# Alien Algae or....?



## Yeaulman (Jun 23, 2005)

Ok so I have a 10g shrimp tank with sponge filtration and a 50w heater. I have 55W of 8000K PC lighting with a MIRO4 reflector from AH supply. I know I should be fertilizing and injecting with CO2 with that much light, but I dont really have an algae problem.

The one funny thing is, I was looking at the glass closely cause there were these few green spots all over. I looked close and it looked like some weird plant growing there. They are about as thick as a human hair, maybe a bit more, about 1/4" long and have 6 tentacles at the end (like tentacles around a mouth kinda). When I touch it with my long tip tweezers, it compresses into a little hump on the glass.

What the HECK is this.....

And NO I am not joking about this.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

It's a hydra.

http://www.microscope-microscope.org/gallery/hydra-187h.jpg

Not an algae, it's actually an animal. I'm pretty sure it'll eat any shrimplets if it gets a hold of them.

Dosing the tank with 10% Formalin will kill them, but I'm not sure how sensitive your shrimp are.

Cut down on your feeding and crush as many of them as you can. That's what I did in my community tank. They haven't come back.


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## Yeaulman (Jun 23, 2005)

Are they bad? I dont want to dose anything with my shrimp as I have lost a few to excel. So thats why I dont do fertilizing.

And how do they come into the tank?


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

They're "parasites" I guess you could say. They could potentially eat baby shrimplets so I recommend getting rid of them.

Not sure how they get into tanks. Do a Google search on them.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

They are actually crustaceans that are harmless to adult fish but can catch fry, therefore would be caple of catching small shrimp. They either got into your tank from plants or feeding lots of brine. There is two ways to get rid of them. One is treating with organophosphate treatments and the other is copper sulfate (harmful to plants and inverts). Don't smash them because pieces left can form new hydro.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Hydra aren't crustaceans but Cnidarians, related to anemones, jellyfish and corals. They look just like an individual polyp with a simple mouth and tentacles to grab their food. And they don't have an anus, just a mouth! An important diagnostic feature for a Cnidarian, but rather disgusting if you are one I suppose!

Some fish, like gouramis will apparently eat them too. They're pests maybe, but definitely not parasites.


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## Yeaulman (Jun 23, 2005)

Ok, how do I get rid of them WITHOUT dosing anything as I dont want to lose any shrimp.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

ed seeley said:


> Hydra aren't crustaceans but Cnidarians, related to anemones, jellyfish and corals.


I stand corrected  I had a brain fart!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Yeaulman said:


> Ok, how do I get rid of them WITHOUT dosing anything as I dont want to lose any shrimp.


I don't know of any. Double check this, but organophosphate treatments (dimethyl phosphate,also called phosphonate) should be safe for shrimp.


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

I have had hydra appear in a few of my tanks over the years. Each time they have appeared and disappeared after a couple of weeks. 

I would just be patient and do nothing. 

That sure is a lot of light for that tank. Bet your plants grow like crazy!


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## jason311 (Oct 30, 2006)

Yup just give it a few weeks and they will go away.I had a problem with them not to long ago.I didn't do anything and now they are gone.


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## Yeaulman (Jun 23, 2005)

Plants are growing really slow with no fertilizers, I tried adding fertilizers before but lost too many shrimp, so I stopped.


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