# Freshwater Invertabrates



## Eclipse (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about setting up a 10 gallon freshwater tank. I wanted to put fishes in them, but all the fishes I liked required a bigger tank so I'm wondering if there were any
freshwater inverts that would be cool to have. If anybody can throw in a few suggestions
that would be awesome (doesn't have to be limited to insects).


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## arachnochicken (Jan 8, 2009)

theres always crayfish , they come normal color , white and blue . Fiddler crabs . Or something else if you can find one is a dragonfly nymph . If you REALLY want awsome inverts make it a salt water tank , saltwater inverts come in some amazing colors ,shapes and sizes .


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## crpy (Jan 8, 2009)

Dytiscus diving (Predicious diving beetles) are awesome and long lived and communal . I usually have a tank full all summer into the winter.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/14511


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## Eclipse (Jan 8, 2009)

Tried crayfish/crabs and I didn't really like them. I really, really, really supremely want to do a saltwater tank, but I don't have the room or money to do so.


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## arachnochicken (Jan 8, 2009)

Making it saltwater is easy , you can use the 10 gallon tank you already have so it wont take up anymore room . All you really need is salt ,a cheep light ,something for the inverts to hide in (fake coral or whatever) but the one this you will need is a pretty good filter and that you can get off craigslist pretty cheep as well . If you already have the light then you could probably set it up for less then 50 bucks , most likely much less .
 I have a 150 gallon reef tank with a coral banded shrimp ,and some large hermits ,there great little inverts .A coral banded shrimp is only $10-$15 depending on the store .


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## Galapoheros (Jan 8, 2009)

You ever seen those little saltwater setups?  I think they are only 2 gallons.  I think it's comes as a kit.  I've caught some cool stuff for freshwater, dragonfly larvae, beetle larvae, treefrog tadpoles, baby gar, salamander larvae, ghost shrimp.  And there is a cool crawdad in east tx that I think isn't in the books so far that I've got to find again.  I haven't seen it since I was a kid.  It's gray with a really small tail, with a red line down the back with big claws.  I've researched it, can't find it.  The giant waterbugs get popular now and then, those are pretty cool.  Aren't there predatory leaches?  Check out this fresh water monster.  Astacopsis gouldi
http://www.carnivorousnights.com/wildlife/Web_GiantCrayfish_Image.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=/images?q=Astacopsis+gouldi&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=G



And here as some interesting ones
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=/images?q=Astacopsis+gouldi&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=G


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## Eclipse (Jan 9, 2009)

I wish I can just go out and catch all that stuff like you do, but the city i live in is too urbanized and it's pretty much a waste dump. We'll see what happens, a saltwater tank is going to be expensive especially at age 16 with no support. I'd love to keep some salamanders or ghost shrimps if they're easy to breed; Dragonfly nymphs sounds sounds like a fun idea too.


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## Galapoheros (Jan 9, 2009)

Dang, that sucks.  Sounds like you don't have a car available either.  Maybe you could get a bait bucket and a net and make it to a creek somewhere.  16 or 17 is really when I started doing the wild caught freshwater stuff, because I could get in a car and find a place ..that was a long time ago.  I still play around with freshwater stuff now and then.  I only have two minnows in a 10 gal right now .


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## Eclipse (Jan 9, 2009)

Oh I been to a couple of creeks here. They might as well call them sewer lines. 
Well I was going to take driver's ed at school, but I have advance classes and they take up a lot of my time. I was going to take driver's ed next semester, but our school has gone through a budget cut and they're removing the class so it looks like I'll be a little late at driving.

Um, aside from all that, is there any fresh water inverts that are easy to breed? If not then I can go with any type of amphibian that can.


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## Galapoheros (Jan 10, 2009)

It's different today, I'm 45 now.  When I was 15, "drivers ed" was almost a mandatory class.  They "tried" to get us in cars.  Now I think we are headed in a socialist direction, yeah, it looks like it to me.  I think they want everybody crammed together in cities, walking and riding bikes.  Not that I have a problem with that but to me it's problem when others force it in a manipulating way, without letting individuals decide for themselves.  It's a slow conditioning kind of thing the gov is doing in my opinion.  I see it getting worse.  It's sobering if you research the history of the people in gov, including Obama..  He's fooled the hell out of people IMO and I'm not saying anybody else would have been better.  Sorry, I drank beer tonight.  I have links, send me a PM if you're curious.  Anyway, when I was younger, I would go to creeks that they paved over, riding skateboards in the 70's when it was just starting to get popular, but the developers would leave a spot upstream kind of natural ,so stuff would make a run for it going down stream on the cement and I'd just grab stuff real easy, easy pickins!  Well frogs are very popular, there are a lot of sources of info on frog care.  I've always been fascinated by salamanders too.  I remember a waterbug breeding thread on this site too.  You'll have to search around for it.


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 10, 2009)

Galapoheros said:


> It's different today, I'm 45 now.  When I was 15, "drivers ed" was almost a mandatory class.  They "tried" to get us in cars.  Now I think we are headed in a socialist direction, yeah, it looks like it to me.  I think they want everybody crammed together in cities, walking and riding bikes.  Not that I have a problem with that but to me it's problem when others force it in a manipulating way, without letting individuals decide for themselves.  It's a slow conditioning kind of thing the gov is doing in my opinion.  I see it getting worse.  It's sobering if you research the history of the people in gov, including Obama..  He's fooled the hell out of people IMO and I'm not saying anybody else would have been better.  Sorry, I drank beer tonight.  I have links, send me a PM if you're curious.  Anyway, when I was younger, I would go to creeks that they paved over, riding skateboards in the 70's when it was just starting to get popular, but the developers would leave a spot upstream kind of natural ,so stuff would make a run for it going down stream on the cement and I'd just grab stuff real easy, easy pickins!  Well frogs are very popular, there are a lot of sources of info on frog care.  I've always been fascinated by salamanders too.  I remember a waterbug breeding thread on this site too.  You'll have to search around for it.


In our town in the spring time there is a puddle [ next door yard floods] and i can find minos and stuff its fun intil the wasps start bussing around then its net time lol!


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## Eclipse (Jan 11, 2009)

The main inverts for a freshwater tank are shrimps, crayfishes and snails, how lame. I'm tempted to do a saltwater tank but it's too expensive and 10 gallon tanks weren't enough or so I heard.


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## Vidaro (Jan 11, 2009)

try searching for sea angel very  beautiful creatures


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## arachnochicken (Jan 11, 2009)

I don't know who told you that you can't make a salt water tank out of a 10 gallon tank but they are wrong . You can make one out of any size tank you want , they're called Nano tanks . When I was raising Banghii Cardinals I had them in a 5 gallon set up . If your only looking to put inverts in it it wont cost as much to set up a you might think. You'll be able to get away without a skimmer or expensive lighting .About the only thing your'll really need is a filter and since you were looking to set up a freshwater I'm guessing you already have one so you can use that one . As for lighting you can also get away with a regular hood and light . A small box of salt is less then $10 and it will make enough salt water for 10 gallons .

It's up to you what you want to do and I'm not trying to talk you into it just giving you the option and letting you know you DO have a choice .


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## dtknow (Jan 11, 2009)

I'd do giant/ferocious water bugs. lots of biological supplies carry them. They are fierce predators.

I don't see why you couldn't do a SW 10 gal invert tank. But options are still rather limited unless you think coral banded shrimp, hermits, mantis shrimp are more interesting than FW inverts. And yes, it will cost a bit more.

If you can afford them xenesthis has some barbados FW crabs available. They'd make a neat breeding project but would be a bit tight in a 10 gal I think.


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## Drachenjager (Jan 11, 2009)

hellgrammites are great!


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## scolex (Jan 11, 2009)

Do not do saltwater unless you know what you are doing. Smaller the tank the harder it is to care for. The starter size is for a beginner is 40gals+ .


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## LeilaNami (Jan 13, 2009)

If you do crabs just keep in mind most of the ones you find in pet stores (with the exception of possibly PetSmart.  They have a nice set up) that they are kept improperly.  Redclaws and the mini fiddlers need some sort of way to get out of the water such as a piece of driftwood above the water line and so on.  Otherwise, they tend to try to crawl into the filter and die.


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## 8 leg wonder (Jan 13, 2009)

dtknow said:


> I'd do giant/ferocious water bugs. lots of biological supplies carry them. They are fierce predators.
> 
> giant water bugs are awsome, I used to keep one in a 10gal w\various snails minnows and feeder gold fish. just keep in mind that the fish become luch real quick and constantly need replacing


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## LeilaNami (Jan 13, 2009)

Use guppies as feeders for the beetles...less ammonia and guppies are slow and go 'duurrr is that a net I think I'll go swim in it'.  But yeah less ammonia and pet stores tend to keep their guppies healthier than the feeders.


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## cjm1991 (Jan 16, 2009)

Vidaro said:


> try searching for sea angel very  beautiful creatures


They are indeed pretty amazing. Really look like little angels.


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## LeilaNami (Jan 16, 2009)

If you do take on the huge job of sea angels, be careful with what species you get.  Some are very specialized feeders.  Unfortunately the larger species are found in polar waters.


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## Scythemantis (Jan 16, 2009)

I don't think anyone has ever kept sea angels in home aquaria unless they personally caught them from the wild, they're not in the trade.

Months ago I was finding SWARMS of giant waterbugs here and still have a few. I sold them to a few members but only one messaged me back about them, saying most of his arrived dead. He was the only one who didn't choose next-day shipping, though. Don't know the status of the others I sold.

I have always wanted to own large, predatory leeches (the kind often used as bait, which feed on earthworms, fish, etc.)...but in all my life I have never encountered a leech in person. I live in the U.S. and have spent much of my childhood playing in creeks, ponds and bogs...but no, never met a leech. They're like some wild fantasy creature to me.


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## cjm1991 (Jan 20, 2009)

Scythemantis said:


> I don't think anyone has ever kept sea angels in home aquaria unless they personally caught them from the wild, they're not in the trade.
> 
> Months ago I was finding SWARMS of giant waterbugs here and still have a few. I sold them to a few members but only one messaged me back about them, saying most of his arrived dead. He was the only one who didn't choose next-day shipping, though. Don't know the status of the others I sold.
> 
> I have always wanted to own large, predatory leeches (the kind often used as bait, which feed on earthworms, fish, etc.)...but in all my life I have never encountered a leech in person. I live in the U.S. and have spent much of my childhood playing in creeks, ponds and bogs...but no, never met a leech. They're like some wild fantasy creature to me.



Same, I dont think I have ever seen one with my own eyes. I saw a video on youtube of a really big one eating a huge worm in china I believe.


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## LeilaNami (Jan 20, 2009)

I've never seen one in the trade either but that's not to say they couldn't be.


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## Acro (Jan 22, 2009)

For freshwater, there are some AMAZING crayfish and shrimp available to the hobby, yet sadly, many people don't know about them. I would suggest looking on www.aquabid.com under "freshwater fish", under "Invertebrates" to find some beauties. My favorite shrimp to keep are the "long arm" type and they can reach about six inches in length! You can also find freshwater clams under "invertebrates" and those are pretty cool too. If you look under "snails" you can find some unique snails that beat the ol' run of the mill pet shop snails. Going back to crustaeans, You may want to try Triops. These are easy and cool critters that you can find on aquabid, ebay or even at local hobby/toy stores (as eggs).

If you want to try some freshwater insects, I would suggest Sunburst diving beetles and they are normally available during the summer, eat other insects and can breed in captivity. Giant Water Bugs are rocken cool freshwater inverts with example species being L. americanus or A.herberti, yet there are a few other species. My favorite freshwater insects are the African Giant Waterscorpions (Nepa sp.) a big and fierce bug that can breed in captivity. Contact "Elytra and Antenna" on this website, as he used to breed and had the Giant Water Bug A.herberti and Giant Waterscorpions Nepa sp. for sale. You can also find the native waterscorpions, backswimmers, water striders, and various fly larvae including dragonfly larvae and helgramite (stonefly larvae) as these can be kept and make cool captives. Ask bait stores, fishermen (uses them as bait) and pet shops (comes in from the goldfish ponds by mistake) for the fly larvae. Check " http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/elytraandantenna/ " and try the book "Assassins, Water Scorpions and Other True Bugs" for care info on waterscorpions, giant water bugs, backswimmers, and water striders.

Last of all, if you like arachnids why don't you try out the Six-spotted fishing spider. It gets about 3 inches and feeds on bugs, fish and tadpoles. It can even dive! Last place I saw selling those spiders was " http://www.swiftinverts.com/ ".

Bla...lots of typing!  I think I covered the majority of fresh water inverts accessible to the hobby but I am sure others can think of more.  But yeah, Enjoy!


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## LeilaNami (Jan 22, 2009)

whirligig beetles....get them now


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## Acro (Jan 22, 2009)

Whirligig beetles!  Those guys are cool!  You ever keep them?

Also, I just noticed that KenTheBugGuy (on this web site) has "Okeefinokee Fishing Spider - Dolomedes Okeefinokensis $12.00".  May be worth checking out his add.


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## LeilaNami (Jan 22, 2009)

I haven't kept them personally but I want to! They're so fun to watch!


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 25, 2009)

That they are my friend


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