Hydroids

[armada]

Ive recently been infested in my freshwater community tank and also fresh water puffer tank with colonies of feathery hydroids and white wormy things.
Both tanks are well established and have not had new stock however i feed defrosted shell on prawns to the carnivores (but they are already cooked)
colonies are getting bigger and fish are starting to look poorly, have tried starving the tank, waterchanges, mela fix to no avail.
Help!!!!!

 

[GrayScale]

The white things could possibly be planaria which are harmless and will clear up on it's own after a week or so. I had some in my tank and from my understanding are caused by a nitrate spike due to overfeeding. Keep up on the water changes every few days of about 10-15% each time. Not sure how that hydras got in there but i'm doing a little reading and they may be feeding on the prawn bits that are left over since they feed on small inverts. They are asexual so as long as there is enough food for them they will continue to multiply kind of like a java fern. they don't age so they won't die off on their own. I'm not 100% sure on this I'm just taking a stab here but to me it seems like the only way to get rid of them is by physically removing what they are sitting on. If they break, both ends grow back so then you'll have more. Another option may be to suck up the excess prawn bits leftover and try to starve them.

There may be other options for removal though so maybe someone more knowledgable on this will come along and give you there opinion so I would wait and not take my word just yet.

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

How often do you maintain the tank?

Good gravel vac and water change.
Clean filter impellor.

 

[karin]

I'm interested to see the response. There is so little written on freshwater hydroids. I swear I had them on a new tank, the size of a pin head and white. Looked like tiny feather dusters common in marine tanks and there were 100s if not 1000s all over the glass. I eventually wiped them off and they disappeared and have not reappeared. How big are yours? I'm thinking that they are around because there is something for them to feed on.

 

[armada]

@ karin - exactly what you describe
its a 60l tank with ever breeding platties, neons, baby guppies, neon tetras and 4 glass cats
other tank is 64l with two juvenile target puffers a siamese flying fox, five phantom tetras and a 6" pleco who will fight anyone for prawns (thought he was an algae eater!!!)
both tanks well established when not being devoted still maintain fortnightly but far more often at the mo
water parameters seem not too bad, but frequent water changes and filter cleans cover that and i'm not going to leave it alone

 

[WILDER]

If ammonia and nitrite readings are not 0 that's bad.
Good hoover of substate, remove ornaments to vac under, water change.


Both your tanks sound overstocked to me.

 

[the biffster]

is it hydra you are on about
look like little anemones

 

[Carlovel1]

My thought too . Hydra are like little green twigs

 

[the biffster]

i have seen them in all colours
white is the most common i think i
treated with sterazin i cant remember
now its normally down to poor water
quality with nematodes, and planaria
worms