Question Hydra Eradication Advice

[TalulahMae]

I have a colony of hydra infesting my marsilea hirsuta. Since it seems to be pretty localized to that one plant, I figured my best plan of action would be to remove just that one plant and dip it in 3% hydrogen peroxide solution to kill the hydra and remove their bodies before replacing the plant into the tank. I have a bunch of snails that I don't want to kill so I'd rather not use medications since many of them harm snails. Does this seem like a fair plan of action? If so, how long of a dip will it take to be sure that the hydra are completely dead? I'm open to suggestions if this does not seem like a wise plan, and thanks in advance for any advice.

Some tank specs: 10 U.S. gallons, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20, well planted with many snails and 2 male guppies.

 

[MrBryan723]

99.9% chance they are elsewhere in the tank as well. What kind of snails do you have? I know badder snails and many others will eat hydra. Hydrogen peroxide is fairly effective and snail safe at proper dosing and also very easy to dose. You just have to turn off your filter during dosing for a while. Some fish like mollies will eat them as well if that is an option or you already have some. You could try cutting back on your feeding for a while and force the fish to eat them.

 

[TalulahMae]

99.9% chance they are elsewhere in the tank as well. What kind of snails do you have? I know badder snails and many others will eat hydra. Hydrogen peroxide is fairly effective and snail safe at proper dosing and also very easy to dose. You just have to turn off your filter during dosing for a while. Some fish like mollies will eat them as well if that is an option or you already have some. You could try cutting back on your feeding for a while and force the fish to eat them.

I have trumpets, mini ramshorn, and at least 50 bladder snails. They are not at all interested in eating the hydra. The guppies are also not interested. I have already cut down their feedings to encourage them to eat the snail eggs, and it's only working marginally. I do love mollies but I don't know how feasible they would be for this particular tank. I would have to be sure to get only males and all the mollies available to me are HUGE compared to my guppies. I would be ok with dosing the entire tank but I'm just not sure what dosage would be effective and safe. I was mainly concerned about wiping out the main colony of hydra.

 

[TalulahMae]

After much research, I still have not found a treatment for hydra that is safe for bladder snails. Since they are so small and I have so many of them, there is no way that I can remove all the snails and killing them would create an incredible ammonia spike. Then I can't change the water and there would be snail bodies stuck rotting in there. I have found no resources on using hydrogen peroxide to dose a whole aquarium, so I'm at a loss and the problem has gotten much worse.