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Found 7 results

  1. TL;DR - I had a shrimp become paralysed and die with no obvious red flags and stable water parameters. I found about 10 hydra and would like to know if I can treat with LCA Planaria Fix without harming my shrimp, particularly my berried shrimp and new shrimplets. Hi everyone, First, let me say thanks to everyone for all the info on this site, especially Jayc and sdITBfanUK for your many years of patient advice, you've already helped me more than you know! I am a new blue cherry shrimp keeper and everything had been going pretty great for me shrimp-wise. I have a 41L/9 imperial Gallon tank which I cycled/matured for about 6 weeks before adding shrimp (the tank cycled in 2 weeks, but I left it a bit longer). I then got 11 blue cherry shrimp 7 weeks ago and as I said, everything had been going pretty well. 5 of my females matured and berried with what looks like a lot of eggs, and the shrimp always seemed happy and normal. About 1.5 weeks ago I found 1 dead male shrimp which looked almost stuck in the substrate at the back of my tank. It had turned white/pinkish by the time I found it and I have no idea how long it took for me to find. I wrote it off as everything else seemed fine. Then 2 days ago I saw what looked to be Scutariella on a few of my shrimp, including 2 of the pregnant ones. There was 1-3 little white things sticking up from their noses that seemed to move independently. So I salt dipped the affected shrimp, which cleared the obvious white things and the shrimp all seemed normal. Then yesterday I found a shed with some eggs still attached to it. I believe they were from my first female to become berried due to their colour, she had been berried for about 4 weeks. I thought that it may be from the salt dip. Things got worse that evening when I found one of my shrimp upside down, apparently dead. I went to get it out of the tank and it attempted to swim around before falling back to the substrate. It looked as though its body was paralysed, but its extremities could still move. It otherwise appeared fine, and had nothing obviously wrong with it. I put it in a small container with clean, prime-treated water as I had read of some people having a similar thing happen due to either toxicity or lack of oxygen. I also topped up the tank and threw in a small sponge filter to increase aeration in case (I don't think it was that as all the other shrimp and snails were acting normally). The afflicted shrimp's movements decreased until I thought it was dead, then about 1 hour later it appeared to be increasing its movements and even flexed its tail a few times but then movement decreased again and it actually died. My tank parameters have been stable the whole time my shrimp have been in there, and I was wracking my brain trying to work out what could possibly have happened. Tonight I found about 10 tiny hydra in my tank and I am wondering if there is a possibility that the dead shrimp could have been stung by a hydra? Especially if she had just moulted? She may have been the one that lost the eggs, but there is another shrimp with similar markings that I have seen wandering around with no saddle, and as all my females have been either berried or saddled the last week or so, I thought that that one was probably the female that shed her eggs. There were some other moults as well though. My tank parameters are: Ammonia and Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5-10ppm (this is what they are constantly, and I struggle to tell the two apart, if anything the colour was a little lighter) Temp: 22 celsius Ph: 7.2 Gh: 8 Kh: 3 TDS: 210 Phosphate: 0.25 I use a thermometer, TDS and a Ph metre, salifert phosphate test kit and API liquid test kits for everything else. I have been doing about 20% water changes once a week and slow drip the freshwater in. I use tap water (and this is what the shrimp were raised in) treated with prime. I have plants, driftwood, dragon stone, Indian almond leaf and a small piece of cuttlebone. These things have all been consistent since the beginning (I added the cuttle bone after cycling to slightly increase my Ph and its been very stable since. I use LCA shrimp safe all-in-one fertiliser at about .75 of the recommended low light dose twice per week, Seachem advance, and 1/8tsp LCA potassium sulphate added at water change. I was due to change water today, so I do not think it is that. All the other shrimp seem happy and normal. I did rearrange the tank about 2 weeks ago and got rid of some Vals that were spreading everywhere and looking scraggly and added a couple of new plants. There has been a bladder snail boom over the last week or so and brown dust and a little green spot algae on the glass. I have been having issues with getting the plants to grow nicely, but there is still a decent amount of growth. I should also mention that I get chemical triggered migraines and so there are no spray chemicals of any kind in the house, and am extremely careful of scented products and any chemical use, so I don't think anything could have gotten into the tank. I have kept frogs (who are very sensitive to chemicals) for 8 years with no mishaps. In good news, my first shrimplets were born today, I have seen at least two :), so it has been a roller coaster! I have some LCA Planaria fix as I found one hydra (bigger than the current ones) just before adding my shrimp. However, after removing that one I could not find any trace of more despite daily careful checking, so I held off on treating. Would it be ok to use that now? I can't seem to find what the actual ingredients are. I am worried about hurting the shrimplets and the berried shrimp, but obviously hydra are a danger to them as well. Please help :). I think I put in all the necessary info, sorry for the long post, thanks for sticking with it if you kept reading :).
  2. NoGi

    How to Combat Hydra in an Aquarium

    Aquariums make a wonderful hobby. They are soothing, interesting and can provide a lot of fun and entertainment. However, in order to make the most of your aquarium, taking proper care of it is exceptionally important. It must be maintained, and part of proper maintenance is understanding issues that can develop. One of the side effects of improper aquarium maintenance is the development of pests, and Hydra oligactis – more commonly referred to as just hydra is one of the most dangerous. Also known as freshwater polyps, these pests hail from the Coelenterata family of aquatic invertebrates. They have a tubular body and a sticky foot located on one end and tentacles on the other end. The tentacles contain stinging cells, which the hydra uses to immobilize its’ prey. Why Hydra are Dangerous in Aquariums Though hydras are basic creatures that lack a brain, a respiratory system or even musculature, they are a real threat to aquariums. As mentioned, they use their stinging tentacles to immobilize their prey and are able to kill and eat fish fry and even adult fish. Additionally, they reproduce very quickly, creating buds that turn into new hydra that eventually break off on their own. And, though they do tend to stay in one place (using their sticky foot to secure them to a surface,) they can easily move around if they choose. Given their ability to eat fish, how quickly they reproduce and that they can move about when they want, it’s easy to see why hydra are a real issue in an aquarium. Treating Hydra in an Aquarium Once an aquarium has infiltrated an aquarium, they can be hard to eradicate; however, getting rid of them is possible. The treatment for these pests depends on the extent of the infestation. If the infestation is relatively small, you may actually be able to physically remove them. If they have taken up residence on plants and rocks, they can be killed by removing the plants and rocks and sock them in a solution of 10 percent bleach and 90 percent water for about 15 minutes. After soaking, rinse the plants and rocks with fresh water and let them air dry. If you are looking for a less intrusive method of removal that will not disturb the aquarium, you can do so by introducing fish that will eat the pests. Mollies, Paradise fish and Spot (blue) Gouramis are known to favor hydra and can rid an aquarium of them. Heat is another option that can be used to treat an infestation of hydra. With this treatment method, the fish must be removed from the tank first. Once they are removed, increase the temperature of the water to 40°C (104°F) for a few hours. This will essentially cook the hydra and kill them. Turn the temperature of the water down, clean the gravel and change the water. Ensure that the temperature of the water is safe for the fish before reintroducing them. Chemicals and medicines can also be used to treat hydra; however, do keep in mind that they can be harmful to aquatic life. Copper Sulfate and Potassium Permanganate are two of the most common and safest options in fish only aquariums. Also take a look at the following article regarding common medication used in aquariums: Image credit: Wikipedia: Hydra oligactis
  3. Aquariums make a wonderful hobby. They are soothing, interesting and can provide a lot of fun and entertainment. However, in order to make the most of your aquarium, taking proper care of it is exceptionally important. It must be maintained, and part of proper maintenance is understanding issues that can develop. One of the side effects of improper aquarium maintenance is the development of pests, and Hydra oligactis – more commonly referred to as just hydra is one of the most dangerous. Also known as freshwater polyps, these pests hail from the Coelenterata family of aquatic invertebrates. They have a tubular body and a sticky foot located on one end and tentacles on the other end. The tentacles contain stinging cells, which the hydra uses to immobilize its’ prey. Why Hydra are Dangerous in Aquariums Though hydras are basic creatures that lack a brain, a respiratory system or even musculature, they are a real threat to aquariums. As mentioned, they use their stinging tentacles to immobilize their prey and are able to kill and eat fish fry and even adult fish. Additionally, they reproduce very quickly, creating buds that turn into new hydra that eventually break off on their own. And, though they do tend to stay in one place (using their sticky foot to secure them to a surface,) they can easily move around if they choose. Given their ability to eat fish, how quickly they reproduce and that they can move about when they want, it’s easy to see why hydra are a real issue in an aquarium. Treating Hydra in an Aquarium Once an aquarium has infiltrated an aquarium, they can be hard to eradicate; however, getting rid of them is possible. The treatment for these pests depends on the extent of the infestation. If the infestation is relatively small, you may actually be able to physically remove them. If they have taken up residence on plants and rocks, they can be killed by removing the plants and rocks and sock them in a solution of 10 percent bleach and 90 percent water for about 15 minutes. After soaking, rinse the plants and rocks with fresh water and let them air dry. If you are looking for a less intrusive method of removal that will not disturb the aquarium, you can do so by introducing fish that will eat the pests. Mollies, Paradise fish and Spot (blue) Gouramis are known to favor hydra and can rid an aquarium of them. Heat is another option that can be used to treat an infestation of hydra. With this treatment method, the fish must be removed from the tank first. Once they are removed, increase the temperature of the water to 40°C (104°F) for a few hours. This will essentially cook the hydra and kill them. Turn the temperature of the water down, clean the gravel and change the water. Ensure that the temperature of the water is safe for the fish before reintroducing them. Chemicals and medicines can also be used to treat hydra; however, do keep in mind that they can be harmful to aquatic life. Copper Sulfate and Potassium Permanganate are two of the most common and safest options in fish only aquariums. Also take a look at the following article regarding common medication used in aquariums: Image credit: Wikipedia: Hydra oligactis View full article
  4. Hi everyone, I have a bit of a problem (i think...) I seem to have added freshwater hydra into my tank somehow and have noticed massive population increase at the same time as I have had blue dreams, tb, pinto and crs mischlings all release babies. For a bit of perspective, the tank is only about 3 months old but was started with mature substrate and filter media so I could cycle it more quickly as I had to get my shrimp in there asap. I am new to keeping all of the variants in this tank but have kept an RCS colony for 3-4 years so wanted to try new things in a shrimp only tank. So my questions are... Do I actually have a problem? Are the hydra going to eat the babies? If they are a problem then how do I get rid of them? I dont want to introduce any fish, cant really remove all shrimp/shrimplets to heat the water enough to kill them and I dont think there are any shrimp safe medicated solutions... Please help me!
  5. Pretty sure i spotted a hydra today. Thought it was a mutated limpet as i have many of those atm. But it had limbs that were moving and when i tried to squish it against the glass they retracted. Couldnt spot anymore after that. They mustve hitched a ride from the new anubias driftwoods. So so so stupid.. i just dunked them in cause i was in a rush ! And to add to that.. spotted nematodes just on the waterline. Anyone know where to source that 'internal parasite clear' in sydney ? Or know of any other cures that i can source in sydney immediately. These pests are unsightful !!! Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
  6. Hydra are a fresh water animal that belongs to the same group as jellyfish, corals and anemones, The name Hydra stems from Greek mythology. It was the name given to a many headed sea serpent. The hydra that we know resembles this mythological monster by its many tentacles. Hydra are found in nearly all clean fresh water systems in Australia and around the world. They have a range of colours from brown, green white, and many other variations. Many people have Hydra in their aquariums, but are unaware of their presence. They are very small approx. 2 - 3 mm in length (but can extend to around 10 mm when hunting) when hanging from the underneath of leaves of water plants are hard to distinguish. A Hydra infestation does not just mysteriously appear in your aquarium and is not caused by poor tank maintenance or anything like that. The animal has to be introduced from some external source. It is usually introduced to aquariums from plants ,wood, rocks etc collected from wild creeks, rivers lakes and billabongs. Hydra have a sack shaped body that consists of a mouth /anus combination on the top surrounded by a crown of tentacles that carry an array of stinging cells. On the bottom of the tube body there is a "foot" ( basal Disk)a device the animal uses to anchor itself to plants ,rocks aquarium walls and the like. Hydra live attached to vegetation, rocks and walls by this "foot" with all its tentacles suspended into the water waiting for it's pray to blunder into them. Small animals that happen to blunder into the tentacles are stung and paralysed. Within a short time all of the tentacles are wrapped around the victim conflicting many more stings. the victim is then drawn to the mouth and swallowed. Digestion is done over a period of several hours .Any un digested material remaining after this period is then expelled back through the mouth. The hydra is then ready to hunt again. It takes several hours for their weapons to recharge which it does while digesting it's food. Small aquatic animals like Rotifers, insect larvae, and (especially) small crustaceans such as daphnia, seed shrimp and water flee, are their main pray. Hydra do not always stay in the one spot in the aquarium. they are able to move about in a couple of ways. They are able to secrete a sticky mass under the basal disk and they use this fluid to kind of slide themselves along to a new position. Another way is they detach the basal disk, bend over placing their tentacles on the substrate and then somersaulting re attaching the "foot" further along, they will continue to do this action until they reach their preferred position. The third manoeuvre noted is that they are able to produce an air bubble in the basal disk this raises them to the top of the water where they hang suspended waiting for pray. Hydra do most of their reproduction in the summer months. Most reproduction is "A" Sexual and involves a process called "Budding" in which a new Hydra develops as a bud on the parent central column . When conditions are right the bud breaks loose and continues life as an individual. These offspring are genetically identical to the parent ( true clones) . Under very good conditions hydra may possess several buds at various stages of development. Sexual reproduction is usually confined to the cooler months. Ovaries develop as an oval swelling near the column base. testis form as conical protrusions further up the column the sperm is free floating and can fertilize itself and other hydra. the young develop directly without a larval stage. HYDRA are beautiful but a bit annoying creatures. Given their reproductive abilities, their capability for moving around when they choose and the ability to eat pray several times their size. it's clear why hydra are not welcome in freshwater aquariums . They are believed to be able to cause harm or kill newly hatched shrimp, and in laboratory conditions they have been proven to eat baby brine shrimp. Adult shrimp are not effected by hydra stings except possibly as an annoyance. The larger Hydra have also been shown to eat small fish fry as large as newly borne guppies . Once hydra are introduced into an aquarium they can be difficult to get rid of them. ( but it's not impossible) If you are lucky to only have a small infestation you should be able to physically remove them, I removed the infestation that I had by wiping the tank sides down with a clean cloth, removed all rocks ,wood, from the tank and scrubbed them, plants I soaked in a light bleach solution for around 10 minutes before rinsing in fresh water and replacing. Another non intrusive way is to add some fish to eat them Gouramis or mollies will do the trick. ( not a good idea if you keep shrimp). Heat is another method. ( you have to remove all your livestock to do this) heat your aquarium water to around 40C for about 2 hours. this should kill them, Perform a minimum 50% water change and make sure that the water temp is back to normal before returning your live stock . Chemicals that can be used are potassium permanganate, or many of the fish anti fluke medications especially if they contain formalin. WARNING THESE CHEMICALS MAY BE HARMFUL TO SHRIMP, SNAILS, PLANTS and sometimes FISH. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!! Some preventative measures are to inspect all live plants carefully( look for small jelly like substances) soak all plants in an approved solution before adding them to your aquarium. Avoid live foods from local rivers creeks etc. Boil all substrate wood rocks collected from the wild before adding to your tank . References used :- Bugguide Version Jan 2009 Information sources Wikipedia. org/wiki/imdra Williams 1980 Pennak 1989 Gooderham & Syrlin 2002 Offwell Woodland & wildlife Trust UK Researcher Wayne Summerhayes Febuary 2013 Click here to view the article
  7. skfadmin

    Hydra - Some Facts

    HYDRA Some facts!!! Hydra are a fresh water animal that belongs to the same group as jellyfish, corals and anemones, The name Hydra stems from Greek mythology. It was the name given to a many headed sea serpent. The hydra that we know resembles this mythological monster by its many tentacles. Hydra are found in nearly all clean fresh water systems in Australia and around the world . They have a range of colours from brown, green white, and many other variations . Many people have Hydra in their aquariums, but are unaware of their presence. They are very small approx. 2 - 3 mm in length ( but can extend to around 1cm when hunting) when hanging from the underneath of leaves of water plants are hard to distinguish A Hydra infestation does not just mysteriously appear in your aquarium and is not caused by poor tank maintenance or anything like that. The animal has to be introduced from some external source. It is usually introduced to aquariums from plants ,wood, rocks etc collected from wild creeks, rivers lakes and billabongs. Hydra have a sack shaped body that consists of a mouth /anus combination on the top surrounded by a crown of tentacles that carry an array of stinging cells. on the bottom of the tube body there is a "foot" ( basal Disk)a device the animal uses to anchor itself to plants ,rocks aquarium walls and the like. Hydra live attached to vegetation, rocks and walls by this "foot" with all its tentacles suspended into the water waiting for it's pray to blunder into them. Small animals that happen to blunder into the tentacles are stung and paralysed. within a short time all of the tentacles are wrapped around the victim conflicting many more stings. the victim is then drawn to the mouth and swallowed. Digestion is done over a period of several hours .Any un digested material remaining after this period is then expelled back through the mouth. The hydra is then ready to hunt again . It takes several hours for their weapons to recharge which it does while digesting it's food. Small aquatic animals like Rotifers, insect larvae, and ( especially) small crustaceans such as daphnia, seed shrimp and water flee, are their main pray. Hydra do not always stay in the one spot in the aquarium. they are able to move about in a couple of ways. They are able to secrete a sticky mass under the basal disk and they use this fluid to kind of slide themselves along to a new position. Another way is they detach the basal disk, bend over placing their tentacles on the substrate and then somersaulting re attaching the "foot" further along, they will continue to do this action until they reach their preferred position. The third manoeuvre noted is that they are able to produce an air bubble in the basal disk this raises them to the top of the water where they hang suspended waiting for pray. Hydra do most of their reproduction in the summer months. Most reproduction is "A" Sexual and involves a process called "Budding" in which a new Hydra develops as a bud on the parent central column . When conditions are right the bud breaks loose and continues life as an individual. These offspring are genetically identical to the parent ( true clones) . Under very good conditions hydra may possess several buds at various stages of development. Sexual reproduction is usually confined to the cooler months. Ovaries develop as an oval swelling near the column base. testis form as conical protrusions further up the column the sperm is free floating and can fertilize itself and other hydra. the young develop directly without a larval stage. HYDRA are beautiful but a bit annoying creatures. Given their reproductive abilities, their capability for moving around when they choose and the ability to eat pray several times their size. it's clear why hydra are not welcome in freshwater aquariums . They are believed to be able to cause harm or kill newly hatched shrimp, and in laboratory conditions they have been proven to eat baby brine shrimp. Adult shrimp are not effected by hydra stings except possibly as an annoyance. The larger Hydra have also been shown to eat small fish fry as large as newly borne guppies . Once hydra are introduced into an aquarium they can be difficult to get rid of them. ( but it's not impossible) If you are lucky to only have a small infestation you should be able to physically remove them, I removed the infestation that I had by wiping the tank sides down with a clean cloth, removed all rocks ,wood, from the tank and scrubbed them, plants I soaked in a light bleach solution for around 10 minutes before rinsing in fresh water and replacing. Another non intrusive way is to add some fish to eat them Gouramis or mollies will do the trick. ( not a good idea if you keep shrimp). Heat is another method. ( you have to remove all your livestock to do this) heat your aquarium water to around 40C for about 2 hours. this should kill them, Perform a minimum 50% water change and make sure that the water temp is back to normal before returning your live stock . Chemicals that can be used are potassium permanganate, or many of the fish anti fluke medications especially if they contain formalin. WARNING THESE CHEMICALS MAY BE HARMFUL TO SHRIMP, SNAILS, PLANTS and sometimes FISH. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! Some preventative measures are to inspect all live plants carefully( look for small jelly like substances) soak all plants in an approved solution before adding them to your aquarium. Avoid live foods from local rivers creeks etc. Boil all substrate wood rocks collected from the wild before adding to your tank . References used :- Bugguide Version Jan 2009 Information sources Wikipedia. org/wiki/imdra Williams 1980 Pennak 1989 Gooderham & Syrlin 2002 Offwell Woodland & wildlife Trust UK Researcher Wayne Summerhayes Febuary 2013.
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