A recommendation for those looking to add aquatic insects to their aquariums

really? why? Don't just say, I would like to know why a screen lid is such a bad idea. i can't imagine a regular hood lid keeping them from escaping.

Whoops...I suppose I should have explained why!

Filters kick up water at first, and this starts to build up on the screen. This eventually causes rust and I'd be worried about the water dripping back in with little bits of rust. That's what I'd worry about. This is only at first though(in my short experience) and after a few days isn't a problem.

Whoops...I suppose I should have explained why!

Filters kick up water at first, and this starts to build up on the screen. This eventually causes rust and I'd be worried about the water dripping back in with little bits of rust. That's what I'd worry about. This is only at first though(in my short experience) and after a few days isn't a problem.

gotcha. that makes sense. well now, I am going to have to play around with this idea yet.

Make a screen top out of nylon window screen. No rust.

gotcha. that makes sense. well now, I am going to have to play around with this idea yet.

You don't HAVE to wait till spring to start collecting inverts, if you really want some. This November I was getting water boatmen(I bet they'd be interesting!) and dragonfly naiads in NJ. Not sure about Ranatra though.

If you do wait till spring, I suggest going out late at night(past midnight would be good) by a pond, setting up a white sheet with a black light shining on it. Then sit back, crack open a beer, and watch all sorts of insects hit the sheet! I've heard of giant water bugs being collected this way and would not be surprised to see water scorps come too. In fact, I've seen mine follow the glow of my cell phone!

I should also say I'm not really digging housing these guys with fish. I was offering crickets to my water scorp last night and my green sunfish took one off the tweezers the first offering, and yanked it out of the insect's grasp the second time! Third time was a charm, thankfully. Oh yea that's another thing...I forget if I said this before, but just because they're aquatic predators doesn't mean that fish should make up a large part of their diet. If anything fish should be offered very sparingly.

You don't HAVE to wait till spring to start collecting inverts, if you really want some. This November I was getting water boatmen(I bet they'd be interesting!) and dragonfly naiads in NJ. Not sure about Ranatra though.

Probably not the most reliable way to find them, but...
A few years ago I went ice fishing and after hand drilling through 2.5 feet of ice and finding that I was in 3.5 feet of water, a water scorpion floated up to the surface through the hole. It didn't really have the energy in that cold water to swim back down the hole and I knew if I left it it would just die when the hole froze shut, so I brought it back home. I had it for several months and then it decided to leave (was not kept covered). I searched the house but never did find it. A neat little creature though. I fed it left over waxworms from icefishing and the occasional boxelder bug that I'd find crawling about the house.

well i suppose I could go now. I have never collected in winter...besides ice fishing. Is it worth the effort for inverts? I wonder whether I could catch some little fish ice fishing....of course here in manitoba, if you are going ice fishing, you really have to mean it, because the ice gets so dang thick, half the battle is pulling a big fish up a tube.

One time at a friend of my dad's favourite walleye spot, we drilled through about 2.5 feet of ice and could see the bottom easily (only a few feet of water) no walleye but I did manage a 3ft northern with such a girth I thought he wouldn't fit the hole!

I wouldn't keep a water scorpion with fish either, I know too many fish that have betrayed their tankmates...this would definitely be an invert only tank.

well i suppose I could go now. I have never collected in winter...besides ice fishing. Is it worth the effort for inverts? I wonder whether I could catch some little fish ice fishing....of course here in manitoba, if you are going ice fishing, you really have to mean it, because the ice gets so dang thick, half the battle is pulling a big fish up a tube.

One time at a friend of my dad's favourite walleye spot, we drilled through about 2.5 feet of ice and could see the bottom easily (only a few feet of water) no walleye but I did manage a 3ft northern with such a girth I thought he wouldn't fit the hole!

I wouldn't keep a water scorpion with fish either, I know too many fish that have betrayed their tankmates...this would definitely be an invert only tank.

Well the way I was finding inverts was basically scopping up dead leaves and mud with my net...so it'd really depend if you mind getting dirty and having your hands feel cold! I'd think it'd be worth it...just because it's fun for me. You'd be amazed at what inverts you can find in the winter time.

BTW this method also yielded some TINY fish too. I found a bluegill fry that was smaller than my thumbnail!

Edited by SunnyRollins, 14 December 2009 - 01:10 AM.

I did some invert collecting this past week, with funnel traps in iced-over fishless ponds. Tons of notonectids (backswimmers) and corixids (water boatmen), some Belostoma (giant waterbugs), and a solitary Ranatra made up the hemipteran component. We also got some dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, assorted midge and mosquito larvae, various adult and larval beetles, juvenile crayfish, daphnids, and leeches, as well as lots of metamorphosed and neotenic mole salamanders (Ambystoma talpoideum) in breeding condition, eastern newts, and green frog tadpoles.

The funniest part was seeing the big whirligig beetles (Dineutus) clinging belly-up to the underside of the ice. They all had their abdominal air-bubbles intact. I guess that bubble acts as a physical gill in iced-over conditions, allowing gas interchange with the water.