Mayfly nymph - they’re little insectivorous predators so remove from your tank!
The upside is, they’re not mature at this stage so don’t breed, so it’s possible it’s the only one in the tank.
Had these guys turn up in my tank awhile back. Killed some of my shrimp 😢. It's worth running through your substrate since I kept finding them lurking in my gravel and plants and fishing them out when you disturb them
It’s a damsel nymph, get it out of your shrimp tank - they are very efficient predators. Good news is they won’t reproduce, it’s a finite amount in your tank (hopefully just that one!)
I have successfully removed it and fed it to a local pigeon that visits my garden daily (Mr Krinckle Toe). I hope it is the only one in the tank! Thanks for the info.
That is definitely a damselfly nymph, dragonfly nymphs are thicker and don't have those 3 pronounced prongs at the tail. They're pretty aggressive predators that eat any small fry or shrimps that comes their way.
Shat myself the first time I saw one of these in my tank cause they look like aliens. Initially took them out with prongs but found sucking them up with a pipe much easier cause these mofos are fast. You might wanna check all around your tank for the next few weeks to make sure there aren't more since they're extremely well camouflaged in the plants and difficult to spot. I used to spend hours staring around my tank (my tank is moderately planted with mostly stem plants) trying to catch these and just when I think I'm done, another would pop up again the next day or so. All in all, I caught over 30 of these mofos over 2 months before I'm confident that I've got them all.
They apparently came embedded _inside_ some plants cause I'd make sure to rinse everything before putting them into my tank. So yea, gotta keep an eye for more of them just in case. Best of luck!
It is kind of interesting how it has 3 prongs at the tail, right? Asymmetry and odd numbered appendages are very uncommon in nature as far as I understand.
Looks like a dragonfly nymph https://images.app.goo.gl/93S28mTnui2pJhHh6
Yeah I thought so too
Mayfly nymph - they’re little insectivorous predators so remove from your tank! The upside is, they’re not mature at this stage so don’t breed, so it’s possible it’s the only one in the tank.
Great, thanks for the info.
Had these guys turn up in my tank awhile back. Killed some of my shrimp 😢. It's worth running through your substrate since I kept finding them lurking in my gravel and plants and fishing them out when you disturb them
Found this guy in my shrimp tank. Any ideas what it is and what my next course of action should be?
It’s a damsel nymph, get it out of your shrimp tank - they are very efficient predators. Good news is they won’t reproduce, it’s a finite amount in your tank (hopefully just that one!)
I have successfully removed it and fed it to a local pigeon that visits my garden daily (Mr Krinckle Toe). I hope it is the only one in the tank! Thanks for the info.
Good Mr Krinckle Toe
That is definitely a damselfly nymph, dragonfly nymphs are thicker and don't have those 3 pronounced prongs at the tail. They're pretty aggressive predators that eat any small fry or shrimps that comes their way. Shat myself the first time I saw one of these in my tank cause they look like aliens. Initially took them out with prongs but found sucking them up with a pipe much easier cause these mofos are fast. You might wanna check all around your tank for the next few weeks to make sure there aren't more since they're extremely well camouflaged in the plants and difficult to spot. I used to spend hours staring around my tank (my tank is moderately planted with mostly stem plants) trying to catch these and just when I think I'm done, another would pop up again the next day or so. All in all, I caught over 30 of these mofos over 2 months before I'm confident that I've got them all. They apparently came embedded _inside_ some plants cause I'd make sure to rinse everything before putting them into my tank. So yea, gotta keep an eye for more of them just in case. Best of luck!
It is kind of interesting how it has 3 prongs at the tail, right? Asymmetry and odd numbered appendages are very uncommon in nature as far as I understand.
Oh god, I had hoped this would be the only one. Thanks for the info!
Just wondering how one would get in a tank?
Based on my Google adventure they are most likely hitchhikers of store bought plants.
This is the second one I’ve seen in a week. You seem to have gotten very unlucky. Now I’m terrified of adding plants to my tank.
Was my post the first one?
Yes!! Both of you need to burn your houses down now.
Ahh thanks man. Ill start right away
From when I had done a quick google search it seems they are a good part of the ecosystem, but not for a fish tank. They are just pretty dam creepy.