Think it's time to clean the tank?

[chriscoli]

Perhaps things have gone too far when the hydra are riding around on the snails.

For what it's worth though, this tank has a lot of really tiny baby plecos that make a huge mess when they eat. Nonetheless, it has been slated for complete tear-down for a few weeks.

 

[jonclark96]

How are the baby plecos doing?

 

[chriscoli]

They're just fine. Hydra don't bother them.

 

[Tony]

Cool picture.

 

[chriscoli]

Bruce laughed and did a little imitation of being a hydra holding the reins on the snail, and saying "giddy-up!"

 

[mchambers]

You seem to have recurring hydra issues. I've never seen them in my tanks, but maybe I've just missed them?

 

[Greengirl]

What are hydra? Are they harmful?

 

[Tony]

What are hydra? Are they harmful?

Correct me if I'm wrong, I think they are capable of munching very small fry/wigglers, but nothing of decent size.

 

[mchambers]

Yes, exactly:

http://www.planetinverts.com/killing_planaria_and_hydra.html

 

[Greengirl]

Wow! Where do they come from, how can some start growing in your tank? Are they in the water suply?

 

[chriscoli]

I think they get introduced on plants, most likely. They flourish under conditions where there are lots of fine particulates in the water. In this tank's case....since I'm raising baby plecos, they are getting fed Extreme Catfish Scrapers, which I find fall apart easily once in the water, and the babies really get them to disperse into the water column very quickly in their feeding frenzy.

They can indicate a problem, but I find that in my tanks it usually just means that I'm feeding something that creates particulates and that I need to vacuum the substrate more often.

 

[Frank Cowherd]

A good way to get hydra is to feed heavily with baby brine shrimp daily.

 

[chriscoli]

Oh, I'll bet! That's practically a nonstop Hydra buffet.

 

[zackcrack00]

Oh, I'll bet! That's practically a nonstop Hydra buffet.

!0.0! That's my main staple for my Krib fry! One small cube 3 times daily, plus a bit of Hikari First Bites!!! Uh-Oh!

 

[chriscoli]

I believe the key concepts here are:

1. really small size food/particles
2. lots of them

If you have a combination of these two things, the hydra are happy.

A pretty easy fix is to not overfeed.