# hydra relative?



## Reva (Apr 21, 2010)

Hi guys and gals, I need your help. I am just about to go on a week's vacation. In my 50gallon amazon tank, I cleared out a profuse growth of java fern on bogwood. In doing so I discovered tiny little hydra-like growths, which at first I thought were root tendrils. but the neons have been disappearing one by one with no predators and no sickness present. I began to notice that the little growths were here and there on rocks too, and upon real close examination up at Clarks aquarium store in Bellingham, we narrowed it down to possible Plumatella repens , or something like it. Not enough tentacles for hydra.

I am not sure what to do
A. set up my spare 50 gallon in a hurry (bought $20 worth of bunch plants
B. get a pair of blue gouramis and hope that they eat them
C. Use a drug 

Any advice? have you guys seen this locally? I have no idea where they came from, and I am going to have to destroy the filter bacteria if I break everything down *sigh*


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## Nephrus (Apr 2, 2011)

Panacur boom all hydra dead...


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

spixi snails eat hydra.

I've used both Panacur and No Planaria to treat for planaria. Both can have lingering unintended effects on the eggs of fish and shrimp.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree with Storm, panacur IMO has lingering effects. I have used it too, and in my shrimp tanks, re-population was next to none after using it.


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## davefrombc (Apr 21, 2010)

Hydra are far too tiny to take neons. Something else has to be happening with them.
Do you have other fish in with them? Most fish will dine on tank mates that die. It wouldn't take long for a neon to be consumed and leave no bones large enough to be noticed , especially in a well planted or 'scaped tank .


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

davefrombc said:


> Hydra are far too tiny to take neons. Something else has to be happening with them.
> Do you have other fish in with them? Most fish will dine on tank mates that die. It wouldn't take long for a neon to be consumed and leave no bones large enough to be noticed , especially in a well planted or 'scaped tank .


absolutely. the worst hydra can manage is >maybe< larval or newly hatched small fish or newly hatched shrimp. Even then, green hydra, the most common variety seen in aquariums, are harmless.

speaking of shrimp, they can finish off a fish carcass overnight.


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## Reva (Apr 21, 2010)

these were bigger than hydra. if it were hydra, which I had one time years ago, I would have simply bought blue gouramis, who eat hydra very efficiently. But these were bigger, spread very very fast, and I saw full sized neons stuck in them after pulling the java fern overgrowth out. 
Clark's recommended fenbendazole (also a dog wormer like panacur..in fact probably same active ingredient), but I had so many dang malaysian burrowing snails that it would have been ugly....

I had to act quickly, so didnt take pics but can find something online to refer you to. I am going on a week's camping trip tomorrow, but luckily my daughter is an aquarist too, and will be monitering it for me.

I got out a spare tank, same size (50 gal), put in new gravel, new plants, new rocks, some bog wood from my big tank (150 gal), adjusted the ph etc in new tank, took a marineland 400 biowheel filter off of the big tank and put in on the new one. Put all the fish in bags (rinsed off on the outside) to float, then took the fish out of the bags by hand to release into new tank.

then went back to the old tank and nuked it from orbit (with bleach/water)

Dumped the gravel...I'm DONE

Lost 20 neons and 10 rasboras, also a Columbian Ram and five Emperor tets. All because I was busy and thought they were java fern roots at first. kicking self . Thanks for caring and sharing!


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## davefrombc (Apr 21, 2010)

Strange . I have never heard of hydroids that grow that large in fresh water. They didn't come in on material collected anywhere near or downstream of Hanford, did they ?


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