Hydra

Update:

The guppies don't seem to be eating the Hydra.

I saw one guppy wasn't looking too good. And was being picked on by all of the others at one time or another. He'd hang(top, bottom, middle of tank) around not doing much. His gills didn't look quite right. I did see him the next day, chasing all the others.
I think it was the 3rd day. After the lights went out, I saw him sitting on the power head. He was put out of his mysery about 15 minutes later.

Three days ago I added another small power head(Azoo 600 / 158gph). Its in the back left of the tank, facing the front. Guppys play in it about half the time.
And wondering if thats how one of them got a bump behind his head.
I tried to get pictures, but none of them came out very good, out of around 30 taken.
The next morning, he was no where to be found.

Sooooo...

The guppys aint working.
I suppose they could? If I were to starve everyone in the the tank. But that would be as bad or worse than starting over. And wouldn't accomplish anything, to help me or anyone else in the future, with the same problem.

I have seen snails brush right against the hydra, like they're not even there. So I have too assume, for whatever reason. The snails aren't in any danger from them.

And if "cleanliness" of the tank is the culprit. I should have had them in every tank I ever had before this one.

This tank has a few things different, compared to all of my others.
1. Lots of plants!
2. No fish(up to the time of seeing the hydra) Just snails.
3. Extremely low water movement.

I've wondered about #3.
But so far. The hydra are still in the line of fire from the PH. Its just that any in front of it are shriveled up, to nothing more than a spec of green on the glass.
I was kind of figuring they would have moved somewhere else by now. But I think, and they don't, sooo...?

I haven't put much thought into the hydra, sense I got the guppys. But sense they don't seem to be ridding the tank of hydra...

Back to thinkin'.
 
Similar to my set up. Heavily planted tank with (5) briggs and a clan of yellow shrimp. Little to Moderate water current.

I've never really thought much of Hydra before now. I'll have to go and do some checking around to get more info on these creatures.
 
oblongshrimp said:
You can use Fenbendazole to kill them. Fenbendazole is used as a dewormer in dogs and other animals. It kills hydra and planaria and is safe for snails and shrimp (probably fish also but I didn't have fish in the tanks I treated). You can see some more info about my experience with it on my blog

http://theshrimptank.com/blog/

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Did you see this post up-thread? I have heard that this works but I don't have any personal experience with it.

I believe this is the active ingredient in Panacure, a dog dewormer.
 
I remember reading that, now that you brought it up again.

At the time, I was wanting to stay away from chemicals.
After reading it again, and not much for anything else to try. I might take that route.

The only other option's to try was a molly.
They like some salt in their water. And not wanting to keep something that I should add some salt for. I wanted to avoid that one too.

Another option was a gourami.
And now a green shrimp.

I think I'd have the same out come with these as I did with the guppys.
...Ain't gonna eat the hydra, when there's other food available.

======================================================

Back to the fenbendazole.

I went to http://equine-mega-store.com/default.ehtml mentioned in http://theshrimptank.com/blog/.

Searched...
Panacur 100
Panacur
Fenbendazole

And got nothing.

After searching Yahoo. The smallest Liquid version I've found, was 1L. for over $100. That aint gonna happen.


Now back to my 'ol standy-by... Dr's.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13555

This is... "Safe-Guard® Dewormer Granules"

I'll most likely get this ordered today.
And hope it desolves fairly easily.
 
Update: Hydra vs Snails

I just put on my trusty Dollar Store reading glasses, and got out my new $1 magnifying glass. And went hydra hunting.

Yup, still there.
It does look like they've thinned out a little in the high flow area, right in front of the PH.
But. I'm pretty sure that rotala leaf that has one on it. That has some pretty good water movement... came around, after the PH was installed.

On with the VS thing I just observed...

I got all zoomed in on my mystery snail crusiing over a pond snail. (intertainment!) Then kept following him as he drove over a (1/4"+)ramshorn. Moe, intertainment.

Hummm? Next in line a a lil hydra.. or 3.
First one he came in contact with, was with one of his antena/feeler thingys. (Yea, I need to learn, snails). He retracted the feeler like someone being shocked.
The next one was to the body. Again, like being shocked, he pulled away. EI. skrunched up that part of his body, going by the hydra. And kept going.
The next and most likely the biggest I've seen them. He almost drove into it face first. Got shocked and kinda went too dodge. But then I noticed the hydra acting just like I'd read about them in attack mode. It turnt and grabbed the snail with its tentacles, trying to hang on. Obviously the mystery was big enough to keep going. But what would happen to a very small new born snail.
Maybe that was more of a self-deffense action, on the hydras part?
I'm doubting this. Because they don't do any thinking. Just more of re-acting. As in, "this is food and attacked".

I have watched some really small snails brush against the hydra before. With neither acting like anything happened. No jerky movement, no nothing. So I'd given up on the idea that they could/would kill a snail. Until a few minutes ago. Now I have to go back to, wondering if they would/could.
 
I'm considering the fenbendazole because I have a pretty heavy infestation of planaria in my shrimp tank. I also have 9 small rasboras and I have thought that they would be eating them but they don't seem to be doing so. I manually remove them with a small piece of paper towel when they are on the glass. I bet I removed over 100 of the things one night this week. They come out late at night. My tank is heavily planted and they hang out in the plants.

I'm sort of at a loss. I have some small bottom feeders that I need to get food to. With all the shrimp swarming the food, I feel like I need to toss in a little extra...hence the overfeeding issue....and the planaria.

I could just move out my two bottom fish if I could catch them, then really scale back the feeding. Just mulling over ideas in my head here.
 
I see them more like an anenome. That stings things. And kills little things.
Like the shrimp, I've been wanting and waitng for the tank to get right, for.

I could be wrong about them, killing a baby shrimp. But I think they would.

I'm not sure they've killed any snails yet. But I just saw the mystry snail get stung.
 
Update:

Been able to updated for a few days now. But finally got to take the goldfish from the indoor pond to the LFS.
So I've been focusing on moving the 7 Balas, 2 clown loaches and syno-cat from the 55g to the indoor-pond. Now they can all get nice and big and have room to do it. : )
Moved the 7 corys, 2 flame tetras and 4 otos, to a 20g.
Cleaned 55 and got rid of the 20yr old paper back ground and painted it.
Bunch of New to me, DIY (never seen before, figure it out)set-ups for the 55. Moved most of the plants from THIS (Hydra)tank, sense the hydra seemed to be gone. I don't see any!

OK... Back to the Hydra subject.


I used the fenbendazole treatment on it. And have to say it worked.

The Guppies(2 males), pond snails, MTS and Ramshorn, didn't show any signs of stress.

After a couple of hrs into the first treatment. I didn't like the looks of the Mystry Snails. I removed the one that got my attention. It was on the glass, with its body shriveled up. And by the time I closed a couple of windows on the comp and looked back at the tank, it had fallen on a plant below. So it was easy to take it out and put it in the 20g next to it.
The other one, wasn't wanting to cooperate. I messed around with it for a couple of minutes to try to get it to let go of the glass, but it wouldn't. So it got to stay in there all night. It wasn't being its usual happy go lucky self in the morning, and I was finally able to convience it to let go. And transfered it to the 20 with the other one.
They ate ok over there, and stayed until I done around a 90% water change on the (former) hydra tank. And now they're back in it being all happy n stuff. Well, probably, until I removed almost all of the plants. : P

Dosing:

I used Safe-Guard® Dewormer Granules (3, 1 gm packets)
This stuff > > > http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13555

I disolved 1, 1 gm packet in warm water and poured it in the tank. Each day for 3 consecutive days.
I left it in for 2 more days after that.
On the 6th day. I done around a 90% water change. After believing they were all dead. Including what looked like some planaria, that also came around. Some white, wide bodied, flat worm.

Also, I did remove the cabomba. With all of its leaf shedding looking like it could have been the culprit?

Observations:

Besides the previously mentioned inhabitants.
I found 2 Hydra on a leaf that I figured I could keep an eye on.
By the next morning(apporx. 12 hrs after the first dose) I saw, that both hydra had shriveled up to just being a dot on the leaf.
By the 3rd day. I could no longer see a green dot from either. And what looked like a 1 white hydra body, without tentacles.

=======================================================

Yadda yadda stuff noticed with the tank...
It seems that the guppys are eating all my snail eggs.
These are my first guppys. But looks like they could be used for snail control, if they are applicable to a given tank. IE They won't go around killing snails, but will eat the eggs.
Its the only thing I can attribute to my. No snail population growth, lately.

=======================================================

I guess thats about it for my hydra experience.

Solution... Use fenbendazole. And remove anything as sensitive as a Mystry snail.
 
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