# *SIGH*...Is there anything that ISN'T going to go wrong?



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

So, as some of you may know, I've been posting here quite a bit about problems I have been having. Algae, Ich, plant problems, light problems, various equipment problems, etc. Today, I'm looking my tank over real good trying to determine if all the "ich" spots are gone off my fish, when I notice something weird on a plant. I look closer, and to my amazement (and disgust) I notice some sort of aquatic insect trying to be all sneaky and hiding in my plant.

I removed the thing because it creeped me out. After doing a bit of research, I THINK what I had was a damselfly larvae. Now how in the HECK did a damselfly larvae get in my tank??!? The only thing I can think of is that it came in on the red tiger lotus I got about 2 weeks ago. The rest of the plants have been in there for a couple of months, although I suppose it could have been on one of them too.

From what I understand, these things will eat small fish, up to the size of the bug itself. This one was a little smaller than my cardinal tetras, but it would have eventually gotten bigger. Now I have to keep a close eye on the tank for BUGS! Is there ANYTHING that isn't going to go wrong in my tank??

*SIGH*

Any advice on how to get rid of these would be appreciated. I don't know if there's more in there or not, but I doubt damselflies only lay one egg. 

Cat


----------



## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

I have had damselfly nymphs, and they usually go for little things, such as small crustaceans, etc. Dragonfly numphs, which are short and squat, on the other hand do catch and eat things as big as themselves. It probably came in on a plant. The nymphal forms can not reproduce, only the winged adults, and that would not happen in your tank.
These pictures come from U. Calif., Berkeley http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/uniramia/odonatoida.html
Damselfly nymph








Dragonfly nymph


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

What I found was a damselfly larvae. Will they eat my tetras if I fail to find them all and they get bigger? I saw a video of a damselfly larvae catching and eating a small fish, but I have no idea HOW small the fish was, as it appeared to be magnified. What I do know is that the fish wasn't much bigger than the larvae.

From the video, I would guess that my tetras might be in trouble as this larvae wasn't all that much smaller than my tetras (length wise), although the tetras are fatter and have more mass.

Either way, I will now be on the hunt for these. Is there a way to kill these without hurting my fish or plants? It's good to know they won't reproduce, cause this is givin' me the willies.

Cat


----------



## majstor76 (Feb 11, 2010)

I have damselfly and dragonfly in pond and i dont think damselfly can take down a tetra, its length on transformation is about 2-3 cm










and im not so sure for dragonfly, its a big ugly bug


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Two to three cm is about the length of my tetras right now. Here is a link to the video (kind of gross).






The fish it's eating doesn't seem to be very well developed, but it looks like it's only a little bit smaller than the damselfly larvae, but it's hard to tell.

Cat


----------



## tug (Jul 23, 2009)

Ugly, ugly bug when it's in the water. Great, now I'll be dreaming about them again. :fear:
You might be right about the red tiger lotus. I ended up with about five or six after I added the lotus to my tank. I even found one in the canister filter. One (according to HeyPK's pictures, it was a dragonfly nymph) made it all of the way to adulthood. Mine feasted upon and almost decimated my RCS population. I also lost three neon tetras, just disappeared. The are ambush predators. So, move hardscape around and look for hiding places.


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

As an aside, at least it's not this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...rium-staff-mysterious-attacks-coral-reef.html

*shudder*

Cat


----------



## majstor76 (Feb 11, 2010)

CatG said:


> The fish it's eating doesn't seem to be very well developed, but it looks like it's only a little bit smaller than the damselfly larvae, but it's hard to tell.
> 
> Cat


That damselfy is 3x bigger than fish , it says man who taped that youtube clip


----------



## tug (Jul 23, 2009)

Actually, Damselfly naiads don't look too bad, a little like the red lizard whiptails I just got today. Great, just great.


----------



## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

Cool video CatG. I wouldn’t worry about searching the aquarium for any more of them. That was probably the only one that you had. 

I like those bugs myself. I ordered some dragonfly larvae last year. One got all excited when he saw my corys. He started a hopping motion up and down. Of course that gave his position away to my sunfish…


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

LOL! That's pretty funny! I can just picture that thing bouncing up and down and then WHAM. Too bad you didn't get it on film. 

Well, it's probably not going to matter if there's any more in there anyway. I bought some Tetras about a week ago and they came with a case of Ich. I thought the treatment was working as I hadn't seen any spots in two days, but it came back with a vengence.  I'm still dosing meds but am not hopeful. Even though they're fish, I've become attached and am not looking forward to the outcome.

Cat


----------



## zbg8000 (May 30, 2010)

I understand how frustrating this can be. I've learned my quarantine lesson recently. I went from 5 neons, 3 ottos, and 2 GBR's that I added 5 cardinals too. Unlucky for me I also bought ich. Even after aggresive treatment I'm down to 5 neons(they're old champs somehow) 2 ottos, and 1 GBR. The cardinals all succumbed. I'd crap myself if i started finding insects in there now.


----------



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

I've learned my lesson as well. I didn't have a quarantine tank, and I figured that I had made 3 separate fish purchases (2 of which included multiple fish) with no problems, so I figured I should be safe. I was wrong. I am in the process now of trying to find a decent price used tank that I can set up as a quarantine so I can use the good meds, but I have NO idea how I'm gonna get all those fish out of my 75 gallon that is SO overgrown, there's barely any room left for the fish. I've been treating the tank for 2 weeks with an herbal medicine (Ich Attack), and you aren't supposed to do any water changes with this stuff, so I've left it alone and haven't done any maintenance. My nitrates are elevated, and if I don't do something soon, I'm gonna loose the fish anyway.

I really hope I don't have to tear this tank up to get them out. I am so frustrated and disheartened at this point that I don't know what I'm going to do. On the plus side, the plants are growing better than ever. Go figure.

Cat


----------

