Well, I’ll be darned

We’re sitting peacefully at the breakfast table this morning, when the tiger suddenly bends down to check out one of the big pots we’re overwintering our tropical pond plants in. “There’s something swimming in there,” he says, frowning.
We look at each other going, “Shoot, mosquito larvae.”
It certainly is the right size, but it doesn’t wriggle, looks more like lashes with eyes, and there’s a bluish shimmer to it. “There’s another one.” – “And there.”

To make a long story short, we pulled five WCMM hatchlings out of the various pots, which we now all checked, of course. It has to be said that I use the old aquarium water to water the plants, but the last time I changed the cold water tank downstairs was two weeks ago. You may easily imagine that the water in those flower pots was not of pristine quality.

Weirdly, there are no babies in the tank itself. So, now I don’t know, if they just got eaten there by their parents, or if, maybe the temperature downstairs (18C) isn’t warm enough yet for them to hatch.

Any clues, anybody?

I now have 5 teensy WCMM in a holding tank and don’t know if I should put them in with their parents or not. The only other fish in that tank are two hill stream loaches. Are they baby snatchers?

I’m quite, quite floored. And totally awed at the sheer survival power of those little guys.