# Mosquito larvae



## lll (Apr 29, 2014)

A bit of backstory, I just recently set up a tank and cycled it and had sponge filter running on it. So today, having that satisfying feeling of getting some new shrimp(yall know that feeling) , I put them in my tank! A few hours later, I look in there and see some brown wiggly things, what do you know! There are mosquito larvae in my tank!

So I flip out and move everything around trying to catch them (probably scaring the shrimp, not a good idea after a few hours in a bag and another few in a cup). My question is, are these guys harmful to the shrimp or will they eventually go away? 

Thanks for any input.


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## chi (May 13, 2013)

If they are mosquito larvae they will need to surface for air. You can catch them at that time. However if you left them alone, they will become mosquito in your house. I believe they do not affect you shrimp.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

you need to find out exactly what they are first. If they are dragonfly larva
they will hatch out and these insects will actively eat your shrimps. 

If they are just flat worms (planaria, which a lot of people have)
they won't be too bad you can use NO PLANARIA to get rid of those.

Where did you get the sponge from? Was it already in another tank (yours or someone else's) or did you buy it brand new? If it was already in your own tank then these things were already in that tank! If brand new then maybe
the box was sitting somewhere and something crawled into the box and laid eggs in there and now they are hatching.

BUGS in our tanks are a pain to say the least, but to deal with them you need
to catch one and photograph it for others to try to figure out what you are dealing with. Many people on shrimpspot.com can help you with that as a lot of hobbyists on that forum have dealt with bugs in tanks before.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

If indeed they are mosquito larvae, then you could always drop a Betta in the tank for a few hours, that will hunt the wigglers down (top eating for a Betta) but they won't touch your shrimps (not interested) 

Ive kept a Betta with my shrimps before....they ignore them....not even sure if they can see them at all
as Ive had one sit on my Bettas head and he didn't even know it was there.

Anything that wiggles however is fair game.  I did the same thing with Killifish, when my shrimptank was overrun with scuds (cocopeds) I put a couple of Killis in the tank and next day there
wasn't one scud left....tank was clean of them (except for eggs) I then took the Killis back out and my shrimp tank was a happy less congested place for my shrimps.


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## EdC (Mar 5, 2009)

Interesting...I have definitely read accounts of bettas hunting shrimp. I was looking into the possibility of keeping them together just last week. Depends on the individual maybe?


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