# ACK!!! what the hell is this green insect/bug in my tank?



## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

what the heck is it? i tried to catch it with my net but he squirmed in to the moss and got away.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Check radio active pollution in your house, you got a mutated shrimp.... or some alien shrimp has come visiting your tank..... JK

I have no idea what that is... a grass hopper in your tank?

PS: Nice picture though.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I could be a dragonfly, that has hatched out in your tank off some plants you may have gotten. I had a couple of them and had to fish them out one at a time, as they eat baby shrimps...not so much adults because they can usually see this predator real well, but babies were fair game 

Try to catch it by putting a small piece of algae wafer at the front of the tank and have your net already inside the tank ready to scoop it when it goes for the wafer.


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## Kaiser.800 (Feb 3, 2010)

Dragonfly larvae or perhaps mayfly larvae-they both are major predators.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

thanks guys. my tank had two big taiwan moss (on driftwood) that was growing out of control and extremely tangled with hair algae so i pulled them out and dumped them. the dragonfly was hiding in the moss as well so i think i got rid of it.

i think i am going to pick up one little piece of moss on wire mesh from frank tomorrow. should i treat it with 10% bleach solution for 3-5 minutes and rinsing it before putting it in the tank?


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

If it has two spiny things sticking out its rear end, it's likely a dragonfly.
If it has three spiny things, it's probably a mayfly.

--> 10% bleach is likely too strong. Go for 5% for 5 minutes. That should do the trick. (Rinse a lot & use chlorine neutralizer afterwards, of course).


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

characinfan said:


> If it has two spiny things sticking out its rear end, it's likely a dragonfly.
> If it has three spiny things, it's probably a mayfly.
> 
> --> 10% bleach is likely too strong. Go for 5% for 5 minutes. That should do the trick. (Rinse a lot & use chlorine neutralizer afterwards, of course).


I ended up having to pull out all my plants (except for two marimo balls) to find that sucker. I didn't get a chance to check for spiny things though. I ended up putting three Xmas moss pads in the tank. I can actually see my shrimp a lot better now. Lol


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

my vote is for damselfly. similar to dragonfly, but more slender.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

well, i sure am glad that i got rid of that thing. since i had to remove all my plants, i was able to count 27 babies and i have four berried red cherry shrimp. this 10gal tank is going to reach capacity soon!


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

chinamon said:


> well, i sure am glad that i got rid of that thing. since i had to remove all my plants, i was able to count 27 babies and i have four berried red cherry shrimp. this 10gal tank is going to reach capacity soon!


Nice, congratulations.


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