How free of other organisms do people like their vivariums/Aquariums?

[ethan]

My tanks are real habitats :happy: I have : water boatmen, back swimmers, red worms, damselfly and dragonfly larvae, caddisfly larvae, Mosquito larvae, a GIANT ( 5cm ) water spider, 5 water beetles, whirligig beetles, two 10cm water scorpions, Mosquitofish and many smaller critters too. This, and my 2 axolotls make my 3.5 foot tank quite full, but I don't mind, as long as they don't hurt my Axolotls! 3 years, so far so good

 

[Azhael]

I just found for the very first time that one of my tanks has Hydra and a lot of it too xD Where they came from i couldn´t possibly say but i´m hoping i haven´t spread them unwittingly.
I so wish i had a microscope....
Do any of you think that there is a chance Gambusia sp. might eat Hydra?

 

[SpaceCadetHayde]

Azhael, I just had a similar situation and ended up having to clean the whole tank out. Strangely enough, it was in my Strauchii tank which doesn't have any plants or recent decoration additions that could have brought them in. I read somewhere recently that pond snails will eat hydra.

 

[Azhael]

Yeah, i heard that too, unfortunately my newts eat pond snails so it doesn´t really work for me xD
I ended up taking the tank apart and cleaning it throughly, but i have a suspition it´s not the last i see of the Hydra.

 

[evut]

I got loads of hydra in one of my tanks. It's a heavily planted walstad type set up. I didn't soak the latest plant additions in fenbendazole like I used to because I'd given up the fight against planaria. I never had any hydra so I didn't realise it was still worth doing

I have read in several places on the internet that temperatures over 40℃ kill them (one website recommended 45℃ for 5 minutes and one said 40℃ for an hour or something similar). I think it would be a nice solution - take the newts out, kill hydra, cool tank, put newts back ...job done. The websites said plants survive this ok.
Has anyone tried this? Would plants be ok? Another concern for me is polystyrene background covered in silicone...I wonder if such temperatures would do something to it.

Another option is fenbendazole - low dose should work according to shrimp people.

 

[Scorpion]

I'd love it if little critters showed up in my tanks! I welcome them!

 

[bichogrilo]

what do people have against hydra? they show up in my tank from time to time and i always thought they looked cool and am highly entertained when they catch daphnia. Just another cool lifeform to watch in my tank.:happy:

 

[evut]

Hydra can kill little creatures, like small newt larvae or young shrimps.