insect in my tank ?

[Richard I Landon]

I have a 20 g. tank with 2 guppies, 15 freshwater shrimp and an apple snail..

my shrimp have been breeding some..
Today I found a small 6 legged thing 1/4 inch long.. that looks like a small dragon fly with no wings..

Is this a young shrimp ? It has no "rear legs" or fins on the tail..
it curls it's tail up over it's back like a scorpion does..

I have not added any new fish or plants in over 2 months.. the only thing new to the tank is a new power head..

anyone have a guess..?? I'm in Indiana.. the tank is indoors.. I don't think it could be a wild insect..



|]}80 The Herbivorous ate well; their food- it didn't run.

[Sajjad Lateef]

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 18:19:47 -0500, Richard I Landon wrote:

> I have a 20 g. tank with 2 guppies, 15 freshwater shrimp and an apple snail..
>
> my shrimp have been breeding some..
> Today I found a small 6 legged thing 1/4 inch long.. that looks like a small dragon fly with no wings..
>
> Is this a young shrimp ? It has no "rear legs" or fins on the tail..
> it curls it's tail up over it's back like a scorpion does..
>
> I have not added any new fish or plants in over 2 months.. the only thing new to the tank is a new power head..
>
> anyone have a guess..?? I'm in Indiana.. the tank is indoors.. I don't think it could be a wild insect..

I'd say, the larvae of a damselfly.

Search on the Internet for Aquatic Invertebrates and you'll likely find
what you have.

[Surgical RN]

What you've just described sounds just like what we called a "water
scorpion" back home in MS. I think they are some sort of dragonfly larvae or
something like that but I know they sting and it hurts (wading the creek for
many years taught me to respect the heck out of these guys). Unless you want
it for some strange reason, catch it and flush it would be my suggestion. If
it is some sort of dragonfly larvae it will catch and eat small fish.

[Seweryn]

It very well could be a dragonfly nymph. If it is, I would watch out for any
small fish/organisms you have 'cos they have a wicked appetite. Could also
be a nymph for any variety of the mayfly or dameselfly families. I once had
one in my tank, which is indoors. No idea how it got in there. A stray
egg-encumbered damselfly must have found its way into the house...

- Seweryn

> my shrimp have been breeding some..
> Today I found a small 6 legged thing 1/4 inch long.. that looks like a
small dragon fly with no wings..
>
> Is this a young shrimp ? It has no "rear legs" or fins on the tail..
> it curls it's tail up over it's back like a scorpion does..
>
> I have not added any new fish or plants in over 2 months.. the only thing
new to the tank is a new power head..
>
> anyone have a guess..?? I'm in Indiana.. the tank is indoors.. I don't
think it could be a wild insect..
>
>
>
> |]}80 The Herbivorous ate well; their food- it didn't run.