hydra and baby shrimp

[cowfish7]

So I have just started seeing baby RCS shrimplets. Yea!
But I also found some hydra.
I suspect I got the hydra from a marimo ball I got for the shrimps. I rinsed it, but not a lot. I know it had copepods for a while.
I also do not overfeed, especially since the shrimps are not very interested in the food I have given.

Have hand picked what I could see...probably 10 hydra so far in my 29gal.
Any hope of handpicking being effective? Also, I'm a little confused as to what hydra actually eat.

Pulled some gravel and ornamentation. I do not like to use bleach, even diluted. Will warm/hot water kill hydra on this stuff I have removed?

Really don't know what to do now. There is no way to catch the tiny baby shrimps to relocate.
I assume the hydra are pretty well attached to the gravel and vacuuming would not help. Don't even know if it is advisable to vacuum with tiny shrimplets around??

Have several berried females, but my other tank has fish in it, and may not have enough hiding places for the soon-to-be baby shrimps. Plus I don't know how dangerous it would be to have the berried females dealing with the pesky bloodfin tetras.


What a huge hassle, and I just don't know what to do now!

 

[cowfish7]

I just checked the planetinverts site and read their info about using Fenbendazole. I guess I will resort to this if I have to.
Would still like to know what people think about vacuuming gravel with baby shrimps. Obviously I would do it slow and careful and check the drain bucket for babies. I did vacuum before the babies arrived but I have noticed , even tho RCS are small, they sure make plenty of poop.

 

[azmodan]

I've found hydra impossible to get rid of without using meds personally. Remember to be extreeeemely careful using stuff like nets/aquascaping tools/water changers as they can spread to other tanks easily too. Good luck with the fenb!

 

[Fishfur]

Also be extremely careful if you are handpicking them. If you damage a hydra, every cell can generate a new hydra ! They are, effectively, immortal. Their cells don't age, and they're studied because of it.

They are similar to jelly fish, as they have toxic venom in tiny nematocysts in the tentacles, which fire off at anything that comes close by. If the 'prey' is close enough and small enough, the tentacles begin to close around it right after they fire off the cysts, think poison darts.. and draw the prey toward the mouth, at the base of the tentacles.

They don't eat a baby shrimp as they are too large for hydra, but their toxic darts can kill baby shrimps that get too close.

They can close their tentacles and move on the glass or other surfaces much as a worm moves, and will resemble a worm in this mode. But they are seeking a place to attach their foot, which sticks to whatever they are on, allowing them to stand and spread the tentacles.

Many fish will eat them, but such fish would also eat the shrimplets, sadly. Spixi snails will eat hydra too, but they are not the swiftest method to use, and I would not put it past a Spixi to eat a shrimp too, they are quite carnivorous. Mainly eat other snails, like assasins, but are actually related to Mystery snails. Half the size of a Mystery snail.

If you have enough that you can hand pick ten, I'd get meds to deal with them, as they may put a dent in your baby shrimp population.. it's more bad luck than anything they do on purpose, but the result is the same.

 

[cowfish7]

Still haven't decided what to do.
Haven't found any hydra for 24 hours, altho pretty sure I saw a planaria zooming around on the glass.

Have come across the No Planaria product. It does treat hydra, right?
Not sure how one would choose between Fenbendazole and No Planaria? Is NP more of a preventative and not for treatment?

I still gotta nail down the dosing instructions on the Fenbendazole.

The Fenbendazole worries me with respect to it's safety (remember, I have tiny baby shrimp) and maybe NoPlanaria is safer??

Blegh, gotta figure out how to disinfect the nets I am using, too.

 

[Fishfur]

NO Planaria is safe for shrimp and fish, but it is deadly to snails. It is persistent in the tank, so IF you have snails, or want to have them later on, be aware it can take two or more thorough gravel washings to remove No Planaria, so that snails would survive. It is especially toxic to Nerites, but it kills all snails.

Fenbendazole is considered safe for all shrimps, even baby ones. But you must be very careful not to overdose. It can alter pH slightly, not likely enough to bother shrimps, and I know a number of people who have used it successfully.

The article on Planet Inverts is a good one to refer to, for how to use Fenben' , and it is also used to worm fish, and dogs and other animals.

Fenbendazole is, like No Planaria, toxic to snails, though accounts vary as to whether is kills them all or only some snails. lt does affect mystery and nerite snails, but is not as persistent in the tank after use as No Planaria is.

No PLanaria is based on extract from the Betel palm nut. There's a very technical article here, if you are interested in reading more about it.

http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/academicjournals/rjmp/2011/145-152.pdf

 

[Darkseid76]

If you can get a small tub/bucket you can just vacuum up all the shrimplets into that and thoroughly clean the tank.

Just net the larger shrimp and add them to same bucket. As long as you have an established filter you can have the tank up and running in as little as 2 days.

An added benefit is the chance to rescape the tank too!