damsel fly larvae in tank?

[devocole]

Where do you suppose this guy came from. Found him in my filter. I'm not overly surprised that its there, my tank is like a jungle with drift wood, plants and fish from everywhere and everyone. But i've had the tank running for 2 months now and this is the first time i've seen it. At first i thought it was a deformed shrimp. I put it back in the tank because it looked too small to do any harm, mabe 1cm long.

This is what it looks like:

http://www.narbeck.org/Bugs/Bug%20Gallery/...elfly_larva.jpg

Anybody found one of these in a tank before?

[Oneiroid]

Where do you suppose this guy came from. Found him in my filter. I'm not overly surprised that its there, my tank is like a jungle with drift wood, plants and fish from everywhere and everyone. But i've had the tank running for 2 months now and this is the first time i've seen it. At first i thought it was a deformed shrimp. I put it back in the tank because it looked too small to do any harm, mabe 1cm long.

This is what it looks like:

http://www.narbeck.org/Bugs/Bug%20Gallery/...elfly_larva.jpg

Anybody found one of these in a tank before?

Yup, that's a damselfly larvae alright. They are carnivorous, so if you are noticing a crash in your shrimp fry, that's why. The mother damselfly will often insert her eggs into the stems of aquatic plants, so if you got new plants in the last month or so and thought you washed them off... the eggs probably survived. It's a risk with pretty much any plant distributor who is located in a climate warm enough to grow/keep stock in an outdoor environment.

Keep your eyes peeled for more of these buggers, and pull them out when you see them. There is no risk of these guys reproducing in your tank.