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June 30th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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Strange See Through Creature.
I was re-planting some of my plants and just generally tidying my tank yesterday when I found a very strange little creature. It is completely see through and only about as long as my thumb nail. The picture is the closest thing I could get to what it looks like:
damselfly nymph.bmp
I wasnt sure what the little thing was or if it would pose a threat to my fishies so I put it in my now fishless QT. It spends most of its time hiding in the plants and rocks which is why I wouldnt have spotted it before. If anyone has ne ideas I'd love to hear them. 
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June 30th, 2008
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Fish Master
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im guessing...ghost shrimp?
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June 30th, 2008
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Moderator
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Thats what it looks like to me too. have you added plants or fish lately? If so looks like you had a cool hitch hiker 
Carol |
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June 30th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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I added fish a couple of weeks ago but thats about it. The little guy has been hiding tho so its entirely possible that he hitched on my last lot of plants ages ago and I just havent seen him till now. I dont usually mess with the tank decorations. I only had to this time cause one of my plants was almost fully outta the substrate and I had to put it back. On the assumption that it is a ghost shrimp, what do they eat?
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June 30th, 2008
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Moderator
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Ghost shrimp mostly eat what drops to the bottom of the tank, algae and just bits of this and that
carol |
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June 30th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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that's definately a ghost shrimp. Congrats on having a cool uninvited guest! these shrimp are awesome! they will hide most of the time but will come out to roam the bottom of your tank to search for leftovers. he is completely safe to leave in your community tank as long as there isnt any fish that would look at him as food... they are awesome little creatures!
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June 30th, 2008
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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You could put him back in and every so often, stick a wafer or piece of a wafer in one of his hiding spots. Some Java Moss would be something he'd like as well.
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June 30th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Can you get a picture of the actual creature? It could be a shrimp, or it could be an insect larva.
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June 30th, 2008
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Moderator
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Any way that amphibious insects would have access to your tank?
Also, does it seem to walk on its legs, or do they stick out to the side more, used to "row" with? Shrimp walk, and swim by using their tails. Insect larvae use their legs to swim more than walk.
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July 3rd, 2008
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Fish Helper
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The tank is hooded and inside so the chances of an insect getting access to my tank is limited and we dont have ne ponds or water bodies in the yard to attract them. Insect larvae could have just as easily hitched from the shop as ne other critter tho. I cant get a pic of him cause I just havent seen him. I put him in the QT and he disappeared and I havent seen him since. He swims pretty fast but by the time I saw him up close he was in my hand and was more or less flailing with his legs. I know he is insanely quick tho.
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July 3rd, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Annabelle
The tank is hooded and inside so the chances of an insect getting access to my tank is limited and we dont have ne ponds or water bodies in the yard to attract them. Insect larvae could have just as easily hitched from the shop as ne other critter tho. I cant get a pic of him cause I just havent seen him. I put him in the QT and he disappeared and I havent seen him since. He swims pretty fast but by the time I saw him up close he was in my hand and was more or less flailing with his legs. I know he is insanely quick tho.
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Most likely a ghost shrimp... is that thing one inch? 2 inches? |
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July 4th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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It could also be a dragon fly larva. They have the tree things on the end of their tail, and they are free swimming. Then they crawl out one day and dry for a few hours, and molt into a dragon fly. I dont know how you got one in your tank..but i see them all the time at my camp, and thats what the picture looks like
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July 4th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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its quite possible, that you haven't seen him, because if they don't have a surface to crawl out on when they get big enough, they will die.
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July 4th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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any updates about your little guy?
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July 4th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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whoa, ghost shrimp look a lot like dragon fly larvae..i just googled it. I hope it is a ghost shrimp..they look very cool!
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July 5th, 2008
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Moderator
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rileyrk190
whoa, ghost shrimp look a lot like dragon fly larvae..i just googled it. I hope it is a ghost shrimp..they look very cool!
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 They are. I had a few, but lost them to high nitrates, I think. |
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July 5th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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If it is a dragonfly nymph you need to get it out of your tank, they are predators and they can live up to 4 years in the nymph stage. They will hitchhike on plants on another forum someone had some in their tank and had no idea where they came from. It took him a while to get them out. The picture you showed looks a lot like a dragonfly nymph to me.
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