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Question: Help me ID these
zooplankton? in my freshwater tank! 5/4/09
Hello,
I was observing my 16gallon tropical freshwater tank today and noticed what
first appeared to be small translucent white debris on the inside of the
aquarium wall.? Upon closer observation, I realized that these are some sort
of plankton stuck on the wall of the tank, probably about 0.25mm body with 5
thin, longish tentacles sticking out from them.? I am noticing that these
tentacles are ever so slightly moving, extending, then curving towards the
"body", as if marine corals or sea anemone might feed.
<They're a Cnidarian called Hydra, and yes, they are somewhat closely
related to corals and anemones, though surprisingly perhaps, more closely
related to the Portuguese Man o' War.>
I tried my best to photograph these guys and circled them on Photoshop.?
I've found what appears to be copepods in my tank before... which are pretty
well known and there are plenty of photos on the web to help ID them.? But
these things, I have no clue what they are, or whether they are beneficial,
harmless, or harmful.?
<Somewhere in the middle. Hydra can and will eat baby fish, potentially as
large as newborn Guppies, and would probably also be a threat to newly
hatched freshwater shrimps as well. On the other hand, they are too small to
be of any threat to adult fish.>
I hope you will be able to help ID them!? Thank you so much in advance.
Sascha
<Fascinating animals, and well worth observing! Cheers, Neale.
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Freshwater Aiptasia? Almost As Bad.... Hydra! - 04/29/2006
Hi Crew,
<Hi, Monte!>
I have a question, Is there such a thing as Fresh Water Aiptasia?
<No, but I know EXACTLY where this is going.>
I have what appears to be several small Aiptasia on my plants and tank walls.
The main single body is green and it has about four to five tentacles on top.
They are to small right now for a good picture but as soon as I can get one I
will forward one to you.
<No need, I can tell you precisely what they are from your description. If I'm
wrong on this, I'll buy you a drink (but you'll have to come to Santa Cruz to
cash in on it!). They're Hydra.>
Also I have some very small flea looking bugs down around the gravel, they're
white, oval and very fast, they don't seem to be hurting anything just wondering
what they might be and if I should try to eradicate them.
<Not sure on these, perhaps Daphnia or Moina.... there are VERY many small
invertebrates that fit this description. They're probably completely harmless.>
Here are the tank inhabitance:
75gal planted tank
These are the only survivors of many fish, (Too many, Too fast, Too quick).
<You've learned your lesson, I trust?>
Two silver hatchets
Two Otos
<When/if the Hydra "take over", the Otos may suffer "stings" from them.>
Plants:
Duckweed
Java Fearn
Dwarf Sagittaria
Anubias Barteri
Vallisneria Spiralis
Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Red
I'm working on getting it ready for four to five Discus and a school of about 30
Cardinal tetras. It's been running for about three months now and I've been back
and forth with algae blooms.
<To be expected with new-ish tanks.>
I believe I have that under control as of now, but it will be a few more months
before I purchase the Discus and Cardinals as I'm waiting on two large pieces of
Malaysian drift wood.
<Sounds nice.>
Any help would be much appreciated.
<I, personally, would eliminate the Hydra for a few reasons. For one, you can't
share plants with folks who don't want Hydra. For two, those Otos may suffer
for 'em. For three, the discus may have trouble with their young getting
damaged or killed by Hydra, should they choose to reproduce. Please take a look
here to find my experience with eradicating Hydra with Fenbendazole: http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/thread.jsp?forum=46&thread=10186&message=83268
(incidentally, I'm "vintage_fish" in the forum.)>
Keep up the great work.
<Thanks, mate!>
Monte
<Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
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Freshwater things
- 01/09/2006
Not sure if you can help without a picture; recently some little (1/4"-) things
growing on the wall of the aquarium. they look like a cross between a tube worm
and anemone (sp?)- little tube like body with 5 arms waving in the
currents. any ideas?
>> It is a freshwater invertebrate called Hydra, it is harmless for larger fish
but will eat and kill small fry. You should be able to get rid of them by not
feeding your fish for 4-5 days. If you have many of them you may be overfeeding
your fish.
Good Luck, Oliver
Hydra, discus
Hello, I really need to know something bad I have had from time to time in
my discus tank which is a 125 gallon with a 350 magnum and two double bio wheels
on back, tank has been up for 2and 1 half years do water changes ones a week
on it 35 gallons at a time. my fish have darted around and had to dip one in
salt before I noticed today one was darting again, last week I saw some things
on glass quite a few look like hydra (octopuses) trying to buy Flubendazole? do
you have some or no ? do you think this is my problem? have had a lot of my fish
for as long as the tank but have lost some too,, Hexamita?????? you have a great
site this is my first time on looked for information on this could not see sorry
to bother but looks like your the man????? thanks Kathy
< First of all I would do some water quality tests to start. Check the ammonia,
should read zero. Second check the nitrites, should also read zero. Then the
nitrates, should be less than 25 ppm. With the BioWheels the ammonia and nitrite
should not be a problem. If the nitrates are a problem then they need to reduced
with either larger or more frequent water changes. Service the filters. I know
that servicing these canister filters can be a hassle but a filter only collects
waste so it can removed by you and taken out of the system. I would vacuum the
gravel too. This gets rid of all kinds of waste that can contribute to a nitrate
problem. Now that we know the water is clean the fish should be looking better
and have more resistance to disease. Watch your feeding so all the food is
getting eaten in a couple minutes each time. If the problem persists then I
would start looking at the pH. A high pH can be irritating to a fish use to soft
acidic water from the Amazon. An RO unit may be needed to soften and acidify the
water. The water temp should be around 80 degrees. Clean ,warm, soft acidic
water should have your discus looking and acting like true champs. But if there
is still a problem and they are not getting better then I would isolate the fish
in a quarantine tank and treat with Kanamycin. The hydra by themselves are no
danger to your discus unless you have small babies in the tank. Once you take
care of all the environmental factors then I think your hydra will go away with
the other problems.-Chuck>
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