[stephenk]

I have what sort of looks like hydra, but so much smaller and is on every surface of my planted 10G. They are the white polyp-like things. These are, at the most, 1/16 inch. They are attached at one end wave in the current. I have looked at every picture of hydra I can find and I can't find any that look this small.

Also, supposedly hydra have to have impeccable water quality. These appeared during my fishless cycle and withstood all the ammonia I added.

These are now starting to infest my new 3G.

If anyone can ID or has any ideas, I would like to hear them.

Thanks,
Stephen

PS-Sorry the pic is so big

 

[epicfish]

Also, supposedly hydra have to have impeccable water quality. These appeared during my fishless cycle and withstood all the ammonia I added.

Impeccable? Hydra appear when I overfeed and neglect to do WCs.

Can you use the macro mode to take another picture? I'm having a hard time seeing where they are.

 

[stephenk]

Impeccable? Hydra appear when I overfeed and neglect to do WCs.

Can you use the macro mode to take another picture? I'm having a hard time seeing where they are.

I have heard hydra can't withstand ammonia or nitrite. But this withstood my fishless cycle. Also, during my fishless cycle there were no fish, so no feeding. This eliminates over feeding to me.


These are too small for me to photograph. My camera can't take pics that close.

 

[crazy loaches]

I dont know if mine are hydra or not, pics I have seen of hydra have tentacles comming out the end like an anenome but mine seem to come out around the side as well. They often grow in like a long chain and seem to bud off at points. I still have them after weeks and cleaning. I had a thread with some close up pics here http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...ussion/42094-hydra-again.html?highlight=hydra I dont have a 'macro' mode but was able to get a pretty decent pic being that thier body is probably 1/8" tall.

 

[Javaquatic]

Do they look like these? maybe_bryozoa_peewee_012007 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
They might be bryozoa, not hydra.

 

[stephenk]

Do they look like these?
They might be bryozoa, not hydra.

Holy cats.
That looks just like what I have in my tanks. So, anyone know how to remove bryozoa?

Thanks,
Stephen

 

[Boz]

I thought those were only found in SW tanks?

 

[Kelley]

Sorry, I don't have a solution to your problem, but I just wanted to say hello from Coralville!

 

[A Hill]

Do they look like these? maybe_bryozoa_peewee_012007 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
They might be bryozoa, not hydra.

Is that the scientific name for fingerprints?:icon_wink

Those look really weird... Also. Check out the inverts forum for the stickey, The bugs and how to recognize them by Rain- Its a great article.

-Andrew

 

[stephenk]

Check out the inverts forum for the stickey, The bugs and how to recognize them by Rain- Its a great article.

It is a good article, but it doesn't have what I am looking for. Continued research makes me think bryozoa is probably not it either.

 

[epicfish]

Are there lots of them? Concentrated in only an area or two, or widespread? Do you have only fish, or inverts too?

If it's concentrated, I'd turn off all the filters/powerheads and then squirt some H2O2 on them. Up to 1mL/gallon of tank water. If you have a 55 gallon tank, then 55mL of H2O2 maximum. H2O2 got rid of all my hydra.

 

[stephenk]

Are there lots of them? Concentrated in only an area or two, or widespread? Do you have only fish, or inverts too?

It is widespread, covering the glass, plants and rocks. I have 3 yoyo loaches, 2 cories, 2 otos and a pearl gourami

On a side note, I read about using Formalin to eliminate hydra. Unfortunately, I used it for the last 2 days with no effect. I'm pretty confident this isn't hydra, but I'm no expert.

Thanks everyone

 

[co2]

I don't think you should worry about it. There really isn't any invertebrate that is going to cause harm in a planted tank. They'll probably go away on their own anyways, just give it some time. Don't get into chemical warfare.

 

[A Hill]

I don't think you should worry about it. There really isn't any invertebrate that is going to cause harm in a planted tank. They'll probably go away on their own anyways, just give it some time. Don't get into chemical warfare.

I agree. And you're one step above me since I don't have them.

Sooner or later I'm going to have to do some tests on a new method I've been thinking up..

Little things are so under appreciated!

-Andrew

 

[stephenk]

Well I have pretty much eliminated the hydra, or whatever, problem. I did the following things.

• Dosed Formalin for 2 days. I know, I jumped to chemical warfare, but it seemed to help.
• Reduced feeding. I wasn't overfeeding, but I reduced it some.
• Reduced the amount of light. Down to 8 to 10 hours a day

Now my tank looks very good. Except for the algae, but I'm working on that now. Here is a pic.

Thanks for the help everyone,
Stephen