The Shrimp Vector
- badflash
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The Shrimp Vector
I have a tank that I am breeding some unknown species of Neocaridina that I received by mistake in both a load of Amanos and a batch of Ghost Shrimp. Today I looked in this tank and saw a colony of small hydra. I was astonished because I add new species very carefully and NEVER add untreated plants or water when adding new species. In this case the shrimp had spent a week in 2 separate aquariums before I noticed that they were not what I had thought.
The wisdom of the old addage "the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow" really strikes home. I looked in the tank with the ghost shrimp and found no hydra. I looked in the amano tank and found them! If hydra were not a threat to baby shrimp, I'd be tempted to keep them. I noticed there are no ostracods in the tanks with the hydra.
Anyway, the java moss is now all treated with Potasium permanganate, rinsed, neutraized, and back in the tank. I'll be watching for those amazing jellies, but I caught them before they got carried away.
My guess is that one was attached to a shrimp when I move it, and it only takes one.
The wisdom of the old addage "the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow" really strikes home. I looked in the tank with the ghost shrimp and found no hydra. I looked in the amano tank and found them! If hydra were not a threat to baby shrimp, I'd be tempted to keep them. I noticed there are no ostracods in the tanks with the hydra.
Anyway, the java moss is now all treated with Potasium permanganate, rinsed, neutraized, and back in the tank. I'll be watching for those amazing jellies, but I caught them before they got carried away.
My guess is that one was attached to a shrimp when I move it, and it only takes one.
- Neonshrimp
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- Tiny Shrimp
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I had hydra in one of my fairy shrimp hatches. I havent seen any for a while, but it was very interesting to watch them catch tiny critters. All the ones I saw were attached to the walls of the aquarium, but then the largest animals in the tank were fairy shrimp, and I doubt a hydra would be successful latching on to one of them. If youve used any of my dirt, its possible they could have come from there. I dont know the life cycle of the hydra, but I assume its similar to fairy shrimp and the like, since they appear in vernal pools. Perhaps their "eggs" or whatever attached to the glass in a tank and survived a "dry phase" and then hatched the next time water was added. I would imagine a hydra egg would be quite small, and would require a thorough cleaning if they leave them attached to the glass.
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- Tiny Shrimp
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Just did a quick search and found this:
Hydra reproduce in the summer months. Most reproduction is asexual involving a process termed budding, in which a new hydra develops as a bud from the parent column (see species illustration). Buds later break free, but are genetically identical to the parents (clones). Under favorable conditions, hydra may possess several buds at various stages of development. Sexual reproduction is usually confined to late summer. Ovaries develop as oval swellings near the column base, while testes form as conical projections higher up. Hydra oligactis is dioecious , with males and females occurring as separate individuals. However, most species are hermaphrodites, the testes and ovaries developing on the same animal. Sperm swim out from the testis and enter the ovaries of other individuals. Ovaries each contain a single egg. Once fertilized, this egg develops a protective ornamented shell and frequently enters a stage of arrested development or dormancy. When favorable conditions return (often in the following spring), development resumes and the young hydra develops directly without a larval stage.
It mentions the dormancy state, but doesnt say whether the egg can adhere to something or if it just falls to the bottom.
Hydra reproduce in the summer months. Most reproduction is asexual involving a process termed budding, in which a new hydra develops as a bud from the parent column (see species illustration). Buds later break free, but are genetically identical to the parents (clones). Under favorable conditions, hydra may possess several buds at various stages of development. Sexual reproduction is usually confined to late summer. Ovaries develop as oval swellings near the column base, while testes form as conical projections higher up. Hydra oligactis is dioecious , with males and females occurring as separate individuals. However, most species are hermaphrodites, the testes and ovaries developing on the same animal. Sperm swim out from the testis and enter the ovaries of other individuals. Ovaries each contain a single egg. Once fertilized, this egg develops a protective ornamented shell and frequently enters a stage of arrested development or dormancy. When favorable conditions return (often in the following spring), development resumes and the young hydra develops directly without a larval stage.
It mentions the dormancy state, but doesnt say whether the egg can adhere to something or if it just falls to the bottom.
- badflash
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I've never mixed the triops with any other tanks, so I doubt that was where it came from. I followed the "vector" back to the tank where the shrimp had first been and found hydra. I'm sure they were introduced with the new shrimp, even though I didn't move any water other than what was on the shrimp. I always rinse new shrimp off with new water before putting them in the regular tank, so there must have been some polyp cells or a little hydra on one of the shrimp. The shrimp were the only communication between the two tanks.
They are awsome to watch snatching ostracods. I'm not sure how effective these would be against baby shrimp or crays, but I don't want to chance it.
They are awsome to watch snatching ostracods. I'm not sure how effective these would be against baby shrimp or crays, but I don't want to chance it.
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- Tiny Shrimp
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- YuccaPatrol
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- Neonshrimp
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- YuccaPatrol
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- Neonshrimp
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- badflash
- Master Shrimp Nut
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Aren't we all, otherwise we wouldn't be here.YuccaPatrol wrote:Of course, I am weird like that. . .
When I was in high school many moons ago, I did a science fair project on hydra. They are way cooler than you know. Hard to believe a bag of jelly can be so complex.
I had big ones and fed them fresh hatched brine shrimp. They multiply like crazy when they get all the can eat. They can reproduce by budding or sexually. They also can move..
- Neonshrimp
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- Tiny Shrimp
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- Tiny Shrimp
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I asked a question to someone who might know (with the intention of wondering if Hydra eggs might stick to the glass on an auqarium or perhaps the substrate of a tank):
I was wondering if a hydra egg can attach to a plant stem or
if they always just fall to the bottom of the pool.
Julian Cremona, Head of Centre
Dale Fort Field Centre
Dale, Haverfordwest SA62 3RD
Tel: 01646 636205 Fax: 01646 636554
And I got this response today:
As an example of the cnidaria they do have sticky egg cases. So although they typically drop to the bottom (ideally to survive winter, etc) they could just as easily get stuck on substrate on the way down but this would be accidental, I have not heard of any incident where they deliberately attach eggs.
I was wondering if a hydra egg can attach to a plant stem or
if they always just fall to the bottom of the pool.
Julian Cremona, Head of Centre
Dale Fort Field Centre
Dale, Haverfordwest SA62 3RD
Tel: 01646 636205 Fax: 01646 636554
And I got this response today:
As an example of the cnidaria they do have sticky egg cases. So although they typically drop to the bottom (ideally to survive winter, etc) they could just as easily get stuck on substrate on the way down but this would be accidental, I have not heard of any incident where they deliberately attach eggs.
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- Tiny Shrimp
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