20 Gallon Tank Random dead animal? what is this

[flopperfrog]

so i was watching my shrimp as usual and i say them eating this green bug looking thing.
could y’all be able to identify what it is?
pics of it:

 

[jtjgg]

looks like a type of damselfly nymph.

 

[flopperfrog]

looks like a type of damselfly nymph.

are they bad? like should i remove them? i have no fish in that tank

 

[jtjgg]

indoor or outdoor tank?

are there more of them in your tank?

i'm assuming the one in the picture is dead.

what i've read about them is they eat mosquito larvae and other tiny animals. they might eat baby shrimp.

 

[flopperfrog]

it’s an indoor tank, yeah the one in the pic is dead
well i wouldn’t mind mosquito larvae but idk how many baby shrimp are we talking? if they grow in my tank what do i do when they’re all grown? just chuck them outside?

i say another one in my tank that’s alive

 

[jtjgg]

they're generally a beneficial insect, but not in an aquarium with small fish/shrimp.

if you have a pond or stream outside, i would catch and release it so it can do good outdoors and eat some flies and mosquitos.

 

[flopperfrog]

they're generally a beneficial insect, but not in an aquarium with small fish/shrimp.

if you have a pond or stream outside, i would catch and release it so it can do good outdoors and eat some flies and mosquitos.

oh and i found this on my floating plants! very weird, is this the same animal? and what happened to it

 

[jtjgg]

it molted.

damselfly life cycle

 

[flopperfrog]

it molted.

damselfly life cycle

but what is the thing at the top then, the molt is the clearish yellow one right. then what’s the black thing

 

[Pfrozen]

the black thing is the nymph itself

remove it immediately, they are very predatory. keep an eye out for more

 

[flopperfrog]

the black thing is the nymph itself

remove it immediately, they are very predatory. keep an eye out for more

oh, it’s like dead. i poked it and it didn’t move i thnk it molted and then died from the heat of my light

 

[NotSoAggressiveAquatics]

oh, it’s like dead. i poked it and it didn’t move i thnk it molted and then died from the heat of my light

Like most pests it’s pretty rare to just have one. Keep an eye out for more..... those things creep me out so bad

 

[flopperfrog]

noted

 

[lolitroy]

I used to have one of them and got extremely creeped out at first, but eventually I got used to seeing an alien swimming around the tank. It decimated my pond snail population and lasted for 2-3 years before it finally molted and left, so they'll probably not go away in a while. They're pretty harmless though (in my experience).

 

[flopperfrog]

I used to have one of them and got extremely creeped out at first, but eventually I got used to seeing an alien swimming around the tank. It decimated my pond snail population and lasted for 2-3 years before it finally molted and left, so they'll probably not go away in a while. They're pretty harmless though (in my experience).

i wouldnt mind my snail population going down honestly....its kind of out of control haha. i just have a problem with the eating shirmp thing