[Dave B]

What the heck is this? It seems pretty harmless now but it seems to be slowly growing in numbers. It first appeared a week ago just after I redid about half of my tank. I think this may only be the first wave. Water change tonight.

 

[Dave B]

No idea where it came from. This doesn't sound good. So is it an algae or a parasite? It may have detected me because it's not there any more. Research time.

 

[Dave B]

Thanks Steve. I'm going to do a water change tonight, and I guess every few days for a while. Will that starve the remaining hydra? I dread trying to gather up all the fish but the ammonium nitrate idea could be a future option. How will the plants handle it? So far most of the research that I have done concerns itself with tanks with fry and not planted tanks.
Any other ideas are appreciated.

 

[Dave B]

Your info is so appreciated. These are strange creepy little creatures. The water change took some out but I still see a few. Will fluke tabs have any negative effect on the plants, fish, or shrimp? I think my LFS will get a visit tomorrow.

 

[Dave B]

Here is some interesting reading that I found regarding my new little "monsters." It figures I have to get critters in my tank that are actually named after a Greek monster.
I wonder what they could be eating in my tank. I have no fry (maybe some shrimp eggs) and I feed the fish flake food only. Hmmm... Maybe they will starve. Maybe they have been dormant in my tank. I have done some big changes regarding KH, GH, and PH. All are higher because I am installing a new Co2 system and I am trying new methods to keep these water parameters. I guess I should start to cycle a quarantine tank for my fish and shrimp in case these things start to grow in numbers.

http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Hydra.htm
http://home.clara.net/xenotoca/hydra.htm
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cach...zoleArticle.pdf+aquarium+hydra&hl=en&ie=UTF-8