Fighting the Mighty Hydra in the Aquarium

[dc]

The freshwater hydra is quickly infesting my apistogramma tank. I am well
aware with this tiny beast's regenerative and procreative powers. I have
done a fair amount of digging around on how to destroy these creatures, and
the only reliable method appears to be treatment with a medication called
Dactycid or any anti-snail remedy that contains the chemical flubendazole
as one of the main active ingredients.

I haven't found any of these products in my LFS. Anyone know where I could
find these chemicals--deliverable to Canada--on the Web or elsewhere?

[NetMax]

"dc" > wrote in message
...
> The freshwater hydra is quickly infesting my apistogramma tank. I am
> well
> aware with this tiny beast's regenerative and procreative powers. I
> have
> done a fair amount of digging around on how to destroy these creatures,
> and
> the only reliable method appears to be treatment with a medication
> called
> Dactycid or any anti-snail remedy that contains the chemical
> flubendazole
> as one of the main active ingredients.
>
> I haven't found any of these products in my LFS. Anyone know where I
> could
> find these chemicals--deliverable to Canada--on the Web or elsewhere?

From the Advanced Aquarist Guide, Dr.Ghadially
Hydra are rather particular about water conditions and temperature, and
can hence be destroyed in many ways: i) Raising the temperature to 105F
for 15 minutes after the removal of the fish, ii) Ammonium nitrate
method, 300mg/g, repeat after 4 days if required, iii) Quinine, chlorine,
formaldehyde, copper sulphate etc are all equally effective, though
needlessly drastic, iv) Gouramis, Paradise fish and pond snails are all
reported to eat Hydra. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Mean_Chlorine]

Thusly dc > Spake Unto All:

>the only reliable method appears to be treatment with a medication called
>Dactycid or any anti-snail remedy that contains the chemical flubendazole
>as one of the main active ingredients.

Fenbendazol will also kill them, as will raising salinity to 3 parts
per thousand (grams per liter) for two weeks. No, that salinity wont
hurt your fish but may kill sensitive plants.
Formaldehyde/malachite green, as is found in many ich medications,
will kill them (and many other things, including some fish).
If you search the net you may also find claims that various fish eat
hydras (although IMO none of the mentioned fish actually do except
possibly as a very last resort), and also use of various forms of
copper to kill hydras (and it works, but it also kills all other
inverts, will damage plants and bacteria, and may harm your fish).

>I haven't found any of these products in my LFS. Anyone know where I could
>find these chemicals--deliverable to Canada--on the Web or elsewhere?

Cat or dog de-worming medications. Pulverize the tablet and sprinkle
on surface. Although flubendazol/fenbendazol are in theory insoluble
in water, in practice enough will dissolve to kill the hydras. It will
also kill snails, but not shrimp.

I find myself hesitant to write this partly because hydras are
harmless - in my experience they do not eat even fry much smaller than
your apistos, although they will of course compete with the fry for
food - and I therefore feel this is a somewhat frivolous use of these
antiparasitic medications, and secondly because nine times out of ten
medication in aquaria create more problems than it solves.

The real trick, of course, is knowing when the tenth time is.