Shrimps, Planaria And Hydra

Hello All,

As you have possibly read elsewhere on here, I have recently waged a long, but successful battle against a mammoth bacterial bloom and the attendant white growths, slime and stench in my "soon to be" shrimpery. (Sounds like a sewer doesn't it?). However, within 24 hrs. of returning bogwood, a Java Moss coconut and a small piece of Bacopa to the tank, I now have an invasion of both planaria and hydra. The bogwood and coconut had been stored for some time in the w/c bucket in dechlorinated water, whilst the Bacopa was allowed to float in the 125L. I have tried to photograph both, but my macro photographic ability is somewhat lacking, so here is a description:

Planaria
These are white and up to about 5mm. long, and are both on the glass and elsewhere. They have a "head", which is slightly larger than the body. They seem to glide effortlessly across the glass. I did have several short outbreaks of something similar whilst fishless cycling the 125L, but they soon disappeared. I never saw any on a surface, just wriggling in the water after switching the filter back on following a water change. At the time, I was convinced that they were living in the filter. Since adding fish, I have not seen them.

Hydra
These are also white, are attached to the glass, and each has a number of tentacles waving in the flow. I have never seen these in the 125L, but they can't have come from anywhere else.

I have looked at a number of photographs on the web of both, and I am sure that's what I have.
The only other visible living things in the tank are the inevitable "hitch-hiking" snails and the above plants.

From what I have read, both of these organisms could be bad news for baby shrimps, so I need to eliminate them before stocking. However I am likely to transfer more, when I move plants from the 125L. As I understand it, both these invaders are carnivorous, so perhaps if I just left the tank "empty" for a while, they would starve to death? But, on the other hand, they must have been living on something in the 125L ..... snails?

I have read about some chemical treatments, including fenbendazole (I think?).
Would transferring a few fish temporally from the 125l solve the problem? ...... but they presumably aren't eating them in there. Perhaps fish food is tastier?

As always, I look forward to your advice and expertise,

                                   Skittler

Hello Sanjo,

I needed to use quite a good magnifying glass to be sure about the Hydra. I could then see their tentacles quite clearly. And, lo & behold, the light has just come on in the 125L, and I found some small ones on the front glass! I had wondered why my oto's spend so little time on the front glass these days, as it's going green again ...... perhaps they are being stung by the Hydra. All I need now is to decide what to do with the Shrimpery ......... maybe it's time to "prove" the cycle with a 3ppm dose of NH3, and see if that sorts one or the other out!

                                                    Skittler

I know that flubendazole will kill hydra, and that is the active ingredient of Kusuri Wormer Plus. But the pack says "This medication can kill some species of snail as well as other large parasites and invertebrates. Do not use in aquariums where nerite, trumpet or ramshorn snails etc are kept".
I used wormer plus as the first med against the camallanus worms last autumn. It didn't kill my last amano shrimp, but that doesn't mean it won't kill any other species.
In the UK, fenbendazole is in eSHa-ndx.


This is the problem, things that will kill hydra could well affect shrimps.


Apparently, pond snails will eat hydra but not many people want pond snails in their tanks.
Heat, since there are no fish in there yet - one webiste mentions turning the heater up to 40^oC for 2 hours, but if you try this method I would check the filter bacteria are still OK before getting shrimps.

I know that wormer plus will kill hydra - I used it for that many years ago and ended up killing my nerite snails when I put them back in the tank too soon. If you do try this, I would recommend running carbon in the tank for a while before getting shrimps, just in case. Use a small amount of carbon and change it every couple of days for best effect.

Plymouth Discus is the place to look for wormer plus, both the shop itself or Ebay/Amazon. It is a powder and the smallest pack I could find when the fish had camallanus worms last year was the amount to treat 500 gallons. The dosage is 0.3g, or one scoop (provided) per 136 litres. You won't need much for your tank!

Hello Shrimpers,

Well, it's now 10 weeks since I first set up the tank............and at long, long last I HAVE SHRIMPS !!   

Today, I purchased 4 "Red Cherries" and 4 "Red Fire Cherries" from two different LFS's. The first batch was 2 males and 2 females, both of which were "holding" according to the manager. I asked him if he meant "berried", and he looked at me as if I was from another planet! The second batch look like all females, but I'm not sure as they are all quite small. I really can't tell the two "types" apart, (Red Fire etc.) as they are all quite red - much more so than I had expected.

I took a couple of hours to acclimatise them, and they have been in the tank now for about two hours, and seem to be OK so far. I have seen them on the bogwood, Java Moss, filter, and plants, and they look as though they are eating. So, without more ado, ........ I'm off to the pub to celebrate 

Thank you all for your support and advice, it was much appreciated,

                                   Skittler