keeping water beetles

[Timthedrifter]

has anyone ever tried keeping water beetles, not sure of the exact species. They are those small black beetles you often see at lakes and ponds and such gliding around on top of the water. I collected about 8 of them today at the lake and was wondering if anyone knows what they eat.

 

[Timthedrifter]

I've found them online being called whirligig beetles if that helps anyone

 

[black_sun]

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg134.html - I found this. Looks like they're opportunistic omnivores, more or less.

 

[Noto]

I've kept them before. Adults will take fruit flies, and occasionally flake food. Larvae eat live bloodworms, daphnia, and small tadpoles or fish. They can fly, so a secure top is important.

 

[Timthedrifter]

awesome, they are a very neat addition to my native tank. Happy I can acctually keep them alive. thanks guys

 

[Bottomfeeder]

pondskaters/water striders

they might get eaten,filtered, so watch that.

 

[Timthedrifter]

yeah the fish dont seem to have any interest in them, as for the filter we'll see, so far so good

 

[ProblEmZ]

Pictures! We need some pic's of these bugs heh

 

[dpsurf]

yeah, pics please / keep us posted.

 

[Noto]

Whirligigs have pretty potent defensive chemicals. Most fish won't eat them. If you pick one up you can smell the chemical defense; the large Dineutes species smell like sour apple candy, while the smaller Gyrinus species just smell like death.