Parasites in shrimp tanks

[aquaman]

hey guys, anybody know about aquarium parasites? I need help! I have weird things on top of gravel and glass, I've tried to Google image but unfortunately can't find and image at all they stick out of the gravel about 1/3 of an inch tall and half 3-4 small branches at the extremities, they have no color almost see through. I really don't know what to do anymore

[charlie]

Google planaria & compare.

[aquaman]

I am unsure if thats what it is. I was finally able to take a good photo.

[daworldisblack]

Hydra!

[aquaman]

  thanks for the input! any advice on how to get rid of this stuff? without hurting my shrimps?

[exv152]

thanks for the input! any advice on how to get rid of this stuff? without hurting my shrimps?

Just sticking to a good maintenance schedule, like doing 30% water changes per week etc, should be enough to get rid of them. I wouldn't resort to any meds or chemical treatments.

[aquaman]

Thanks for the advice, done alot of googling and think assasin snails are my best bet.

[aquaman]

Got some assassin snails  Hopefully will get rid of this outbreak. I'll let everybody know how it goes.

[jo.jacques]

So did it work?

[bettabreeder]

cutting back on the amount of food works as well. There were reports of assassin snails killing shrimp after a molt so I'd be cautious with them.

[wrm130]

I've occasionally seen hydra in my tanks that have 100+ assassins....even a 6g nano with roughly 20 assassins had a hydra here or there.

Also, assassins do NOT eat healthy shrimp.  I've got hundreds of both and it just doesnt happen.

[angelcraze]

Agreed.  Assassin snails do not eat hydra, at least not very efficiently.  I have a 46g with at least 50 assassins, and I recently had a hydra outbreak.  I plan on dealing with it by syphoning them carefully out with w/c s.  They stick to the leaves of plants and the glass, so I have also taken a sponge and wiped the glass section by section and rinsed the sponge everytime in a separate bucket of hot water, in which I don't believe the hydra can survive.

If out of control, it can become a nuisance, since these freshwater adapted predators can sting, paralyze and consume small shrimplets and even fry (I've heard) , but with regular water changes, I've never seen it to cause a big problem.

[blueknight0303]

i always get this things on my new shrimp tanks... assassin snails are useless. what i did to get rid of them is by feeding the shrimps the right amount once a week and low current. as in little to close to no current on your tank. hydras feed of any floating food on your tank. and they will feast on baby shrimps..  i hope your tank is planted. =)