Hydra!

[Rev]

I've been battling hydra for a decent while now. My tank is absolutely infested with bladder snails, so they've mostly kept it under control so I haven't had to worry. Just as soon as I notice it, next day it's gone. But now it's finally getting out of control, it's spread a lot, and a few days ago I found a bunch of baby shrimp. So I need to jump on this before the hydra really does a number on them. I haven't seen them kill any of the shrimp but don't doubt it's happened by now. My understanding is safeguard is my best option. It will kill all the snails but I don't care too much about them, I didn't want the bladder snails anyways. I have a couple nerites I'd prefer in the tank, but have left out because I added an assassin snail to hunt the bladder snails. Anyways, don't mind losing the snails, I'll keep on top of water changes to keep down possible rising ammonia levels.

So, I'm going to pick up some safeguard hopefully tonight, if not tomorrow morning. I have a 10g tank, what should my dosage be? Also when I've looked up safeguard online, there's a bunch of different packaging, is there a specific one that I should be getting? And how many days or weeks after dosing should I be waiting before safely re adding snails to the tank again.

Thanks!

 

[Coradee]

Giving this a bump up for you hope you get some responses today

 

[Debbie1986]

I had a hydra outbreak but it was short lived as it was in a betta tank ( it hi-jacked a ride in with some plants)

Hydra in a Shrimp Tank. Treatment. - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

oh this is a really good read!

Medication against Hydra
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
that sounds great to me. I'd try this first before meds.

Regardless, good luck & let us know how it goes.

 

[StarGirl]

Ive heard the dog wormer that kills Planeria kills hydra also. Fenbendazole. I guess that is safeguard?

 

[Rev]

I had a hydra outbreak but it was short lived as it was in a betta tank ( it hi-jacked a ride in with some plants)

Hydra in a Shrimp Tank. Treatment. - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

oh this is a really good read!

Medication against Hydra
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
that sounds great to me. I'd try this first before meds.

Regardless, good luck & let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the link! I'll give it a read. Personally not crazy about using hydrogen peroxide. That worries me way more than medication. My tank is pretty infested with hydra right now, it's almost everywhere that I look, so I'm kinda at the point where I'm all in to get rid of it. Ready to go nuclear right off the bat.

Ive heard the dog wormer that kills Planeria kills hydra also. Fenbendazole. I guess that is safeguard?

Yup! Same thing. safeguard just a name of a brand. Fenbendazole is the active ingredient.

 

[Rev]

So quick update! I ran around to a bunch of local petstores and couldn't find any dewormers. Absolutely baffled me. I found a couple at one store but they were all $40-60 and no way I'm spending that much, I don't need that much fenbendazole. So I had to order some online instead. It finally arrived yesterday and I does my tank. Surprisingly none of the snails in the tank have died yet. From everything I heard this stuff just straight up kills them. But! It has been making quick work of the hydra. A lot of it has wilted and turned brown, others are just stumps left. I'ts been just over 24 hours now.

I'm going to dose again tomorrow, hopefully that kills off the rest of the hydra. Haven't had any fish or shrimp die as a result of dosing yet so all looking good! I've seen a lot more shrimp out and about now as the hydra has been dying, it's much more fun to look at.

 

[richiep]

I thought I answered this problem when first posted but can't find it anyway
Just make sure when using fenbendazole you don't overdose

 

[Rev]

I thought I answered this problem when first posted but can't find it anyway
Just make sure when using fenbendazole you don't overdose

Yup! Definitely trying to make sure my dosage is accurate. Mixing 1g packets with 100ml of water and then taking 10ml with a syringe. Would you suggest a water change before dosing again?

 

[richiep]

Do your second dose but keep an eye on your shrimp they will be the first affected if there's an overdose, if they all start to stand still within an hour or so do a 50% water change this will dilute the fenbendazole

 

[Rev]

Do your second dose but keep an eye on your shrimp they will be the first affected if there's an overdose, if they all start to stand still within an hour or so do a 50% water change this will dilute the fenbendazole

Alright! Will do thank you