Help! Hydra!
 

"Elaine T" wrote in message
. com...
Marco Schwarz wrote:
Hi..


Putting a Hydra eater in the tank temporarily seems ideal,


1: I'm no friend of function animal tanks!

I find biological control of undesirable critters more reliable and
safer for other tank inhabitants than chemical control. But to each
his own!

2: Macropodus opercularis: I've been keeping them for
(about) 30 years now. They do not really like eating hydra!

3: M. opercularis and Gouramis need special tanks.

Special? What do you mean? I've kept pearl, 3-spot, and dwarf
gouramis in community tanks just fine. I can see where M. opercularis
might want calmer water and less company.

4: Hydra - what kind of hydra (color!) do you have?

Clearish white, with 6 tentacles. Probably H. vulgaris.

5: Hydra generally eat micro organism and generally multiply
in tanks with micro organism.

Ny reading says they eat somewhat larger critters. Their main diet is
daphnia, cyclops, and chydorus. They also eat insect larvae, small
annelid worms, and rotifers. All of these should be visible as flecks
or tiny critters in the water column.

In my tank, I'm guessing they're living on tiny bits of the shrimp
pellets I drop in the tank for the shrimp. I've started feeding the
shrimp more algae and have dropped the shrimp pellets to twice a week
to see if it helps.

the Hydra. I read on the Krib that mystery snails will
eat Hydra.


6: Mystery snails? I only know "normal" snails! ;-)

Normal snails? I have at least three species of snails cruising around
my tanks and I wouldn't know which to even call normal. ;-) Mystery
snails (apple snails) are Pomacea bridgesii. They're the big black or
yellow snails usually available in aquarium shops.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
PGP public key available at https://keyserver1.pgp.com/

Elaine (FYI), Marco is ... a foreigner. His command of English is not
too bad, but his grasp of our common terms is hit & miss. Good depth of
unique experience, which often does not follow typical North-American
doctrine. He started with various nontypical nontropical biotope tanks
so he has a distinctly different view on some things :o).
--
www.NetMax.tk

Help! Hydra!
 

NetMax wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
. com...

Marco Schwarz wrote:

Hi..



Putting a Hydra eater in the tank temporarily seems ideal,


1: I'm no friend of function animal tanks!

I find biological control of undesirable critters more reliable and
safer for other tank inhabitants than chemical control. But to each
his own!


2: Macropodus opercularis: I've been keeping them for
(about) 30 years now. They do not really like eating hydra!

3: M. opercularis and Gouramis need special tanks.

Special? What do you mean? I've kept pearl, 3-spot, and dwarf
gouramis in community tanks just fine. I can see where M. opercularis
might want calmer water and less company.


4: Hydra - what kind of hydra (color!) do you have?

Clearish white, with 6 tentacles. Probably H. vulgaris.


5: Hydra generally eat micro organism and generally multiply
in tanks with micro organism.

Ny reading says they eat somewhat larger critters. Their main diet is
daphnia, cyclops, and chydorus. They also eat insect larvae, small
annelid worms, and rotifers. All of these should be visible as flecks
or tiny critters in the water column.

In my tank, I'm guessing they're living on tiny bits of the shrimp
pellets I drop in the tank for the shrimp. I've started feeding the
shrimp more algae and have dropped the shrimp pellets to twice a week
to see if it helps.


the Hydra. I read on the Krib that mystery snails will
eat Hydra.


6: Mystery snails? I only know "normal" snails! ;-)

Normal snails? I have at least three species of snails cruising around
my tanks and I wouldn't know which to even call normal. ;-) Mystery
snails (apple snails) are Pomacea bridgesii. They're the big black or
yellow snails usually available in aquarium shops.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
PGP public key available at https://keyserver1.pgp.com/


Elaine (FYI), Marco is ... a foreigner. His command of English is not
too bad, but his grasp of our common terms is hit & miss. Good depth of
unique experience, which often does not follow typical North-American
doctrine. He started with various nontypical nontropical biotope tanks
so he has a distinctly different view on some things :o).

Good to know. I'll stick to Latin names then. There's nothing quite
like a common dead language for clear communication. ;-) "Mystery
snail" really is a funny common name for a critter. Kind of like "Who's
on first?" I'm curious to hear more about nontropical biotope
tanks...that sounds really interesting. My own outdoor tank is tending
towards Florida natives, with mollies, blue-fin killies, and flag fish.

I actually wouldn't mind the Hyrda in my tank if I weren't trying to
breed the shrimp. They're rather interesting and don't seem to be
reproducing too fast or harming the adult shrimp.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
PGP public key available at https://keyserver1.pgp.com/

Help! Hydra!
 

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 04:50:24 GMT, Elaine T
wrote:

NetMax wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
. com...

Marco Schwarz wrote:

Hi..



Putting a Hydra eater in the tank temporarily seems ideal,


1: I'm no friend of function animal tanks!

I find biological control of undesirable critters more reliable and
safer for other tank inhabitants than chemical control. But to each
his own!


2: Macropodus opercularis: I've been keeping them for
(about) 30 years now. They do not really like eating hydra!

3: M. opercularis and Gouramis need special tanks.

Special? What do you mean? I've kept pearl, 3-spot, and dwarf
gouramis in community tanks just fine. I can see where M. opercularis
might want calmer water and less company.


4: Hydra - what kind of hydra (color!) do you have?

Clearish white, with 6 tentacles. Probably H. vulgaris.


5: Hydra generally eat micro organism and generally multiply
in tanks with micro organism.

Ny reading says they eat somewhat larger critters. Their main diet is
daphnia, cyclops, and chydorus. They also eat insect larvae, small
annelid worms, and rotifers. All of these should be visible as flecks
or tiny critters in the water column.

In my tank, I'm guessing they're living on tiny bits of the shrimp
pellets I drop in the tank for the shrimp. I've started feeding the
shrimp more algae and have dropped the shrimp pellets to twice a week
to see if it helps.


the Hydra. I read on the Krib that mystery snails will
eat Hydra.


6: Mystery snails? I only know "normal" snails! ;-)

Normal snails? I have at least three species of snails cruising around
my tanks and I wouldn't know which to even call normal. ;-) Mystery
snails (apple snails) are Pomacea bridgesii. They're the big black or
yellow snails usually available in aquarium shops.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
PGP public key available at https://keyserver1.pgp.com/


Elaine (FYI), Marco is ... a foreigner. His command of English is not
too bad, but his grasp of our common terms is hit & miss. Good depth of
unique experience, which often does not follow typical North-American
doctrine. He started with various nontypical nontropical biotope tanks
so he has a distinctly different view on some things :o).

Good to know. I'll stick to Latin names then. There's nothing quite
like a common dead language for clear communication. ;-) "Mystery
snail" really is a funny common name for a critter. Kind of like "Who's
on first?" I'm curious to hear more about nontropical biotope
tanks...that sounds really interesting. My own outdoor tank is tending
towards Florida natives, with mollies, blue-fin killies, and flag fish.

I actually wouldn't mind the Hyrda in my tank if I weren't trying to
breed the shrimp. They're rather interesting and don't seem to be
reproducing too fast or harming the adult shrimp.


Do your Blue fins reproduce?

I have a tank outside with blue fins, Mollies, and now some white
clouds. Have had the bluefins for a couple years, don't seem to be
getting anymore. Tank is a 60G.

Help! Hydra!
 

Charles wrote:

Do your Blue fins reproduce?

I have a tank outside with blue fins, Mollies, and now some white
clouds. Have had the bluefins for a couple years, don't seem to be
getting anymore. Tank is a 60G.

I only got the blue fins a month or so ago and they're juveniles. I'm
not very hopeful since all of the baby mollies have been eaten. This is
a good thing really, given how mollies reproduce when unchecked. The
fry eater is probably the non-biotope weather loach I added to look
cool, eat snails, and forage the bottom. There's also a little ryukin
in the tank, temporarily housed there until I can figure out how to keep
the local racoon out of the pond. I think the ryukin is probably a bit
on the slow side to be a very effective predator on much other than snails.

Once the blue fins grow and I can sex them I may move a pair indoors to
see if I can breed them. They're neat fish - I've never had
nonaggressive, shoaling killies before.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
PGP public key available at https://keyserver1.pgp.com/

Help! Hydra!
 

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:27:06 GMT, Elaine T
wrote:

Charles wrote:

Do your Blue fins reproduce?

I have a tank outside with blue fins, Mollies, and now some white
clouds. Have had the bluefins for a couple years, don't seem to be
getting anymore. Tank is a 60G.

I only got the blue fins a month or so ago and they're juveniles. I'm
not very hopeful since all of the baby mollies have been eaten. This is
a good thing really, given how mollies reproduce when unchecked. The
fry eater is probably the non-biotope weather loach I added to look
cool, eat snails, and forage the bottom. There's also a little ryukin
in the tank, temporarily housed there until I can figure out how to keep
the local racoon out of the pond. I think the ryukin is probably a bit
on the slow side to be a very effective predator on much other than snails.

Once the blue fins grow and I can sex them I may move a pair indoors to
see if I can breed them. They're neat fish - I've never had
nonaggressive, shoaling killies before.


I think I mat have one young one in the batch, I suppose they eat
their young. I had a problem feeding mine, during mosquito season
they like the wigglers, but they didn't want to take flake food.
Since I added the mollies the blue-fins became a little more brave and
will take the flakes. A pond store near here sells them, mixed with
Gambusia, as mosquito fish, but they let me sort out the ones I
wanted. I wish I knew how to breed them, or raise the young, at
least, mine are ginning a bit long in the tooth, I'm afraid I might
lose them.

Help! Hydra!
 

Charles wrote:
On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:27:06 GMT, Elaine T
wrote:


Charles wrote:


Do your Blue fins reproduce?

I have a tank outside with blue fins, Mollies, and now some white
clouds. Have had the bluefins for a couple years, don't seem to be
getting anymore. Tank is a 60G.

I only got the blue fins a month or so ago and they're juveniles. I'm
not very hopeful since all of the baby mollies have been eaten. This is
a good thing really, given how mollies reproduce when unchecked. The
fry eater is probably the non-biotope weather loach I added to look
cool, eat snails, and forage the bottom. There's also a little ryukin
in the tank, temporarily housed there until I can figure out how to keep
the local racoon out of the pond. I think the ryukin is probably a bit
on the slow side to be a very effective predator on much other than snails.

Once the blue fins grow and I can sex them I may move a pair indoors to
see if I can breed them. They're neat fish - I've never had
nonaggressive, shoaling killies before.



I think I mat have one young one in the batch, I suppose they eat
their young. I had a problem feeding mine, during mosquito season
they like the wigglers, but they didn't want to take flake food.
Since I added the mollies the blue-fins became a little more brave and
will take the flakes. A pond store near here sells them, mixed with
Gambusia, as mosquito fish, but they let me sort out the ones I
wanted. I wish I knew how to breed them, or raise the young, at
least, mine are ginning a bit long in the tooth, I'm afraid I might
lose them.

Yes. Killies have depressingly short lifespans. I got mine from the
local aquarium society. They took flake from the start, but maybe they
followed the mollies' lead. They also eat aphids I knock off of the
plants, and supposedly algae.

I've found a couple of breeding reports.
http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/mo.../msg00071.html
http://www.millevolte.com/nativefish05.html

They're mop spawners, but nobody lists a breeding trigger. I'd guess
springtime triggers - maybe warmer temps, longer days, and greater
availability of rich food like insect larvae? If I can get eggs, I'll
move the mop to a separate container. The reports say the fry are tiny
and have to be started on infusoria and microworms.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Help! Hydra!
 

Hi..

I find biological control of undesirable critters more
reliable and safer for other tank inhabitants than
chemical control.

Stop feeding hydra and your trouble will have an end.

I can see where M. opercularis might want calmer
water and less company.

Sorry, M. opercularis is more than a fish that need calmer
water and less company.

Clearish white, with 6 tentacles. Probably H. vulgaris.

Easy to minimize. It has no symbiosis algae.

In my tank, I'm guessing they're living on tiny bits of
the shrimp pellets I drop in the tank for the shrimp.

I guess the shrimps are the reason of hydra's increase.

Mystery snails (apple snails) are Pomacea bridgesii.

P. bridgesi eat hydra - like other snail species.

--
cu
Marco

Help! Hydra!
 

Hi..

Elaine (FYI), Marco is ... a foreigner.
He started with various nontypical nontropical
biotope tanks

That's true.

so he has a distinctly different view on
some things :o).

But I had some typical tropical biotope tanks, too. :-)

--
cu
Marco

Help! Hydra!
 

Hi..

Good to know. I'll stick to Latin names then.

Scientific names. ;-)

There's
nothing quite
like a common dead language for clear communication. ;-)
^^
How many words of french (or finally latin) origin does this
sentence contain? ;-)

I'm curious to hear more about nontropical
biotope tanks...that sounds really interesting.

I'm sure you will find a way to ask your questions..
--
cu
Marco

Help! Hydra!
 

Marco Schwarz wrote:
Hi..


I find biological control of undesirable critters more
reliable and safer for other tank inhabitants than
chemical control.


Stop feeding hydra and your trouble will have an end.


I can see where M. opercularis might want calmer
water and less company.

Sorry, M. opercularis is more than a fish that need calmer
water and less company.


Out of curiosity, what conditions do you recommend for M. opercularis?
I've never kept one.

Clearish white, with 6 tentacles. Probably H. vulgaris.

Easy to minimize. It has no symbiosis algae.

In my tank, I'm guessing they're living on tiny bits of
the shrimp pellets I drop in the tank for the shrimp.

I guess the shrimps are the reason of hydra's increase.

Mystery snails (apple snails) are Pomacea bridgesii.

P. bridgesi eat hydra - like other snail species.

Thank you for the help. I'm already feeding less prepared food and more
algae. I may try Nori as mentioned in another thread. If other snails
work, I'll introduce a couple of Planorbid (ramshorn) snails. I keep
an attractive red strain around. If they don't do the trick, I'll go to
the store for a P. bridgesii.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com