Hydra Infestation

I have noticed a pretty severe hydra infestation in my tank. I went out and got a couple mollies as I heard they would eat the hydra, unfortunately they don't seem to be doing the job. I don't know what to do because I have a planted tank and I have invertebrates in my tank. Most medications that have been suggested to me are not plant or invertebrate safe. I have had some suggestions that if I use Seachem ParaGuard in low dosages my invertebrates should be fine. I need advice on medications that will get rid of the hydra completely but that will be safe for my plants and the invertebrates?

 

This should sort you out quick. Can get from Aqua Empire in Randburg.

 

Hydra are tricky, in my opinion, the best way is to regularly siphon them out with a small hose, don't squish them in the aquarium as they can regenerate themselves...I know right appears they are almost immortal..so manual removal is really the best solution
The cause is often overfeeding, so maybe start feeding less per day and skip one or even 2 days a week completely...I know this sounds WRONG but your shrimps will be fine specially if the aquarium is heavily planted.
Keep a close eye on the fish, if they are not eating the hydra they may be eating your shrimplets..
Hope someone else with more experience will chime in..

Oh and welcome to the forum

 

Also had a problem with Hydra a couple months back. I searched all over and asked all around and the common answer was overfeeding.
What worked for me was to only feed what the fish consumed in 60 seconds and every second day. Anything that went uneaten i siphoned out. After about 2 weeks i saw a definite decrease and after a month they were not visible anymore.
I also made sure my water changes were done and filters checked and cleaned.
Here is a link to a site i visit regularly for advice. Pretty good explanation as well.

https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascapin...ter polyps get,themselves with the house dust.

 

The Genchem no planaria is hard to find you can always try nature boys D-worm , it should help with the planaria
https://natureboys.co.za/product/d-worm/

 

Hi @Sabrina,

Welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear you battling with those buggers
The advice given above is 100%Long term, watching how much you feed is definitely the way forward and keeping up regular waterchanges
Siphoning uneaten food and debris from the bottom of the tank ( i know its not so easy with a planted tank but use a thin air pipe to do it gently) all helps to keep them away

Good luck

 

Thank you, went and got it and it has worked perfectly.

 

Glad to hear that. Just remember, as others have said, you need to identify the source of the problem and correct it.