..it's ALIVE!! ooh haah ahaahaaa!

[jennigypsy]

In addition to the 4 tanks I have listed in my sig, I also keep a 20 gallon 'breeder' tank....(I put a trio of emporer tetras in there a week or so ago with the hopes of a spawn....sometimes it's also a sick tank)
This tank has been running for about 2 years now...even when there aren't fish in there, there's snails, blackworms in the gravel,lots of plants....and these weird little SOMETHINGS that I just noticed last week! They're bright white...they 'crawl' along the glass at an impressive speed...when the light is off & the room is dark, then I turn the tank light on..it looks like there's lots of air bubbles in the water..but at a closer glance..it's these THINGS...they make a mad scramble for the closest aquarium wall...when they swim they almost seem to look like a shrimp or something, but they're like a really fast moving slug on the glass. I've also noticed these 'feather/fan' like creatures..they look like the 'slug' on the glass, but they stay still, and have 5-6 single arms (very fine..like hairs) that come out & sway with the current..they remind me of a salt water creature....but they're white & only about 1 cm....
ANYBODY HAVE A CLUE???? It's not the planaria worms I've seen before..these are thicker & shorter & not so wormy...

Sorry so long!
(BTW...I also noticed some emporer fry stuck to the glass..YEAH!)

[Solace]

Sounds like a Hydra to me...

[SGypsyMermaid]

...and hydra are fry-eaters.

[jennigypsy]

ooooooo......

what can I do to get rid of them???

[jennigypsy]

How did they get in there?
(what in the heck are they (hydra)?)

[aharris]

Hydra are like small, freshwater anemones. They have a stalk that sticks to the glass and little arms that wave out in the water. They have less stinging arms than an anemone and are more mobile, but they reproduce in the same way. I had them once in my 55g, but that was only after I let the water quality go into serious decline. I've never had a problem with them in any of my well-maintained tanks.

I think they hitch rides on freshwater plants among other things. Do you have any plants?

[jennigypsy]

yes there are plants...no new ones though....but I have to admit, I let that tank sit for about 3 weeks with no filter (no fish in there of course)...then before I put the tetras in, I did a water change & put a filter in...waited a week or so, checked the water ..all was OK...
Maybe they've been there all along

[lover_of_all_my_FISH]

kind of sounds like fish lice. Do they hitch rides on your fish

[jennigypsy]

not that I can see...I do think they're the dreaded stinging hydra...I can't find any of my fry now :(

[Seedy]

Bummer...as annoying as hydra are in the aquarium, I think their kinda cool! (not that I want them in my tank)...If you have a microscope, you should wet mount them and take a look, they can reproduce either asexually (budding) or sexually (I can't remember this part of their lifecycle)...If you can get a good magnified view of them you can see the "little" hydra begin to bud off of the 'adult'...creating true clones of each other...but then again... i'm kinda nuts about weird little invertabrates and parasites...(darn that parasitology class in college)

[Seedy]

This is the kinda stuff I dig...http://www.lander.edu/rsfox/310hydra.html

[jennigypsy]

seedy...are you a hydra nerd or fish geek? LOL!! <wink>
They ARE cool, I must admit....I just had no idea how harmful they were..they've been in there a while & I had commented to my hubby how neat their 'tenticles' were....
now, I just want them dead. :)

[Seedy]

I'm a total nerd...heh heh

[Trim4c]

im having touble with them right now in my 56 gallon..
but my friend told me its from feeding my flowerhorn frozen blood worms and then them coming back to life....
i dont know if thats possible or not but he knows alot about fish and keeps cichlids himself for a loooonnnggg time and im begining to belive him..lol..anyways g/l..

[SGypsyMermaid]

3 spot gouramis eat hydra.