Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

There are hydra in the Amano shrimp tank. How they got there, I don't know; none of our other tanks have hydra. Does anyone know how to get rid of them without killing the shrimp?

I have never had this problem, but a good biological control are supposed to be young (and hungry) Trichogaster trichopterus (three-spot gourami). Some recommend Trichogaster leeri (Pearl Gourami), also.

Those gouramis won't (usually) bother your shrimp either.

Mustafa

There is an electricution method for dealing with hydra but it might kill the shrimp too. If you go this route, be sure to not use copper leads.

Most Asian anabants will eat hydra when hungry. Macropodus opercularis (Paradise fish) will devour hydra and planaria. Unfortunately, they will probably take your shrimp as well. If you use any fish to battle hydra, it is important to remember to not feed the fish. They may eat hydra but prefer tasty flakes.

I assume hydra pose a thread to young shrimp. Is this correct?

I've had good luck using Hydrogen Peroxide to eradicate them. Using a syringe I inject the peroxide right on the offender and they perish right then and there.

Bradimus wrote:I assume hydra pose a thread to young shrimp. Is this correct?

I know that hydra relish baby brine shrimp -- they will turn orange from stuffing themselves with as many as they can catch....if that's any indication, the baby dwarf shrimp would be in danger.

I've had good luck using Hydrogen Peroxide to eradicate them. Using a syringe I inject the peroxide right on the offender and they perish right then and there.

That's a great method....a natural hydra pesticide I'll have to remember this one.

Amanda

Thanks for the heads up gnatster

If that hydrogen peroxide accumulates in the water it will eradicate your shrimp and fish, too.

Has anyone ever used Panacur (can't remember what the scientific name is--vets deworm dogs and horses with it)? I know it can be used in tanks of wee baby fish and fish eggs without damaging the fish & eggs, and it can be used on scaleless fish like puffers. I know it will kill any worms in your tank. But does anyone know if it'll kill shrimp? I will probably remove the shrimp temporarily while treating the tank, replace the water with fresh fishtank water and then put the Amano back in. None of the shrimp are carrying eggs at the moment (and I would have moved the berried shrimp to another tank anyway so the newborns could be moved to a saltwater tank for a week or so). But if anyone knows about Panacur, do post please. Thanks.

Fenbendazole/Panacur interferes with the cellular development of the parasites. It is safe to use in mammals due to differences in the cellular/molecular structure mammalian cells. I would hesitate to use this on a shrimp tank since it is not clear if shrimp cells are sufficiently different from the target cells.

The good news is that it will quickly eradicate hydra.

If that hydrogen peroxide accumulates in the water it will eradicate your shrimp and fish, too.

I should add I only use 5ml at most in a 20 gal tank.

I do not knwo the science behind it but when the peroxide hits an organic material doesn't the peroxide get broken down to it's component forms?

Maybe this will help this sites a great site.

http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/hydra.html

scrimp, nice link. Can't use copper where there is shrimp, I do believe that if you heated their tank to 106F degrees, you'd have boiled shrimp, getting a big fish to munch on them kind of adds yet another being to house and feed, etc. It is interesting though. I'll remove the shrimp (oh, gee, could the shrimp be harboring hydra "spores"? is that even possible?) and Panacur the tank for a few days, then rinse everything down and restart the tank. I've got an empty shrimp tank just running for no reason (except I've been trying to find striped shrimp to put in there but can't find any). You'd think shrimp would find small hydras tasty and easy to catch.

Well thats obvious on both accoutns I think it does say to remove the fish (shrimp) when you heat up that high. And Copper of course we all know but I was refering to the biological ways it listed on how to remove them. A simple easy way to do this would be to just go buy some cheap inexpensive guppies dont feed them in a few days im sure the problem will be gone and you can either give the fish back to where you bought them or give them to some kid or local school to promote fish keeping . Thats the best way to give away fish to is your local schools.

I've just seen a hydra in my tank try to catch a small cherry shrimp The shrimp is only about 3mm, but managed to get away, and seems unharmed.

I have put in a large red ramshorn snail, which supposedly eat hydra, but I will try the hydrogen peroxide method later today, and then probably do a small water change.

Good luck, Lotus. I can't figure out where mine came from unless the shrimp or snails brought them in (all the plants used in the shrimp tanks have been living in the fish tanks for years with no hydra evidence). Mine were in the Amano tank and after a couple of weeks, all the hydra had disappeared without me having go do anything and none of them got very big. I'm assuming the Amano ate them. However, I have basically quarantined everything in the tank--don't share plants or snails or anything with any other tank so if there are still hydra "spores"(?) hanging around, they won't get any further than that tank.