Hydra. Ugh.

Looking ever closer at my tanks... I see hydra under java ferns, hydra on the glass, hydra on the rock.....and now hydra the number one oto fry killers..... Ugh. How do I get rid of them?

Quick research gives me this list....

Physically remove the Hydra from glass, rocks and plants
Add Gouramis, Paradisefish, or Mollies to the tank
Add Pond Snails to the tank
Remove fish and heat the tank to 104F (40C) for two hours
Use chemicals such as Copper Sulfate and Potassium Permanganate
Use anti-fluke medications

Potentially the only resolution in the tanks that matter for me is to... add something that will eat it? I have 2 tanks that I do not want hydra is. Both have shrimps, plants, and fish.
Anyone have any luck with a honey gourami :/?

!!!!! We canadians can purchase Fenbendazole as a non-prescription med from the states under the trade name safe-guard. It is shipped worldwide. Since they have mostly removed Fenbendazole from pet store shelves nowadays perhaps it is time to pick some of this stuff up internationally. This stuff is also very helpful against planaria and intestinal parasites.

edit: it will also kill off my black worms which are living in my substrate.... hopefully this will not cause a large ammonia spike..

Spixis apple snails will eat them. One of the members from CAC got some from me to try them and they worked. Unfortunately I don't have any extras right now or I could send some.

Thanks for the offer, but for now, snails are not on the list of additional occupants, (unless they are saltwater snails once I start that tank!)

caoder wrote:Thanks for the offer, but for now, snails are not on the list of additional occupants, (unless they are saltwater snails once I start that tank!)

Have you been hanging around Steve?

That man sure does cast a long shadow down slime alley...

In regards to the pond snail suggestion, there are two types. The 'small pond snail' (the one so many of us have) doesn't eat hydra. The 'large pond snail' may or may not, but it will eat everything else, and take your house plants too.

I have had hydra survive with pond snails of both types. They have taken up residence on the shells of the snails.
I always run the 'there was on old lady who swallowed a spider' nursery rhyme through my head when I think of buying a fish to solve a problem. If you use fish to control hydra, they will reduce the hydra numbers radically. They won't eliminate them.
Mollies are brilliant at it, but when the once affected tanks here are used for other things, I expect to see my old friends waving at me. I have had serious problems with hydra here, of a larger peach coloured species. I've also seen the green ones, but they are sweethearts compared to the peachy ones.
Even with a house full of mollies (and having once kept as many gouramis as I now do mollies) I just figure that I have hydra. Once, in, never out.
Fenbendazole would probably work - hmmm. I once had flubendazole (sic?) that was incredibly effective, but it's now off the market, I believe (and it cost an arm and a leg). People say Clout works, but in my experience, it didn't.
Switching from bbs is effective, but only if the fry will eat the alternative before getting eaten themselves.

check ebay for fenbendazole, it is still available from the US. I will be getting a little stock of it as it is useful in the aquarium.. and maybe some of our dogs on occasion.

Pamelajo wrote:

caoder wrote:Thanks for the offer, but for now, snails are not on the list of additional occupants, (unless they are saltwater snails once I start that tank!)

Have you been hanging around Steve?

xD I've been having trouble with my pest snails so its casting a bit of a sour shadow on snails... although, how well do they do in planted tanks in regards to plant destruction?