Hydra.. What to do?
- Thread starter mikeb210
- Start date
Hydra are pretty small- could be anything- one stuck to a net used across multiple tanks transferred from one to another that way. Slipping in on the water from a LFS when buying a fish/snail/invert... espsecially if you mix water from the LFS into your tank when acclimatising (which you are not supposed to do).
You can get hydra without having live plants- although plants are where most hitchhikers come from.
You can get hydra without having live plants- although plants are where most hitchhikers come from.
Fenbendazole is the safest medication to use in a tank with hydra. Don’t use copper meds. Also, besides asexual reproduction, all hydra can reproduce sexually. The resting state of the embryo can vary before polyp development. HTH Tom
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Took mine about a week but like I said it was a HUGE outbreak. I would say give it about 3 days at least.
I have seen all kinds of bugs, planeria, hydra, silly worms, others I havent id'd, LOL ~ and I used the small dog dewormer in the powedered form. Thier IS a HUGE thread about it in killing this "what is this in my tank " It states in that thread that these planeria form from overfeeding, I am not sure where the hydra come from , but I am still a little skeptical that they are introduced like pond snails (from another sorce) as like I mentioned I had a one gallon tank , I had took out the betta , took off the light , added white big rock from my 55 (angel tank~clean) and after a few mths with NO food going into that tank, *( could have been leftovers in the substrate thow ) I found the largest hydra I had EVER seen !! this one guy had 6 tenicles and was over 1" long !!! eeww!!! SO I had the conveince to dump my tank, and YES , EVERY tank can be re-used !! tahts why we buy cheap retile tanks, clean them and put fish in them just fine 
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to the OP , YOU realy need to SEARCH hydra, and how to gwt rid of it, You will find endless threads of others having this same problem , and IN MOST of my EXP. It has alwasy been Overfeeding ! I cant belive they live and strive off of light, *( ei: mine had NO light, NO food) So I dont know why they did not die and got big ~ but I DO know how to KILL them , IF you can be a VERY careful fishkeeper esp. for your shrimp . This stuff CAN & WILL kill shrimp & fish but NOT at the small dose I am speaking of . You dose, wait 24 hours, do gravel vac / 50% change, then look' for any more, if you see' more you dose again . IF you have ANY questions about this , I will look up the threads myself and give you the links . HTH ~ good luck and get those hydra GONE asap !! they can harm your shrimp & fish !!!!
**(((( PLEASE TRY THE ABOVE MENTIONED ACTION 1ST, IF IT DOESENT WORK THEN USE THIS ONE . )
~~~ to the OP , YOU realy need to SEARCH hydra, and how to gwt rid of it, You will find endless threads of others having this same problem , and IN MOST of my EXP. It has alwasy been Overfeeding ! I cant belive they live and strive off of light, *( ei: mine had NO light, NO food) So I dont know why they did not die and got big ~ but I DO know how to KILL them , IF you can be a VERY careful fishkeeper esp. for your shrimp . This stuff CAN & WILL kill shrimp & fish but NOT at the small dose I am speaking of . You dose, wait 24 hours, do gravel vac / 50% change, then look' for any more, if you see' more you dose again . IF you have ANY questions about this , I will look up the threads myself and give you the links . HTH ~ good luck and get those hydra GONE asap !! they can harm your shrimp & fish !!!!
**(((( PLEASE TRY THE ABOVE MENTIONED ACTION 1ST, IF IT DOESENT WORK THEN USE THIS ONE . )
hydra are not photosynthetic. turning the lights off on your tank will do nothing. hydra appear because there are alots of nutrients in the water, usually from improper maintenance and excessive feedings. more water changes will help get rid of them.
there is no need to add copper. copper WILL stay in your tank forever, since it bonds with the silicone in the tank and can be absorbed into other surfaces as well. it then leeches into the tank later on and can take years to get rid of fully. you're better off just doing more water changes and gravel vacs instead of adding any chemicals to your tank.
hydra are more that capable of spreading without introduction by plants. i have had a fry tank become infected with hydra before, and it had no plants in it at all (not even plastic ones) and never did before i used it as a fry tank. hydra appeared in the tank because after the fish were taken out of it, i let the tank languish and added quite a bit of food every few days to keep the cycle alive. hydra are opportunistic and will appear when conditions are favorable. hydra and other microorganisms dont play by the same rules as everyone else does.
there is no need to add copper. copper WILL stay in your tank forever, since it bonds with the silicone in the tank and can be absorbed into other surfaces as well. it then leeches into the tank later on and can take years to get rid of fully. you're better off just doing more water changes and gravel vacs instead of adding any chemicals to your tank.
hydra are more that capable of spreading without introduction by plants. i have had a fry tank become infected with hydra before, and it had no plants in it at all (not even plastic ones) and never did before i used it as a fry tank. hydra appeared in the tank because after the fish were taken out of it, i let the tank languish and added quite a bit of food every few days to keep the cycle alive. hydra are opportunistic and will appear when conditions are favorable. hydra and other microorganisms dont play by the same rules as everyone else does.
these all sound like viable options from what i've read. all have their pluses and minuses. i will say that every tank i own except one has been through just about everything under the sun and are still in use today.
the tank my boa is in belonged to a friend of mine. his fish got sick and he tried to treat them. he wound up overdosing it with copper of some sort and killed everything within a couple hours... about 50 fish. then he gave it to my mother who kept a cichlid in it for a couple years. that cichlid was healthy as can be when she had to move and gave me the tank.
my 30 was my boas first real tank and now houses fish, shrimp and snails.
my 50 belonged to my brother-in-law who killed everything he put in there. he killed fish, i think hamsters and an iguana and maybe some rabbits then left it in a moldy, mildewy garage where it filled with and baked in who knows what for who knows how long. when i set it up for fish i tried everything to get it clean. i had to revert to s.o.s. pads to scrub it because razors would not touch it. after that it got a green scrubby pad, bleach, rinse, dechlorinate, green pad, vinegar, rinse, green pad, lemon juice, rinse, rinse, rinse treatment... all is well and there are many current inhabitants.
my w/c and q/t tanks also went down this road as well as my hermit crabitat which also has a b/g on it to cover the shattered back glass.
anyway my point is we can do a whole lot more to our tanks than what many people think and still keep things living... we just have to be careful.
good luck.
the tank my boa is in belonged to a friend of mine. his fish got sick and he tried to treat them. he wound up overdosing it with copper of some sort and killed everything within a couple hours... about 50 fish. then he gave it to my mother who kept a cichlid in it for a couple years. that cichlid was healthy as can be when she had to move and gave me the tank.
my 30 was my boas first real tank and now houses fish, shrimp and snails.
my 50 belonged to my brother-in-law who killed everything he put in there. he killed fish, i think hamsters and an iguana and maybe some rabbits then left it in a moldy, mildewy garage where it filled with and baked in who knows what for who knows how long. when i set it up for fish i tried everything to get it clean. i had to revert to s.o.s. pads to scrub it because razors would not touch it. after that it got a green scrubby pad, bleach, rinse, dechlorinate, green pad, vinegar, rinse, green pad, lemon juice, rinse, rinse, rinse treatment... all is well and there are many current inhabitants.
my w/c and q/t tanks also went down this road as well as my hermit crabitat which also has a b/g on it to cover the shattered back glass.
anyway my point is we can do a whole lot more to our tanks than what many people think and still keep things living... we just have to be careful.
good luck.
Many species are indeed photosynthetic. Check it out: www.micrographia.com/aacomel/brachdrd.gif
And instead of regurgitating the bs about silicone absorbing any appreciable amount of copper test it out for yourself! Wood may well be able to absorb copper and limestone definitely can but quartz won't and neither will epoxy coated colored gravel. Other types of rock I cannot speak to.
And instead of regurgitating the bs about silicone absorbing any appreciable amount of copper test it out for yourself! Wood may well be able to absorb copper and limestone definitely can but quartz won't and neither will epoxy coated colored gravel. Other types of rock I cannot speak to.
