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SofaKingWright's avatar

What the !@*( is this in my fish tank?

Asked by SofaKingWright (530points) April 28th, 2011

Okay, I admit, I have not done a water change for about a month. I’ve been busy! However, all that is in there right now are tons of plants which have been established for over a year, and one Minnow. It is a 200L tank.

Anyway, I was sitting next to my tank when I saw this THING crawl down the inside glass. I have NOT put anything in my tank for months. I am now in a panic that there are some weird mutant toxic creatures growing in my fish tank. This would not be weird, except for the fact that I’ve put NOTHING new in my tank for at least 6 months. Please take a look at the picture and help me diagnose what the hell this weird creature is. I would suspect fish babies but it has LEGS! ACK.

http://i55.tinypic.com/29dke46.jpg

Any ideas??

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15 Answers

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Response moderated (Unhelpful)
cloudvertigo's avatar

It looks like an insect. Perhaps it’s a dragonfly nymph. Still, ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny—see what happens when it finishes insect-adolescence.

YoBob's avatar

It looks like a silverfish to me. These are common household pests along the lines of an ant or cockroach. I don’t think they usually live inside of fish tanks, but I believe they do prefer moist areas.

ANef_is_Enuf's avatar

Silverfish are usually pretty small, I thought. It does look similar, though. How big is this creature?

SofaKingWright's avatar

It is strange because I have not had any bugs in my apartment. I also live by the sea so not too many flying pests around. It is also cold where I live. I do have a bouquet of flowers near the fish tank, maybe it was something that came in on those?

I know the question is probably pretty comical – but its not something I expect to see crawl by when having my lunch!

Maybe it is time to get some fish in there to eat whatever this visitor is. It is almost the same length as the minnow in there so I doubt he is going to do much good.

As for the length, maybe close to half an inch? It has disappeared into the gravel so I can’t measure it now. The photo makes it look slightly larger than it really was, although it was not ‘tiny’.

syz's avatar

It’s some sort of insect, and has probably been gestating in your plants. My first thought was dragonfly nymph, also, but I think they usually require flowing water (i.e. stream beds).

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

Where did you get the plants? It looks like some sort of nymph or other insect.

MissAnthrope's avatar

Okay, this was going to drive me nuts. I actually studied freshwater aquatic insects in Limnology… never, ever thought I’d use the information, so I stuffed it deep down in my brain.

But… success!

I’m pretty sure that’s a damselfly larvae. (scroll down)

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@MissAnthrope Hit it. . ..Here’s another picture and website with damselflies.

SofaKingWright's avatar

“Their presence is an indication of a healthy pond environment with good water quality.”

I guess I should be ‘happy’. (lol).
At least it doesn’t seem like anything to worry about. I wonder how THAT got in there in the first place to lay its eggs. The top is pretty much sealed when shut. It is a mystery.

Anyhow, I am happy to hear it isn’t some weird disease carrying mutant. I got the plants ranging from 1 year to 6 months ago, some from Ebay and some from the aquatic store. However, the most logical origination for this little insect is probably from the bouquet of tulips next to the tank. It all makes more sense now. Thanks for the help!

ccrow's avatar

Yup, that’s a damselfly nymph all right:-) I know a large dragonfly nymph can eat a small fish, but if your fish is bigger than the nymph, there shouldn’t be a problem… I wonder what the little guy is eating??

SofaKingWright's avatar

So what happens as it grows? I mean…. it is going to have a hard time getting out of the tank if it gets large. Maybe it will just expire on its own. Should I try to fish it out and get rid of it? (It isn’t going to be easy to find in there) How large is this thing actually going to get?

filmfann's avatar

Oh, Shit! Darwin was right!

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