# Hydra, Hydra everywhere!!



## Quinn

So, as the title states, I'm having a bit of a problem in my tanks right now, or maybe a problem? I've read a lot of conflicting information on the dangers (or lack there of) of having hydra in a tank.
Long story short, maybe a week or so ago I noticed 2 weird little white stringy things attached to an anubias leaf. I got sort of weirded out by them, but after a bit of research I matched them up with Hydra. I haven't found any solid reports of if they will be damaging to my particular inhabitants, but I am aware that they sting and can kill fry as well as read reports that they have injured Otos (I don't have either, but still, makes you think). I tried to rub them off and suck them up with a baster, but I'm betting I just sent them free in the water :roll:
(Sorry this isn't such a short story after all) So fast forward to today, there are SO MANY OF THEM. They have pretty much taken over my sponge filter, as well as a few residing on the glass and plants, most notably the one anubias I first noticed them on. I saw my betta attempt to, and maybe eat, one, but perhaps it stung him, as he seemed to have a bit of trouble eating it, and I haven't seen him eat another, and he spends a lot of time looking for organisms to eat. I have now also seen a few in my other tank, though not as many (yet I'm sure). 
So, basically should I be concerned and actively trying to eradicate them? Are they posing a threat to my tanks? If they are how can I safely (and hopefully simply) rid my aquariums of them without doing any harm to my wanted inhabitants.
The tanks all together house:
Betta
Red Cherry Shrimp
Amano Shrimp
Mystery Snail
Ramshorn Snail
Nerite Snail
(Live Plants)


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## Stone

I used dog dewormer to get rid of hydra and planaria in my red cherry tank that has mystery snails, here is an article that will tell what to use and how and so on, my only suggestion is to put the powder in an empty teabag and put it in the filter or where there is water flow , it does not dissolve so well in water or pre-dissolve it in water first, do not put it straight in your tank, here is the article,http://www.planetinverts.com/killing_planaria_and_hydra.html


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## peachii

Stone said:


> I used dog dewormer to get rid of hydra and planaria in my red cherry tank that has mystery snails, here is an article that will tell what to use and how and so on, my only suggestion is to put the powder in an empty teabag and put it in the filter or where there is water flow , it does not dissolve so well in water or pre-dissolve it in water first, do not put it straight in your tank, here is the article,http://www.planetinverts.com/killing_planaria_and_hydra.html


Red cherry shrimp are sensitive and using this in the tank did not bother them at all. We lost none from the treatment and it almost instantly got rid of the tiny few of them we had at the time. I did trash all plants, substrate from water changes and bleach all my equipment while we saw them in there, I didn't want them in any other tanks. It's been awhile now since we've seen them so pretty sure the plants are safe from that tank now.


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## Quinn

Thanks guys, I was actually just looking at that article. Guess that will be my course of treatment!
REALLY hope that just the treatment is enough, I don't want to have to tear down the tanks or ditch anything. I did manually remove a bunch this morning, but of course it barely looks like I've done a thing. They really have colonized my darn sponge filter, grrrr.


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## Quinn

So I dosed with Safe Guard, only once, and that so far seems to have taken care of the problem. I was going to dose again the next day, but I read on some sites that waiting longer the Hydra died off anyway. By 24 hrs they were almost all just little nubs. 48 hrs some of them were still hanging on as nubs, but most were gone. Less than 72 hrs and I couldn't see any left. Hoorah!
Sadly however my Nerite seems to be dying. I didn't read until after the fact an account or two where people said their Nerites could not handle the fenbendazole and such seems to be the case. Teega isn't dead yet, but she has not moved for days 
She seemed to sloooowly slide down the glass over the course of a couple of days. This morning she was on the ground in her shell, I figured dead, so I moved her around a bit and waited, she came out of her shell but wont grip the wall and def doesn't seem well. I feel horrible I wish I had read that earlier so I could have kept her in a cup for a while... Damn
Just posting this so perhaps someone else will not accidentally have the same sad fate


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## Quinn

So now all 4 of my Mystery Snails are acting extremely ill and I'm worried they won't recover. I do not know if it was caused by then fenbenzadole or the additions of flourish and excel, or something else entriely, although those ste the only changes and they were very happy seeming and active before. They started acting really odd around two days ago. They have been sliming a ton, lethargic, some floating, some tucked away at the bottom unmoving. I have moved them all to a KK with clean fresh water, I have tried placing them in super shallow water to expose them to air, they are still not responding. Yesterday 3 of them showed slight interest in algae wafers, and moving around a little, but today they seem bad again. The shrimp, betta, ramshorn, and MTS in the tank all are well (infact I have seen at least 7 heavily berried females, and I have seen baby RCS!) an active. So confused. The water prams are fine. Also my other tank with the same additions, no mysteries in there, but fish, snails, shrimp are all fine as well. The mysteries are my fave... :'(


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## ao

snails may be affected by the treatment. i've heard of it killing off nerites...


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## Quinn

Yes apparently. But I haven't seen reports of Mystery snails dying off like this. And it's like a week after treatment, why would it suddenly be an issue? Do you think it could be the Flourish or Excel instead? I know I'm under dosing it, but I know the can cause problems at higher doses. And the fact that my shrimp all seem fine and thriving is also confusing me since they are sensitive creatures too. So confused/bummed!


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## dramaqueen

Sorry about your snails.


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## Stone

Weird we had no issues with our snails from it or excel or flourish, but we have had snails jsut die for no reason we can figure out, it is hard to tell if a snail is sick


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## Quinn

If it was only one I would have thought it a weird happenstance but at this point no one is recovering / already passing. I think I'm just going to euth them. They've been in a KK with clean water trying to recover for over a week now and it's only getting worse. I think maybe only one is even alive at this point. I joined the apple snail forum but its super slow. I got one response that pretty much just told me what I had already written I did. It seems there aren't really any options left. 
And now I'm worried about my tank being contaminated by the fenbenzadole and killing snails if I get more. Apparently people have had Nerites not being able to live in their tanks for months-years after, not sure about the Mystery. I'd be okay not having Nerites again, but the Mystery snails were probably my favorite aquarium inhabitant, definitely my favorite snails! But I also don't want to / really can't afford to toss all of my substrate and sponges and plants and clean out the tank to start over. Unless everyone else in the tank dies its not an option, and even in that case I don't think I could afford all new stuff right now. I'm too damn poor! 
I need to stop expanding my pet interests, each one is just as much stress and heartbreak as the next! (Okay maybe that's a bit of a lie, the snails definitely weren't quite on par with the furry four leggers)


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## ao

The majority of people who wants to get rid of hydras own smaller tanks/planted tanks and prefer to keep nerites over mystery snails. that's probably the reason there wasn't much info on mystery snail deaths


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## peachii

We treated our shrimp tank that had 4 mystery snails in it - the same batch yours came from and all of them are still healthy and running around, before, during and after the treatment. We actually treated twice about a month apart, so the snails went through 2 treatments. 

I'm very sorry this happened but we definately would have told you if we would have expected any bad side effects whatsoever. 

I have purple snails and 1 ivory, pay shipping and I will happily replace them for you.


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## Quinn

Yeah I'm totally surprised. I read tons of accounts of people treating with no issue to Mystery Snails. Since they got sick and I've been digging even deeper I have found a few accounts of apple snails (some mystery) being affected. But I think those were all at higher doses then I used. What source of Fenbenzadole did you use? 
And that is so kind of you! I'm waiting on some plants that seem to be lost in the mail (*sigh* My luck lately! No update since Sat night and they were supposed to arrive on Monday, the 2nd, so worried they are lost in the mail) in order to set up my new NPT, I was going to use some of the substrate from the ten gallon as a cap, but at such a low potency even if some is trapped in the gravel it'd probably be okay, I'd guess.


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## Stone

We used one tenth of a gram for 8 gallons of water so a tad be stronger than most people dose with, well the dose that I read is 1/10 of a gram per 10 gallons. That is in our well one of our red cherry tanks and if you know shrimp die at the drop of a hat with just about anything. I will have to research some and see if something like ph/gh could be a factor


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## OwlsNest

I THINK my actual Mystery Snails have Hydra... in the little pit of the swirl they each have like 4 to 5 tentacles poking around in there. Nothing elsewhere in the tank. 
Thoughts?


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## blackbirds

OwlsNest said:


> I THINK my actual Mystery Snails have Hydra... in the little pit of the swirl they each have like 4 to 5 tentacles poking around in there. Nothing elsewhere in the tank.
> Thoughts?


Hi OwlsNest, you might do better starting a new thread about this issue, the one you posted on is about 4 years old- you'll get a lot more help that way.

If you look online, there are several articles posted that show pictures of hydra (so you can make a positive id) and also that give step by step instructions on how to kill them. Most people use a certain type of dog dewormer, and the articles give exact measurements and instructions on how to do it.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Do you have any pictures?

-Kamran


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## ThatFishThough

Hi, SantaMonticaHelp. As stated above this is an old thread and id anyone has questions it'd be better to start a new thread. Thanks!
@OwlsNest, it could be some sort of invasive bug... I can't remember the name of it but it was really bad around the forums once. I believe it starts with a 'c' or 's' and they come out in massive clusters of a fish's 'rear'. I'll see if I can find out what they are.


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