# Hydra in meh tank!!! o_O



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

*PLEASE HELP!!!!!! Stinging Hydra in tank hurting shrimp and snails!!*

I just found a ton of tiny Hydra's in my tank! I can't use chemicals to get rid of them b/c I've got shrimp, snails and ADF's.

(Edit: just saw a snail touch one on the glass.... yep, they sting.... ever seen a snail jump?) What do I do?

I've just read up a bit on them on the internet and people are saying they can really sting the critters in the tank! Some people have said though, that they've watched their shrimp walk right over top of them with no problem. I have 3 Oto's and I've managed to keep them alive for 4 weeks now, (apparently the 'golden number' of weeks, and then they should be fine - and I'm afraid they are going to hurt the Oto's. They for sure are hurting the snails!

I've read I can use a syringe to spray hydrogen peroxide on them, then suck them up with they syringe.... will that hurt my shrimp, frogs or Oto's though?

I've read you can electrocute the tank.... I'm assuming all the other critters have to come out though.

So.... If I go out and buy another 10g tank and put some fresh gravel in it, with the current filter and heater, can my shrimp, otos and ADF's go in it until I can erradicate the hydro's, or will that kill them because the new tank haves to cycle? (I thought the cycling was in the filter, not the tank.) I have no other way to kill them.... I can't use chemicals because of the shrimp and snails. 

*Could I get another 10g, put the current filter and heater in it, drain as much water as possible from the old tank into the new (I don't think any are free floating hydra), move the critters into the new tank, (no gravel, or new rinsed gravel) and take decor, live plants, decorative rocks from the infected tank and bleach them? Then rinse really well and put back into the tank, then move everyone back in? What do I do about the gravel? If I bleach that, I'm assuming all the good bacteria will die..... can the critters live in the old tank after everything has been bleached, but the old filter material and water is put back in?* How much bleach to how much water? And how do you bleach plants?


PLEASE HELP!!!! There are a ton of them and they are hurting my animals!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I had hydra once in a shrimp tank and put a mystery snail in it and within a couple of days the hydra was gone. 

Moving the filter over to a new tank would work for what your talking about but you would also risk moving some hydra over to the new tank. Best way to control them is to make sure the tank is kept clean and feed less.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks! Would love an apple snail but it's a small tank. I am not going to feed the 2 cardinals or guppy for a few days, but I still have to feed the ADF's every 2 days.... maybe I'll just feed them a bit less each time though. This will cause my shrimp to be hungry.... what should I do for them? Also, can I still give zucchini to the Otos? I do filter maintenance monthly, water changes and gravel vacuuming weekly...I have little copeopods, which I've read mean great water quality.... so, I'm thinking they came in on a plant or on the snails...

*New plan* instead of bleach, (cause I don't want to kill the good bacteria and algae in the gravel): I'm going to give the filter a quick rinse, (just to hopefully get out any free flowing hydra, not to get rid of any bacteria), then put it in a _new 10 g with new gravel and a new heater (with all the critters)._ Going to syphon 2/3 of the old tank water into the new tank (hopefully there are no free floating hydra), and replace the rest with new water. Will put 2/3 new water in the old tank to fill it up. Gonna pump the heat up to above 100 in the old tank for a good 6 hours (possibly even over night.... up to 15 hours), then do a gravel vac, decor scrub. Then I'll put 2/3 of the water the fish are in, (since it's mostly their old water)into the old tank, put the critters back in the old tank, and put 1/3 new water in to top off. Hopefully none of the hydra will be free flowing in the water or in the filter. Do you think this plan will work? I read a temp over 108 will kill them.... so hoping my heater goes to 110, lol.

*Should I leave the filter in the old tank so the hot water that runs through it kills any hydra in the filter? If, so, how long can RCS, cardinals, guppies and Oto's go with out filtration?* _(I will have the Nitra Zorb mini filter running in the new tank, to bring down the nitrates of the new water)... hopefully no hydra living on the media... none on the filter itself though.... and this uses an air pump... so they will have an air stone_, but no sponge, carbon and biomax filtration for about 15 hours. Will this kill my animals? (I'm hoping the air stone is enough if I run it wide open, just for that 1/2 day). The Frogs should be fine as they are air breathers. It's the shrimp, Otos and snails I'm most worried about, then the 2 cardinals and guppy. If they died, I'd be sad, but I'd be heart broken if the Otos, shrimp and snails died!

Will the dead bodies fall off the plants or am I going to have to scrape them off? (There are thousands of them!) Cleaning them off the decor and rocks is no problem, but I don't want to up root my live plants to rinse them off, so I'm hoping the bodies will let go and sink...

Really hoping that with the Nitra zorb mini filter/air stone and mostly old water, the animals will be ok and not go into "new tank shock" for the 15 or so hours they are in there. May put some zucchini in the tank overnight so they have some food since there will be zero algae. (Think this plan will work?)

Do you think the high temp will kill my plants? (listed in signature).


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I think the critters should be okay for that short while. Take your plants out and do a quick dip in salt and rinse real well. Looking for any hydra. Scrape the hydra off the sides of the tank and do a good vac. Should get rid of most that way, then refill and move the critters back.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks sooooo much! I feel much better now! My heater goes up to 96, so I'll use that for the animals and get a new one that goes higher to kill the hydra.

As for salt dips, do you know_ how much salt to how much water_? And _how long do I let the plants soak_? (It's going to be hard to see the hydra on the plants in a container... I can only see them by looking sideways through the tank, so I'm hoping the salt dip will just kill them, and if I rub the leaves it will get the bodies off).

Should I let the plants stay in the hot tank to kill the hydra on them and then dip them in salt or will the hot water kill the plants? (If I take them out, they will have to just be free floating in a tupper ware overnight with no heat or aeration, as the temporary tank won't have much gravel in it.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

No I wouldn't leave the plants in a hot tank. For the salt dip I use 1/4 cup salt in a gal of water. Don't leave the plants to soak. Just dip them in and out a few times then rinse good. Let them float. I have plants floating in a tank with no substrate and kept dark to rid of algae then move to tank I want them in. That time usually is a week to 10 days.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks again! 

I was also advised by someone I know who has a shrimp tank (and said Hydra are common in shrimp tanks), who said Dwarf Chilian Rasboras eat Hydra. My husband and I just got a 20 gallon tank and are going to start cycling it this weekend. Once cycled, we will move the plants and animals and decor to the new tank. I'll get a few of those fish and see if they eat the Hydra. If not, I guess I'll put everyone in the 10g for a day and heat up the 20 gal. I figure the Hydra must have been here for a while, since they are so numerous, and I just didn't notice them. I think the animals will survive the time it takes to cycle a new tank, and then I'll try the Rasboras. (We will have some decor and fake plants in the tank while it's cycling, because we are going to use my remaining guppy and 2 Cardinals, and want them to have something to spice up their tank. Once it's cycled though, we will move all the temporary decor out and move the stuff from the 10 gal tank in. We will also take a bunch of the water out of the 20 gal and replace it with water from the 10 gal. That way, the shrimp, Otos and frogs will have some of their old water when they move.)

Thanks for the help!


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