# How dumb am I?



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yeah....... I have a Hydra out break in my 10g. I'm cycling a 20g at the moment. The only thing moving from the infected tank to the new tank are the animals (who I'm hoping have no Hydra attached to them), and the live plants (which I have to somehow get the Hydra off of because they ARE on the plants).

Once my tank finishes cycling, I _was_ planning on taking out about 10g worth of water and putting all the water from the 10 gallon tank into the new 20 gallon..... yeah...... free floating Hydra..... what was I thinking?! (I guess in my hopes of making the move easier on the critters, I almost over looked the fact that by adding their old water, I could be infecting the new tank!!)

I've already squeezed the new cycling media out in the old dirty 10g water from water changes..... lets hope there were no hydra in it! (Maybe the ammonia doses will kill them, lol). Catching all the animals (20+ cherry shrimp, 1 bamboo shrimp, 2 frogs, 3 Otos, 4 Rasboras, 2 Cardinals, 1 guppy and 3 snails), is going to be tricky to do to also try and avoid scraping any Hydra into the net along with them! (I really do NOT want to have to move them all back into the 10g to "boil" the Hydra out of the 20g if it becomes infected!!)

Maybe I need someone to run my plans back through me before I go through with them. I was lucky this time, lol!


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Are you fishless cycling?The hydra will die back with no feedings,so the filter media will be ok.Yeah I wouldnt use the old water.Its the same tap from your house,so really as long as you have the old filter media,the fish will be ok.Just drip acclimate and keep a watch on the params.

On the plants,do a bleach dip.One part bleach to five parts water.Soak them for a few minutes then place in clean fresh water,with dechlor.They should do ok with that.

When netting the fish,after you catch them,dont put the net in the ten galon.Instead,gently cup the part of the net the fish is in,and flip the net upside down over the new tank and drop the fish it.It wont hurt them,just be gentle.I catch my fish by hand.

Just keep an eye on feedings and remove uneaten food from the tank to keep hydra down.


Oh and you are not dumb,you are still learning!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

My personal feelings...there is no reason for me to _ever_ take water from one of my tanks and put it into another of my tanks. It has to be fresh. If it is an acclimation thing, then I would just drip acclimate and move on.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks everyone!

I will for sure not use their old water and I will make sure all params match in both tanks before moving everyone.... or else I will be moving them slowly, lol.

I will do my best to net the shrimp and then tip them into the new tank. (They are soooo jumpy - I did not know this the first time I brought them home and a few jumped onto the floor, lol. They were ok though). So, I will have to net, cover the net with my hand, then tip it upside down over the new tank.

Yep, fishless cycle. So, hopefully the fully cycled new filter media will be enough for them.

Thanks for the info' on the bleach dip. (I've heard this will kill many plants though.... will the ones I have be ok?) Giant hygro, dwarf hygro, java fern, amazon sword, water lettuce and marimo moss balls. 

The java fern is attached to a rock.... it's a lava rock and is very porous. Should I peel the roots from the rock? (I'm just thinking that the rock may soak in the bleach and then leach it into the tank).

If I dip and swish the plants for about 30 seconds, then run them under clear tap water, then soak them for a few hours in a bucket of clear water with conditioner it it, then run them under clear tap water again before putting them in the tank, this should get all the bleach out and off of them right? (*AND* kill they Hydra)? I will soak them for longer (ex: 3-4 mins to be sure they Hydra are dead) if you say that they won't soak up bleach via the leaves and roots and then leach it into the tank water later on.

The pet store said I should scrap the plants and start over, but that's expensive! (And the moss balls were hard to find!)


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Holly

reference title


The only dumb question is the one not asked.

Isn't a hydra the greek mythology thingie that formed two heads each time you chopped off a head? (so I guess you can never get ahead)

that's an example of an ignorant question. *old dude

Actually I really don't know what a hydra is. So I'll set back and observe.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Lol, thanks Beaslbob. A hydra is kind of the equivalent of a fresh water stinging coral or jelly fish.

It kind of looks like a white dandelion fluff. It's annoying because it breeds asexually and stings the critters in the tank. (And yes, Hydra did grow more heads when you cut one off..... and apparently with this type of Hydra, if you scrape it off of the decor and it gets split into bits, the bits all grow into new Hydra...ugh! Good name for it!)


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

holly12 said:


> Lol, thanks Beaslbob. A hydra is kind of the equivalent of a fresh water stinging coral or jelly fish.
> 
> It kind of looks like a white dandelion fluff. It's annoying because it breeds asexually and stings the critters in the tank. (And yes, Hydra did grow more heads when you cut one off..... and apparently with this type of Hydra, if you scrape it off of the decor and it gets split into bits, the bits all grow into new Hydra...ugh! Good name for it!)


Awww 

shounds like the dreaded aptasia in marine tanks.

Thanks.

my .02


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Could be a realative, lol. I have to look up the aptasia.


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