Re: Hydra

[Randy or Deb Carey <carey@spacestar.net>]

I feed bbs twice a day (a daily hatching of 4 tsp) and I encountered hydra only
twice in the past couple of years.  Each time I could identify the tank initially
infested and was able to keep it from spreading throughout my fishroom.  Here is
how I keep it under control.

[1] Whenever possible. what goes into one tank, does not come out and go into
another tank (unless "sterilized").  I use a baster to inject the bbs, but never
let the baster touch the tank's water.  Obviously I can't maintain this entirely
as I sometimes transfer fish/plants between tanks as needed...but such transfers
are limited.

[2] When I encounter hydra (rarely), that tank is 100% quarantined.  When I get
around to it, I apply my method for eradicating hydra:  I remove the fish to a
bare container, tear down the infected tank and sterilize it with bleach, rince
and cycle the tank for a few days, then re-introduce the fish, and keep a close
watch on the tank before I remove the 100% quarantine.  I know that several
aquarists find this extreme, but I do not have confidence (yet) in some of the
chemical treatments.  The hydra can go dormant and then re-appear, and it takes
only one hydra to transfer and then my work multiplies.

With this partial and full "quarantine" method, if hydra ever does break out, it
is in one tank (unless I recently had tranferred a fish or plant).  So IF hydra
is coming in on bbs, it is probably a single dormant hydra that gets introduced.

Wide-spread infestations (as evidently occurred to David Soares, and to others I
know) comes from free interaction of tank material and from not nipping the
problem in the bud once it emerges.  When you keep small fish and have 80 tanks
as I do, a little discipline is the ounce of prevention which offsets the pound
of cure.

--Randy


Erik Olson wrote:

> It may also sneak in with the brine shrimp eggs.  The population of it
> definitely increases based on the availability of micro-food for it, such
> as baby brine shrimp.  Ours has steadily decreased as we switch from BBS
> to larger Daphnia and mosquito larvae, but seems to come back once we go
> back to larger feedings of BBS.  I remember Soares' tanks were just
> covered in them when we visited; he feeds BBS almost exclusively.




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@majordomo.pobox.com.
For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
email apisto-request@majordomo.pobox.com.
Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!