# Creepy Crawler in Fish Tank



## cS (Jan 27, 2004)

Yesterday, I found this caterpillar like thing in my tank. It chews up plants and weaves them around its body to hide itself while it grazes on my plants. This is the second time that I have caught it. It is voracious and chews up all my plants. Has anyone seen this creature? It looks exactly like a caterpillar. It is about 1" in length and 1/4-1/2 cm thick.

I was just grabbing plant pieces out of my tank when it started moving. I freaked out and jerked, which knocked the light fixture off the tank and broke it. :-x It is so incredibly gross. I wish that I had taken a photo of it before swishing it to smithereens while screaming.

Any clue?


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## Praxx42 (Mar 4, 2005)

Yeah, I've had one of those ride in on an online plant order before. Kill it. Or take it out, whichever works best for you.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I don't know what it might be, but Eeeeewwwww....
I had the dreaded Dragonfly larva, and that _really_ doesn't look like a Caterpillar, but it's icky none the less.

Sorry about your light - I know they're not cheap.
I had one of those jerk my hand out of the tank things the other day too, and caught my hand on the rim with a nice slice in my wrist. The stupid thing was that I saw an Anubias stem come out of nowhere and happened to be thinking about snakes at the same time. Instant reaction.... ](*,)


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## pineapple (May 4, 2004)

I found a lot of these things on some Fontinalis species last year. Quite a surprise. I believe they are caddis fly larvae:









http://kywater.org/ww/bugs/hydropsychid.htm

Try this link too:
http://www.ifc.tas.gov.au/fact_sheets/invertebrates.html

And for voyeurism this one:
http://www.glooskapandthefrog.org/leech attack.htm

The last time I dropped a connected light fixture into a tank I reached in after it. You could say it brightened up my day in more ways than one. I saved the fixture though.

Andrew


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Freaky/creepy/nasty... Is a few words that come to mind!

Sorry about the unfortunate accident with your light :-(


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

It is just a caddis fly larva. Not particularly gross at all. Not any more gross than we are out of our clothes! They make a protective case out of pieces of leaves and twigs or pebbles, and trundle around eating algae and other plant material. They usually live in streams. 

I see a recent trend in my students to regard anything else living other than another human being as gross. Recently another faculty member brought to my class a ruby throated hummingbird that had just died, possibly from hitting a window. To me, it was a beautiful jewel of a bird with its iridescent red throat feathers, more brilliant than any ruby, and emerald green back feathers. I was sad that such a beautiful thing was dead. But the students reacted, Yuck! Eeew! Gross! I really do not understand such an anti-life attitude. If we are so disconnected from nature, so hostile to nature, we will destroy it, not realizing that we are destroying ourselves.


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

Mmmmmmm . . . caddis fly larvae. I know quite a few trout here in Colorado that love caddis flies :razz: Tasty!


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

HeyPK said:


> If we are so disconnected from nature, so hostile to nature, we will destroy it, not realizing that we are destroying ourselves.


I think that says it all for me right there!

(although I perfectly understand the flinch instinct when we find something unusual in a totally unexpected place )


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I do believe that we are destroying ourselves by destroying the habitats that all creatures live in, I see it every day in the city I live in. However I do disagree that just because someone uses the word gross that they disrespect the lives of animals or have an anti-life attitude



HeyPK said:


> It is just a caddis fly larva. Not particularly gross at all. Not any more gross than we are out of our clothes! They make a protective case out of pieces of leaves and twigs or pebbles, and trundle around eating algae and other plant material. They usually live in streams.
> 
> I see a recent trend in my students to regard anything else living other than another human being as gross. Recently another faculty member brought to my class a ruby throated hummingbird that had just died, possibly from hitting a window. To me, it was a beautiful jewel of a bird with its iridescent red throat feathers, more brilliant than any ruby, and emerald green back feathers. I was sad that such a beautiful thing was dead. But the students reacted, Yuck! Eeew! Gross! I really do not understand such an anti-life attitude. If we are so disconnected from nature, so hostile to nature, we will destroy it, not realizing that we are destroying ourselves.


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