Hydra

[timebomb]

Hi, fellas,

For those who may not have seen the creature before, here's a picture. It may not be as hideous as the 9-headed monster that Hercules slaughtered but it's sure a disgusting creature to have in the tank. And I've got plenty of them in my tanks now. To top it all, I also have Green Water. Shucks



Loh K L

[RonWill]

For those who may not have seen the creature before, here's a picture.

Hey Kwek Leong, nice shot of the bugger. Resemble a sea-anemone doesn't it. Two things I can't tolerate in my killie tanks; hydra & velvet!

To top it all, I also have Green Water. Shucks

On the brighter side, it sounds like a good time to culture daphnia!

Seriously tho, if you still can't find the Flubendazole I gave you, gimme a buzz. Perhaps I can bring that along with a trio or two of Simp constainciae for Sia Meng.

Have 'fun'

[CM Media]

For those who have velvet & hydra problem, I still have a few film canister of the medication that treat these problems available. PM me if you're interested to have the medication for more details.

[Eric Yeo]

sorry, I don't know anything about hydra, what causes it in the tank.
Loh you got a very good camera, all those pictures you posted in the forum look great and now even greater MACRO, wow! What brand is that?

Eric Yeo

[kc]

KL,

I first saw a Hydra in my tank a long time ago but it disappeared and never appear again. With a single one, it look cute but when you got plenty.. yak!


Pls put youself under quarantine.

[timebomb]

Eric,

The Hydra usually comes with Daphnia. They are animals, not plants and they move about by somersaulting with their tentacles. They feed on baby brine shrimp and some hobbyists say they also eat fry. I have never seen them eating fry but quite often, I see them grabbing hold of many baby brine shrimp. Just like the 9-headed monster than Hercules slaughtered, the Hydra can regenerate itself from small pieces. In other words, if you take one and cut it into many pieces, you will end up with many Hydra. The monster that Hercules killed has heads that will regenerate even more heads whenever one is chopped off. I'm a big fan of Greek mythology.

The camera I'm using is a Nikkon Coolpix 4500. It has a very good close-up mode and it can auto-focus for distances as short as 2 cm. I'm a hopeless photographer so if you think the pictures are good, it's all due to the equipment. This is one instance of a bad workman not putting the blame on his tools

Au,

Is the medication you are referring to Flubenzadole? I may need some later so please keep a cannister for me. In the meantime, I'm thinking of putting a Trichogaster trichopterus (3 spot Gourami) into the tank. My book says it will eat Hydra.

Loh K L

[timebomb]

Pls put youself under quarantine.

KC,

You have to serve me with the quarantine order first. The way you put it, it's like I got SARS

Loh K L

[stormhawk]

yup, the 3spot eats hydra. there's a hydra medicine out in the market. can't remember the name but its by JBL.

[BeyondGomer]

This thread got pulled up on APD

I'm a big fan of Greek mythology.

So, do youlike the movie "Clash of the Titans?" I finially bought a copy of it 2 weeks ago BAD graphics, but I still like the movie.

[timebomb]

So, do you like the movie "Clash of the Titans?"

Clash of the Titans? That movie must be as old as Greek mythology itself I don't think there's any movie on Greek mythology that I've liked. I only enjoyed the books. But I'm looking forward for "Troy" to come to the cinemas. In Greek mythology, that would be "Helen of Troy". Hers was the face that launched a thousand ships.

Loh K L

[Hoolig]

Re Hydra,
In one of my old books is this method of removing Hydra.
Use a 4volt battery, connect two insulated wires, on the other end put two pieces of copper 1 1/2" square, put the copper opposite ends of the tank, leave for 4 hours, it is stated does not harm fry, I used it in tank with NO fish it worked.

[A.Rashid]

hmm... I did have an invasion of hydra a few weeks ago, and what I did was I clear the whole tank poured hot water in it and left it for a few days... but now the hydra seem to appear again but not as much as b4.. maybe I should try you method Hoolig, wonder if I were to use a 9v battery will cause any harm to my fish? hmmm ...

[kc]

hmm... II clear the whole tank poured hot water in it and left it for a few days..wonder if I were to use a 9v battery will cause any harm to my fish? hmmm ...

I friend poured hot water into his tank to clear tiny worms and the glass cracked.

[imported_subzero]

The camera I'm using is a Nikkon Coolpix 4500. It has a very good close-up mode and it can auto-focus for distances as short as 2 cm. I'm a hopeless photographer so if you think the pictures are good, it's all due to the equipment. This is one instance of a bad workman not putting the blame on his tools
Loh K L

Indeed good close-up mode, but the object has to be stationary to take a sharp picture

Here's picture of Yamato eggs taken with the same camera, you can actually see the eyes of the baby shrimps

[darrenlum]

Hi Kwek Leong,

Over feeding of BBS will cause the growth of hydra. From the way I see you squid your baster full of bbs into the densely vegetated tanks, you'll definitely end up with a lot excess BBS, perfect setup for hydras to boom.

In my fry tanks, I've added a few spoons of rock salt and let it slowly dissolve away. You could actually see 'waves' of liquid salt spreading throughout the tank bottom. As it spreads, it totally 'fumed' the hydras. You'll see that the hydras immediately retract their tantacles and after awhile, they all collapsed. Anyone else tried adding salt?

Hi Ronnie, so far my nothos are doing well cause I always add salt into the tanks in generous amount. Do you add salt?

I think salt a fantastic 'additive' to add to your tank as it solves quite a few serious problems. What do you guys think?

Cheers!
Darren

[timebomb]

Over feeding of BBS will cause the growth of hydra.

Darren, I'm afraid I have to disagree with your statement. Baby brine shrimps can't cause a Hydra outbreak, if there were no Hydra in the tanks in the first place. If you have Hydra in your tanks, however, too much uneaten brine shrimp will help the Hydra to propagate themselves in great numbers. Hydra loves to eat baby brine shrimp. I have seen them catching many shrimps in their tentacles on many occasions.

Salt is supposed to kill Hydra but you will have to use great quantities for it to be effective. In a planted tank, that is not advisable. I eradicated all the Hydra in my tanks by using Flubenzadole. It's highly effective. Just a few doses over several days kill off all the Hydra.

I think salt a fantastic 'additive' to add to your tank as it solves quite a few serious problems. What do you guys think?

Salt to fish is like grass to mammals. It works like an antidote. It's a natural remedy against many diseases. In nature, animals like dogs and cats eat grass if they are stricken with poison.

Loh K L

[RonWill]

Ronnie, so far my nothos are doing well cause I always add salt into the tanks in generous amount. Do you add salt?

Darren, when I was maintaining nothos, a fair amount of salt is always added during water changes but the main reason for it was to reduce the incidence of velvet. Salt, however, is not a replacement for good fish husbandry.

Even now, when I detect fishes having 'stress-symptoms' (don't ask me what that means... it's a gut feeling sorta thing), I dose 3~4 heaping Chinese soup-spoonful of marine salt* into my recirculating system, totalling approx 405L or 108gal.
*Marine salt because that's what I have at hand and the same used in my BBS hatchery.

In a planted tank, that is not advisable. I eradicated all the Hydra in my tanks by using Flubenzadole. It's highly effective. Just a few doses over several days kill off all the Hydra.

Kwek Leong, at the risk of others taking cue from the information herein, and abusing it, be warned that treatment with Flubenol or 5% Flubendazole (not Flubenzadole), will not only eradiate hydra but also snails and nematodes as well.

Personally, I consider snails as 'friendlies', intentionally breeding them for what it can do within confined ecos like fry grow-out containers. Others issue death warrants on them indiscriminately, mis-guided by ego of a snail-free tank. My advise is to apply medical/chemical treatments with discretion.