Hydra?

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jammedfool
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So a quick search online for 'white specs on aquarium glass' came up with lots of posts about hydra... New one for me...
Is this it, or could it just be some kind of algae starting? I just cleaned the glass yesterday!


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Gingerlove05
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Can you get a close look at them?
Hydra are a pests and can take small fish like fry, they look a bit like a plant stem with several tentacles.
If I remember correctly they can be killed by spot dosing hydrogen peroxide, I’m sure there are other ways but thats the only one I remember off hand
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jammedfool
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I can't get much closer without my camera going blurry :/

I would describe them as they look like a comma or in some cases a semicolon.. if that makes sense..
I have peroxide on its way so whatever it is I'll get rid of them..
Unfortunately I made a number of changes so no idea which one would be likely cause...
I added ferts for the first time in the while after the last WC... Could be my home-made coco cave, could be the fact that the top section of filter hasn't been on properly for a day or so? Also I changed the direction of flow on the spray bar from straight at the back to pointing up toward the front... Cant see many specs elsewhere so maybe just to do with flow/ferts?
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4x xiphophorus pygmaeus
Cherry shrimp
2x assassin snail

80L 'stairway'
4x Cherry Barb
10x X-ray tetra
4x Amano
1x Dwarf Neon Rainbow

20L Qtank
just java moss
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VikingMummy2015
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Most likely detritus worms in that number, rather than hydra. Don’t feed the tank for a day or two and they’ll most likely get picked off.
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Parameters: gH2, kH1, pH7.4 (tap).
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black ghost
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jammedfool wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 20:44 pm
I would describe them as they look like a comma or in some cases a semicolon.. if that makes sense..
Copepods. Harmless fish food for very small fish, although bigger fish often ignore them. They feed on uneaten fish food, which means they’re a symptom of overfeeding (the tank, not the fish).


Hydra are little stems stuck to the glass at one end with tentacles at the other, as Gingerlove said.

Detritus worms are... well, worms... that live in the substrate.
jammedfool
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black ghost wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 21:13 pm
jammedfool wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 20:44 pm
I would describe them as they look like a comma or in some cases a semicolon.. if that makes sense..
Copepods. Harmless fish food for very small fish, although bigger fish often ignore them. They feed on uneaten fish food, which means they’re a symptom of overfeeding (the tank, not the fish).


Hydra are little stems stuck to the glass at one end with tentacles at the other, as Gingerlove said.

Detritus worms are... well, worms... that live in the substrate.
Copepods looks about right searching for that. I don't see any tentacles and they're not too wormy looking.. very small

I did add a pinch of flake last night in addition to the usual quarter of a cube of cyclops as I thought my poorly guppy had missed out. I'll starve them tonight, they can have live food then! And I might start starving one day a week as I see some do
Could I start a culture of these and save on feeding frozen haha?
40L nano
4x xiphophorus pygmaeus
Cherry shrimp
2x assassin snail

80L 'stairway'
4x Cherry Barb
10x X-ray tetra
4x Amano
1x Dwarf Neon Rainbow

20L Qtank
just java moss
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black ghost
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jammedfool wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 21:58 pm Could I start a culture of these and save on feeding frozen haha?
Possibly, but not all fish will eat them. And most only if they’re very hungry. :)
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Hydra is a freshwater polyp. A tube with tentacles about 8 to 12 mm in size. They eat pond plankton (Daphnia Cyclops and smaller.
They do no harm in the aquarium, but it looks bad. If you find enough food for fleas, they colonize the entire viewing window.
Ancient aquarists say: those who have Hydra feed the fish well.
When fed with artificial food, Hydra is very unlikely to appear.
Fight : Pointed horn snails from the pond (Limnaea stagnalis).
10 pieces several days. They graze the hydra. Then the snails back into the pond.
Hard method: put in a piece of copper sheet (10x10cm) with a natural skin (do not sand down). Hydra are very sensitive to copper.
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