Hydra. Do I Need To Worry?

[cowgirluntamed]

So no planaria would be a no go for me then. I don't want my nerites to die. As for adding other fish, I can't. It's only a 5.5 gallon tank and I don't think my betta would appreciate others in a tank this small. I will upgrade him to a ten gallon eventually and was thinking of maybe adding some small fish then. But that is way down the road.

I will try what you suggest Baccus, I just dont know how well it will work cuz I can barely see them on the glass. I don't think I'll be able to see them anywhere else no matter how hard I look. I can't really add too much water movement due to Bettas not liking that. Aidan is a plakat and may handle it better but still probably not good for him for too long.

I still may try the heat method in a day or two. I really don't want to do chemicals if I don't have to. I did find a dosage of salt to kill them but I'm not sure how much per gallons it would be. The chart is on wetwebmedia and says it takes 4-5 grams a liter for 7 days. And it also says that not all fish can tolerate such high salinity conditions. But...I'm really not sure how much this actually would be. Any idea at all? I've dosed a tetra tank and a guppy tank with 1 tablespoon for 5 gallons(being conservative) for some treatments and everybody came out ok. Including a couple of other nerites. Plants too. Alot of people say 1 teaspoon per gallon for treatments but this isn't the Hydra thing. Just medicinal for wounds or ich. I'm not sure if that would be ok to kill Hydra or not.

Then there is hydrogen peroxide...someone on another forum said that they poured a third of a bottle in(no tank inhabitants but plants) and it killed off Hydra and planaria. But I think they left it for like two days before a 100% water change and then adding fry back to the tank that they were growing out. Would this be a good option instead of the heat? I'd probably turn the filter off so it wouldn't get into it and then turn it on for a bit before the water change?

To be assured...I'm not doing anything yet. Just trying to get my options squared off before deciding. I will post what I decide before I do it.

 

[NickAu]

 
Aidan is a plakat and may handle it better but still probably not good for him for too long.

I disagree. A little bit of current is fine, My long fin Bettas love playing in the current produced by the spray bar, as long as they can hover in the same spot like bettas do its fine.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I'll play around with the spray bar and see how he does and all use some airline tubing to start the water changes and get them if I see them. But if that stuff doesn't work I do want to try either the heat method or the hydrogen peroxide. Would you guys be ok doing either of these methods if you had to?

 

[NickAu]

I wonder if you took the snails and betta out of the tank for a few days and raise the ammonia level in the tank to like 1 or 2? as we know ammonia is toxic and kills fish.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Not sure if ammonia will kill Hydra. From everything I've read they are almost immortal. I'm not even sure if the heat method would work but people squirt hydrogen peroxide on them and they die. They don't like the extra oxygen I guess.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Well, there spare quite a bit more than I thought. I think I just need to get rid of them. They are in the plants and I don't think it'd do too much good just to get the few I see on the glass. They must have come in on the plants I put in there. Though I haven't seen any in my 20 gallon and I have a ton of copepods in there for them if eat if there were. I also introduced the same plants in there too. I also thought I saw a little wriggly worm thing go up to the top but I'm not sure. Lol. So many tiny things my eyes don't want to focus on easily!

So...i think it's between the heat method and the hydrogen peroxide...i may get a syringe and just squirt a tiny bit on one just to see what happens. I'll come back with the results to let you know! Then I will decide on which treatment.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Well, I squirted a tiny amount onto two Hydra. They shrunk into themselves and then fell off the glass. I only saw where one fell and it hasn't moved at all. The other landed on a leaf and then fell off and I lost track of it. I'd say h2o2 could work. Obviously with inhabitants removed. I didn't for this small of a test. So...what do you think? Should I give it a go? I'm going to do a bit more research. But I may try this tomorrow or the day after and just see. What do you think?

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Ok...so I've also read that sometimes they can just away on their own if the tank is kept nice and clean. Could like 2 or 3 water changes a week(50%) possibly get rid of them? I can still also use the airline tubing for this as well. Maybe I can get any detritus that's in my nice bunch of out with that better. I just don't want to over react and do something dumb. So do you think more water changes might get rid of them?? I can always treat if I start seeing a whole lot more. It is always an option.

 

[Baccus]

On a side note, once you think you have the tank clear of hydra just check inside your filter on the inside walls or anything inside the filter that has a nice surface and has water movement around it. I have found hydra with extensive colonies inside filters where there is plenty to eat and no predators.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Now I'm scared to look.....lol. it's a mini canister...3 kinds of sponges plus some polyfil. Would these things actually get down deep in the sponges?? If they are in there...should I peroxide the sponges and then rinse well? And would they be in the hoses too? When I had cyanobacteria it ended up in both hoses. I never have taken them off to rinse them out. But now I'm wondering if I should.

Maybe I should just peroxide everything and get another bottle of tetra safe start to add back in just in case. Cuz that'd probably kill all my bacteria, huh? I've about had it with all these problems I keep having....lol. get one thing right in one tank...something goes wrong in the other one...then fix that and something else pops up....will it ever get better??? Lol!

 

[Baccus]

You could try using peroxide on the media and then give it a very good rinse, but I found the easiest way to remove the hydra was just to give the surfaces a good rub and then rinse. I doubt the hydra would be in the sponges but they may be on an exposed surfaces. I think the best way to check would be to put the sponges in clean water (with dechlorinator added) in a small tank or something with clear easy to see through sides, then wait to see if you can spy any hydra waving their tenticales around. You may need to even con them a bit by adding a bit of food to see if that gets any interest from them because after the sponges have been moved from the filter into a clear tank the hydra will probably sulk for a bit and stay closed until they think any danger has passed. Any pipes I usually give them a good blast with the garden hose on jet, but if your pipes arent very long you could use a babies bottle brush to give the insides of the pipe a scrub.
 
What ever chemicals you do decide to use in the tank or filter you could get some seachem purigen and run that in your tank along with activated carbon to help remove any residual chemicals afterwards.

 

[NickAu]

 
Any pipes I usually give them a good blast with the garden hose on jet,

Must remember that I do it in the bath, my wife goes nuts at having to clean the gunk out of the bath tub.
 
These are great too

155cm Aquarium Fish Tank Double Head Cleaner Brush Tube Pipe Hose Pump Filter

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I will probably do this in the bath. Nobody but me to worry about. Lol. Just me and the cats and dogs.

So...i just set up a ten gallon for a small quarantine home for when I get my new bristlenoses in a week or so. I think this would be good for the betta to be out in along with his snail buddies. That way if I have to I can leave him in it for more than a day. This will eventually be his home anyway but not where it is now. Lol. I still have to use it for quarantine so he can't have it officially yet. Lol.

Anyway..my plan...get a couple big bottles of peroxide. Pour half of one in the tank with the filter off. Take the filter apart and dump out water. Then pour peroxide over sponges and inside the filter after sponges are moved. Rinse well. Rinse out tubing, put a little peroxide in and let it move from one side of tube to other. Rinse well.

Later do a 100% water change in the tank. Put filter back together with some carbon in it. Let that run for a day or two. Then put in some tetra safe start and add betta and snails buddies back in. Does that sound good?

I'm not sure if the ten will build ammonia up or not with just him and the snails in it. I will keep an eye on that. I do plan on putting some water lettuce in the tank so hopefully that will just automatically get stuff in the water. Otherwise I got some tetra safe start to use on it too.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

The fight with the Hydra has begun!! I caught Aidan and his three nerite snails buddies snd moved them to a temporary quarantine tank. Then, I poured half a 32oz bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the little 5 gallon tank. I did turn the light and filter off for this so it wouldn't dissipate or whatever too quickly. However....that's as far as I got. I've been battling a dumb migraine for two days. Hopefully I can sleep the rest of it off. So, tomorrow I will do the filter and probably add more peroxide to the tank too, just in case! Lol.

So far Aidan is cruising in this ten gallon even though it has plastic plants. I know I know...but he's at least a plakat and doesn't have the long fins. I just set this tank up to quarantine my new bristlenoses when they come in in just over a week! Yay! So Aidan will be in this tank for maybe 3 days.

Though....just curious....how have you tried seeing if your betta is good with other fish? This ten gallon will eventually become his home and he just looks so small in it....lol. it will be planted and such with the plants from his current tank so it will be a bit more full but I was just curious! I don't know if I will put him with anybody but his snails but I was just curious.

 

[Baccus]

Some Siamese fighters are fine with other tank inhabitants like fish/ shrimp/ snails while others are just beligerant and eat the shrimp, nip at the snails and either attack the fish or get scared of the fish. It all depends on the individual Fighter.
 
If trying to add any other fish to the tank you need to make sure they dont have long flowing fins that the fighter may mistake for being another male, and the other fish need to be peaceful and non-tail nippers. I have had guppies with male and female figthers in the past but generally guppies can be terrible pains to other slower moving fish. Dont mix fighters with gourami or paradise fish as these are also air breathers and there will be aggression. You also don't want to add any fish that are super quick at getting to the food, otherwise they can beat the fighter to the food every time and the fighter will miss out.
Pygmy Corydoras would be fine with a fighter if he leaves them alone, as would khuli loaches, and even otocinclus. However with the nerite snails already in the tank I would not add oto's because there is a chance there will not be enough biofilm to support both species. Shrimp can be a nice nifty addition to a fighter tank but he may see them as food. If possible I would try a group of cheap shrimp like cherry shrimp (even culls if possible) and just see how he goes with them. Adding to few shrimp and he may just eat them before they can breed. But add a decent colony and the shrimp should be able to hold their own even if the fighter eats the odd shrimplet here and there.
 

One of my old veiltails with a native glass shrimp