Darrell Quadling Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I have a small 40 lt tank that has everything yes plants, glass, rocks. driftwood covered in small ( 1 to 2 mm ) white single stem what looks like sea anenomy..this is a fresh water tank...how do I get rid of them ? I am doing 25% water changes each day that is having some effect but have been told a car battery terminals in the water will get rid of this & not harm the fish ?? any comments that will help would be appriciated.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 They are a freshwater anemone and will sting and kill your fish. They are very difficult to kill - if you mash them, the must will turn into new ones. Take the wood out and pour loads of boiling water over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Salt didn't work, electrical impulses didn't work. They're called Hydra. I used a medication to get rid of them a couple years ago but it's no longer available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fattythecatty Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 throw the wood out, find some new wood. Easy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I believe copper kills hydra. Extremely effectively. Will also kill snails etc. Have a look on the net, there should be details on what to use and how much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 6 mls of 35% formalin/100 litres kills hydra in 24 hours and I am told it will not affect fish or plant. Siphon bottom in 24 hours. It doesn't worry plant but I haven't tried it on fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Potassium Permanganate kills it AFAIK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Nov 2007 Aquarium World has an article about it by billaney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Nov 2007 Aquarium World has an article about it by billaney i just e-mails a copy of the article to the poster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHBR Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 For a non-chemical route, you could borrow someones blue gourami. They love hydra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Does anyone have a pic of this? I've googled and so far am getting some kind of mythical creature. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 the picture at the bottom is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_%28genus%29 Also some interesting info. It was named after the Hydra which was a Greek many-headed dog or serpent or both or something... They are actually pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Thanks Stella, that is interesting. How would they end up in a person's aquarium though? Did I miss something as to "where" they come from? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 like anything, they just spread from wherever they lived first and came on whatever carried them. Like snails coming in on plants, they probably came in that way. As a hydra can grow from a bit of hydra it wouldn't be hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Quadling Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 ok so I got a 6v battery the one with the spring terminal..wired it up & have been cooking the little sukkers for 3 hours..then 75 % h2o change with same again tomorrow..looking good & fish swiming around like they have had a good day..no sign if the beast..watch this space.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 The electricity does exactly squat. What you're doing is dumping copper from the wire into the water. As everyone knows, copper is extremely toxic to most invertebrates. There are many ways much easier to dose the tank with copper than roundabout way like running electricity through a wire in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Quadling Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 hi thanks for your comment I recall from some 35 years ago placing copper pennies in the tank to combat ...?? memory fails me, the price of old age, I also put in a new 10 c peice so that my be helping..with a bit of luck...darrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 If you are going to treat with copper you would be better to use chelated copper where the copper is used in conjunction with citric acid which slows the toxicity to the fish. Many fish (eg. killies) are very sensitive to copper, even chelated copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I also put in a new 10 c peice so that my be helping..with a bit of luck...darrell They're nickel plated steel. Only purpose that will serve is to make your wallet 10 cents lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtur Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 The battery trick works best with copper wires, as the electricity causes copper ions from the wire to end up in the water (don't ask me the tech stuff of this, I'm not smart enough to explain it properly). Obviously copper is not good for any inverterbrate, so remove all snails, shrimps etc. Doing a water change next day will lower the dissolved copper level in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Quadling Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 They're nickel plated steel. Only purpose that will serve is to make your wallet 10 cents lighter. look like copper to me well will just have to find some pennies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 An old fashioned cure for whitespot was to add a penny or copper wool and remove it when the snails started crawling out of the water as they are more sensitive to copper. The battery works the same way as electro plating copper or any metal but only works in acid conditions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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