# dragon fly baby help!!!!!!!!!



## j-man the skater-man (Apr 4, 2005)

i found a dragon fly baby (i say baby because it looks like a developed dragon fly but not as large) and i removed it i have had a few cherry shrimp die lately and i assume that the dragon fly did it is that posible? is it likely thier are more dragon fly larve?? i always have the tank hood closed and the doors are always shut....how could it have gotten it the tank???

help asap


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

thats oddd, the larve may have been related to the deaths but the bigger questio is how it got there...a plant hitch-hicker maybe, is the tank planted?


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## j-man the skater-man (Apr 4, 2005)

the tank is planted but i havenot added a plant in about 1 to 1 1/2 months


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

Im putting my money on the dragonfly larvae. they are carnivorous and will eat eat small fish, frogs, tadpoles, crstaceans, and other things. except dragonfly larvae dont look like dragon flies at all. dragonfly larvae of different species will look quite a bit different, but generally look like this:


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## j-man the skater-man (Apr 4, 2005)

that looks like what i found exsept what i found has a longer thinner body and seems to be growing wings....if i found 1 would it be likely there are more i checked but didnt see anymore


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## amelia (Aug 11, 2005)

Dragonfly larvae are mainly carnivorous, as they are when they are adults. They will kill shrimps and eat mosquito larvae, and are notorious for attacking small fish. Keep an eye out for more, but don't go crazy cleaning. If you find more, simply remove them.


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## Fish Friend (Sep 10, 2005)

kill it..destroy it lol, they eat loads of stuff...ive seen one eat a lil poor stickleback in the river at the back of my house


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## drosera (Feb 2, 2005)

The dragonfly larva defnitely could have come in on the plants you last bought, or with plants, decor such as driftwood, or live food, from anywhere up to 3 months ago. You only noticed it now because it was large enough to be noticed. They are very small, and often translucent during their first few weeks of life. 

It definitely could have eaten your shrimp. But I also wonder what it must have been sustaining itself on until now. When very young, they will feast on the normal microorganisms in a tank (worms, Cyclops, etc) But it would take a heck of alot of them to sustain older larvae. It' is to be noted that they will eat each other as well, so it is unlikely that you have many more.

I agree that you shouldn't do anything major to the tank. Keep observing to see if there are others, and just remove them if you see them. It's handy to look at night with a flashlight, as that's when they tend to venture out more.

TAke care!


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## micstarz (Oct 22, 2005)

They could be caddisfly larvae


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## micstarz (Oct 22, 2005)

search google images for caddisfly larvae and see if they look anything like that


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## j-man the skater-man (Apr 4, 2005)

its not a caddis fly larvae and i havent seen more but i will do the flashlight check in a lil while


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## Brett_Fishman (Jun 14, 2005)

LOL, this is very coincidental, but I found one of these in my filter tonight alive:










Here's a small write up on them


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## Brett_Fishman (Jun 14, 2005)

Or maybe it was a Mayfly larva.


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## drosera (Feb 2, 2005)

Brett,

That first picture you showed is actually a damselfly larvae. (Dragonflies = 4 wings, damselflies = 2 wings, and usually much smaller) Damselfly larvae have those feathery extensions at the end of the abdomen. Regardless, they are treated the same if found in an aquarium. 

I still have to wonder where you guys got these critters from in the frist place. I'm always one for a good mystery 

Take care!


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## j-man the skater-man (Apr 4, 2005)

the mayfly looks like what i found but its october and we live like 7 miles from the lake they are at around here


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

if it has 2 long flexible extensions coming from its abdomin then its a mayfly larva, if it has 3 short extensions that look like pinchers its a dragonfly larva


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## micstarz (Oct 22, 2005)

did you feed your fish daphnia any time from 8-1 weeks ago? They can come with the daphnia as eggs y'now


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## j-man the skater-man (Apr 4, 2005)

nope no daphnia


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## micstarz (Oct 22, 2005)

ok then forget it


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