoors, in the pond, where I don't have to look at them, naturally - plus I bet the goldfish would eat them anyway o.0') Those who say 1.25" isn't much are correct - the ones I have easily reach 2-3" and almost a half-inch thick. Pretty darn yucky no matter how big they are though, lol.

The only times I find them in the water are when I'm digging several inches deep into sand/mud/gravel, so in that sense they do live underground. And I've never had one do anything harmful - probably because I spazzed and squished them whenever they got too close to me or my tanks - but they just look like some kind of ugly root-eating grub things. They practically _beg_ to be squished, lol.

As an aside, I think the head is the other end with the little legs and all, lol. But I wouldn't want to examine one closely enough to find out for sure! XD


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## Elohim_Meth (Nov 4, 2007)

You may boil the gravel or sand to be sure that there aint no critters in it.
And I also think the head is the other end


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

whats the point of using gravel from outdoors if you dont bring the cool stuff in with you? LOL. dont start a reef then, you'll flip out at all the creepy crawlers that come out of a well set up reef tank.


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## Elohim_Meth (Nov 4, 2007)

Crazyness said:


> Then when he transforms and starts flying around you :axe: lol


Actually it was the case with me when i've got some dragonfly larvae (or maybe eggs) in my tank with tubifex worms and they had metamorphosed into an adult and I've catched, one by one, four or five dragonflies flying around in my room.


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## Noto (Oct 26, 2009)

The OP was correct on the head end. The "tentacles" that make the other end look like a head are actually part of the respiratory disc, a structure which bears gills and also allows the larva to inhale air.

The adult crane fly is just as harmless as the larva, so no worries there. In fact, the adults don't even have functioning mouthparts. They exist only to breed.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Elohim_Meth said:


> You may boil the gravel or sand to be sure that there aint no critters in it.
> And I also think the head is the other end


That's a good thought if you want to put the effort into doing so - though it would kill the good bacteria and microorganisms, too, and could likely produce and ammonia spike as a result and all. And I'm not sure I want dead, boiled worm things in my gravel either! XD



Six said:


> whats the point of using gravel from outdoors if you don't bring the cool stuff in with you? LOL. dont start a reef then, you'll flip out at all the creepy crawlers that come out of a well set up reef tank.


The point is to get cheap gravel, lol. Nothing is closer to free than the stuff in your own backyard! :mrgreen: (And as far as I'm concerned, the "cool stuff" is new mosses and minerals and that sort of thing) But no, I have no interest in a reef setup anyway... I have too much fun with the freshwater plants and fish... though some of the larger fw snails freak me out, too.



Noto said:


> The OP was correct on the head end. The "tentacles" that make the other end look like a head are actually part of the respiratory disc, a structure which bears gills and also allows the larva to inhale air.


Huh, go figure. You learn something new every day, lol. Thanks for the info  'Course, the way I figure, both ends are ugly even if they are harmless, lol.


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## effox (Mar 29, 2010)

Those larva destroy the root systems in grass from my understanding, they feast on them and they are hungry little buggers until they get bigger and morph.


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## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

It could also be a midge larva. Sometimes called bloodworms. However they are strictly aquatic, so it would have to come from a local water supply, or a midge laid eggs in your tank. It probably came from the same place as the shrimp.

I would leave it in the tank. Insect larvae are like fillet mignon to a fish.


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

you need to getcha a 12 guage wolly slayer son..


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

hahahahaha


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