Pest / Bug you may encounter In Shrimp TankCredit Source: www.plantedtank.net 1) Planaria, flatworms (Dangerous - should be eliminated asap)Size: 0,3 - 1 cm, 0.1 - 3/8 inches
Non-parasitic flatworms. Crossed-eyed grossness, just pure yucky! The only small creature I dislike (I get shivers down my spine even thinking about them). If you split it, it will regenerate and you will end up having 2 planaria. There seems to be several different colours in the common ones found in aquariums, transparent, white, brown and red. There's actually nothing really horrible about them, but they can bother small shrimp and snails and might eat fish/snail eggs.
They love shrimp pellets, pieces of meat, dead fish/shrimp and they will also eat small live creatures if they can catch them. They move on the surfaces, even under the water surface and are most active by night. If disturbed, they will retract themselves (shorter and wider), let go and drop down to the bottom.
2) Hydra (Dangerous esp to Shrimplet/fish fry- should be eliminated asap)Size: 0,3 - 1,5 cm, 0.1 - 1/2 inches
Hydra are beautiful, but a wee bit annoying creatures. They spend their life attached to surfaces (plants, glass, filter, decoration), they can move a bit, but usually don't have the need to do that. If disturbed, they will retract their tentacles and body to small buds. They catch small creatures (copepods, Daphnia etc.) with their tentacles which can sting, making it easier for them to haul the pray in to their mouth opening. They pose no threat to adult fish, shrimp or snails (might cause some irritation if they touch the Hydra), but newborn fish and shrimp fry are in danger.
Control - (Use at your own risk) Attach a wire to each pole of a 9 volt battery. Place the ends of the wires into the tank water, as far apart as possible. If the setup is working correctly, a fine stream of bubbles should be seen from one of the wires. The Hydra will start falling after about 20 minutes. The treatment should go no longer than 3 hours, keeping an eye on conditions the whole time. A daily 50% water change for 3 days is recommended since Copper leaches into the tank via one of the wires.
3) Dragonfly (Dangerous - should be eliminated asap)4) Damselfly (Dangerous - should be eliminated asap)They use these like spring-loaded catapults to capture their prey at lighting speeds...looks kinda like an arm with mean jaws on the end and the whole contraption is tucked in nicely waiting to pounce...pretty cool...
Dragonfly and damselfly nymphs look rather similar... the main difference is that dragonfly nymphs do not have external gills...while damselfly nymphs do...
So after you look at the mouthpart to determind that it is one of these.. check to see if you can find external gills at the end of the abdomen... if you can.. then its a damselfly nymph..if not, then its a dragonfly nymph..
This post has been edited by arrow: Oct 12 2013, 07:04 PM