gently nuke them

 

....from orbit,it's the only way to be sure.

 

Planaria products will be harmful to your snails and could make the tank inhabitable for them for 8+ months.

Hydra can harm shrimp, especially young shrimp.


Best bet is to figure out safe ways to remove them, which may include removing the shrimp and introducing a fish predator that will eat them or other methods.

 

@Zoidburg Sadly I lost the betta inhabiting this tank. I was medicating her for internal parasites but it seems I was too late. I'm not going to get another betta. I only have bad luck, and I want to make sure any anchor worms/parasites get a chance to die out.

I'd like to add shrimp and a nerite to the tank, and I want to keep the tank cycled (seeding/recycling is a pain imo), but I want to deal with the hydra first so that any future baby shrimp won't be in danger.

I'd like to avoid the Planaria option, since you said the tank will likely be inhabitable for a long time after. Some time ago I threw out the pre-filter sponge they were living in happily, and did manual removable after that. I don't see any right now but I know they're still in there. Do you have any advice how I can safely be sure they're gone and prepare the tank for inverts?

After investing in some further research, I read that heat can kill hydra if you remove any shrimp and snails and crank it up. One source says 104 F, another say 105 F to 110 F. Both say to leave it on for a few hours. Then it says to vacuum up any dead hydra and do a 50% water change to bring the temperature back down.

 

I think people generally overreact with hydra. I've never found a need to treat a tank and manual removal has always worked well for me. A combination of pipette/turkey baster and a scraping tool of some sort is probably the easiest method. Suck them up as you scrape them loose.

 

It's a total outbreak, I see them on the glass and not just on the pre-filter sponge. Read if one happens to get cut in half, it turns into two hydra. I'll try manual removal for now but I don't know if it'll nip this in the bud.

I read that pond snails will also seek out and kill hydra, is that true? The tank with the most hydra usually has several common bladder snails (though haven't seen as many as of late).

 

Would be helpful if you could post a photo.

 

They're too thin for my camera to focus on; this is the best shot I could get. It only captured a few but there were a lot more there (just tinier).

I know the picture shows the betta looking interested, but she's actually more behind the sponge (and mostly blind, she has cataracts). I tried to lure her down there to see how she'd react but she kept trying to avoid that area.

Edit: As most are heavily focused on the pre-filtered sponges, I am in the process of removing them, and going after the rest.

 

If no inhabitants, then yes, you could heat up the tank. Paraguard or alum may be other options, as well.

Sorry to hear about the betta though.

 

If no inhabitants, then yes, you could heat up the tank. Paraguard or alum may be other options, as well.

@Zoidburg The sources different on temperatures but just to be safe I'll probably try for 110F for a few hours unless that's a bad idea. I'm think I saw two little ones earlier so I know the bastards are in there.

Sorry to hear about the betta though.

Me too. I might be too inexperienced to keep fish. I lost three bettas in three years, despite having planted tanks with a filter, heater (78F), airstone, and light (on a timer). Lost one to anchor worms that were too tiny and white to see on his white body, another to internal parasites. It's a steep learning curve. Besides, they say bettas are the easiest fish to keep; if I can't even keep those alive, I shouldn't have fish.

I only had her seven months, and I'm starting to suspect she may have had internal parasites for a long time, and that maybe that is why she developed cataracts. She seemed so healthy, perky, and normal otherwise, up until a few days ago. I never saw her poop until more recently (when I noticed it was white and started treating her).

I don't think I'm going to get fish again, or if I do, not for a long time. And not a betta. Besides, I want to be sure any parasites or anchor worms starve to death in that tank. I'm not giving them another animal host. Will they turn on shrimp though, if I add them in a week? Or will turning up the heat also kill any possible anchor worms and parasites?

Edit: Oh shoot, my heater only goes up to 93 F--how do I get the tank hotter, do I put in a second heater? Then again all my heaters turn off when they reach their desired temperature; even if I put two of the same kind, they'll reach 93 F faster but likely not get higher than that. How the heck do I heat up this tank?

 

Boiling water....


Cherry shrimp are considered the easiest shrimp species to keep. I had cherry shrimp... and yellow neos... and bloody mary. Never had huge population boom like people talk about (well, I did, but then they died...) and now I don't have Neos at all. I didn't give any away, sell or trade. All have just died off... regardless of what I've done.

So if I can't keep shrimp, even the hardiest, it feels like I shouldn't have shrimp at all.... however, I have a tank of opae ulas. They were put in tank same day it was set up. No filter, no heater, rarely fed and water changes rarely done. They're still breeding, thankfully at a really slow rate!

And I have a tank with mostly yellow king kongs and "amanos" that are not C. multidenta. Deaths aren't common.

 

@Zoidburg I learned something new today, I had never heard of Opae Ulas before. They look like smaller brackwater-type cherries, they're adorable.

I may give fish another try in the future (would still wait a month at least), but I don't think I would go for a betta again. Maybe smaller and more passive fish. The kind that might eat baby shrimp but wouldn't attack adult shrimps. Though not sure I could get away with any nano fish in a 5 gal tank.

 

I've got hydra in my 16G shrimp tank. I have 3-4 berried yellows, and some males, and I'm starting to see fry. I added two otos. I've never dealt with this before.

 

@Streetwise The heating solution worked for me, though keeping the tank 104 F+ for 2 hours was a pretty tedious task. However, I didn't have any fish or shrimp in my tank.

I do have a shrimp colony tank but luckily the hydra haven't contaminated that one yet (that I know of). I understand your concern for your shrimp fry, I wouldn't want mine to be at risk either. You won't be able to dose any chemicals that kill inverts without hurting your shrimp. I know how difficult it would be to try and remove all of your shrimp, given how small the babies can be. I've tried removing shrimp from a tank before and was finding shrimp still a month later.

Since you can't dose or heat the tank, you might try some common bladder snails (they are said to eat hydra, though mine never did). I wouldn't try any predatory fish since your shrimp would be at risk.

 

Ok. The tank does have a ton of snails, but I'm actually not sure if they are pond snails or bladder snails. They are small, dark, and sometimes float. I may wait for this batch of fry to hatch and mature, and then add some fish for a while.

 

Thanks for all the advice. The internet says multiple things on this topic, some of which are maybe shrimp safe with chemicals?

I decided to try a fish-based approach. I added eight more otos, and five red tetras, who seem like they would be embarrassed to bother a baby shrimp.

 

@Streetwise The tetras will likely go after your baby shrimp.

 

That is a risk. I do have other tanks I could move them to, but I think they are pretty skittish and not too aggressive.

 

What up dudes? I’m in the same damn boat, so I figured I’d chime in. Just got my 20L planted cycled, got 20 Blue Dream Neos and days later, I’ve got hydra all over. That’s what I get for buying Etsy plants. Worse, some of the females must have been berried on arrival and I have seen a few microscopic shrimplets. I’m pretty sure the Hydra got them, but I’m praying and waiting.

Anyway, I’ve been doing a ton of research and I’ve had to make some tough decisions. I’m nuking from orbit as was previously suggested. I purchased safeguard goat dewormer at the local tractor supply. It’s 100 mg/ml of Fenbendazole in liquid suspension (much easier to mix than the powder. I made a mixture of 1 ml of the dewormer to 9 ml of tank water then the Internet research I read stated to apply 0.25 times your tank volume. My tank is 20 gallons and I’m assuming 2 gallons of substrate and decor, so I dosed 4.5 ml of the mixture (0.25 x 18). I waited 24 hours and saw little effect. I dosed again with the same amount. I’m now at 48 hours and I only see two hydra remaining and they’re tentacles are retracted (a good sign). I’m going to hold off on dosing again and wait another 24 hours to see if remaining hydra die. I see no ill effects in my shrimp yet and I removed all my MTS prior to starting treatment.

God, I never knew shrimp keeping would be this tough and stressful. I can tell you for one thing, I’ll never put another plant in my tank without soaking it in Fenbendazole for at least 24 hours prior again. Good luck to the OP and I’ll let you know how my hydra disaster turns out.

 

@Shrimpandwhitewine - there's a chance that you will not be able to keep any fancy snails in your tank for 6-8+ months... not sure how MTS will do. Best of luck!

 

@Shrimpandwhitewine This is why I only buy tissue-culture plants now. It's also good to soak your tools in a solution before use, to help prevent cross contamination between tanks. Do you have more than one tank or just the one? I noticed you said 20 L (which would be a 5 gallon) and then 20 gallon.

You could try and collect as many shrimp as you can and then heat the tank up to 104-110 F for a few hours (I did two and it seemed to have worked). I prefer not to use chemicals that could hurt inverts I want to add later.

 

@Zoidburg Yep, I was fully aware of that when I pulled out the thermonuclear weapons. I’m okay with pond snails and hopefully the MTS will be able to hack it when I put them back in there. First I’ll run carbon for a couple weeks. I don’t need any fancy snails. They’re there strictly to create some bioload since the shrimp don’t produce much waste. I’ll keep you all posted on how things shake out.

 

@Ryan Mosby I only have the one tank. It’s a 20 gallon Long. That’s why I call it 20L. Sorry for the confusion. I would rather limit my potential future snails than accidentally cook my baby shrimp, so I went with the dewormer. I’ll keep you all posted on whether I can keep MTS after this episode.

 

I look forward to more posts. F' Hydra.

 

@Streetwise Amen to that, F’ Hydra!

 

Has anybody tried naming these pests? The first time I experienced the phenomenon, there was a mouse in my house that was cornered by the cat (no, not a dr seuss reference!). Poor thing, he was terrified, but the cat was losing. Badly. I chased the cat away and stuck the mouse in an airtight container so I could show the gf how much of a pansy her cat was (insert evil laugh). After several hours I lost interest and tossed the mouse into the toilet. Flushed several times. Mouse still was swimming. About this time I was finally won over by the persistence. I dubbed the mouse Bartholemew and went for a bite proof implement to retrive him from the swirly swimming pool - when I returned 30 seconds later, I found a drowned Bart!!!!

The moral? Nothing dies without a name ?!? Maybe someone is more glib than I and would like to chime in on that.

 

@edothas You tried to flush a mouse? That seems cruel and unusual.

I stopped naming my shrimp because they'd die afterward, they live longer without names.

 

I can see where hydra could be a nuisance, I had a few in a tank many years ago and I thought they were the coolest thing but they disappeared. They reminded me of something you would see in a saltwater tank like little feather dusters. I’m guessing they had a food source that disappeared, that tank had a lot of daphnia type organisms as well, kind of a fun tank, like a freshwater mini-reef with new organisms always appearing. Best of luck with your tank, john

 

Quick update on my tank. I have now dosed the Safe Guard (Fenbendazole) 3 times, each 24 hours apart. I can see zero hydra in the tank and I have been searching thoroughly. Shrimp all seem fine. They are active, eating, grazing, etc. I’m planning to wait 24 hours more then I’ll do a 20% water change and add carbon to my filter to remove as much residual Fenbendazole as possible. After one week on carbon I’ll add back my MTS. It’s too soon to tell, but I’m feeling pretty confident that all Hydra have been quite thoroughly nuked from orbit. Fingers crossed.