Jackaroni

Yikes! I thought Enders would be a good companion for the Cherry Shrimp that I was planning on getting.

I'm not sure, but I think that one of my Nerite snails may be feasting on the Hydra. I watched as the snail approached one Hydra that had tentacles extended and when the snail got close, the Hydra curled up into a ball like it was terrified. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I have a 12 gallon book shelf tank that has recently finished cycling, but still has an over abundance of algae, although it is diminishing. I currently have a crew of Amano shrimp and a couple of Nerite snails to help with clean up, but have now discovered that I have Hydra, A LOT of tiny Hydra. I am not adding any food to the tank as there is plenty of algae to feed the current occupants, so I don't understand why I have this Hydra outbreak. I am planning on adding Endlers once the algae is under control and would like to know if they will eat the Hydra? Should I just get a Molly or a Sparkling Gourami first to take care of the Hydra and just toss them in my 55 gallon tank once they've eaten the Hydra and then add the Endlers? I've been in the hobby for a long time, but this is my first time dealing with Hydra.

One of the solutions that I've seen online is to starve the hydra out in a shrimp tank by not feeding the shrimp and having the shrimp eat algae only, but I was already doing that when the hydra appeared. Chemical solutions involve a series of dosing and water changes, but I am not going to be around to do that, and am afraid that I will face a hydra explosion if I wait until I return. Maybe if I dose the tank once and do a water change I can slow the population growth, but there are a number of tiny rams horn snails in the tank that would probably be killed from the treatment and would lead to an ammonia spike, and I won't be around to do a water change. I'm not new to the hobby, I've had a 55 gallon planted tank for over 35 years, but just now decided that I wanted a shrimp tank. I have NEVER had any kind of a pest problem before, other than hitch hiker snails that I dealt with by adding assassin snails, so I am totally out of my comfort zone!

Ok, I realize hydra are not a disease, but there is no listing for parasites, so here goes. I have a 12 gallon bookshelf tank that I am cycling. There has been no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates for nearly 2 weeks. The tank is planted with Monte Carlo and spiral val. I also floated a small peace lily to help with the cycle. There was been an explosion of algae a few weeks ago and it is slowly diminishing. I currently have Amano Shrimp and 2 Nerite snails, along with some rams horn snails that must've hitched a ride on something. I am not feeding the shrimp at all as they are happily munching on algae. I did toss a couple of small algae wafers in there one day last week to supplement the algae, but the shrimp weren't interested at all. Just noticed small whitish things attached to the glass a couple of days ago, but assumed they were Nerite eggs. I noticed tentacles today. How do I get rid of these things? To complicate matters, I am going out of town in a few days and my house sitter has zero experience with aquariums. I am going to be gone for a week. Help!

I was trying to do an Amazon Basin tank and was having a difficult time getting the PH just right. One of the owners at the fish store told me not worry about it, the fish I was using (Angels, Cardinal Tetras, etc.) were not wild caught and had been bred in local tap water for many generations. He was right, when I stopped trying to "fix" the water with various additives, my fish thrived, and the Angels even bred. I had a pleco in that tank that lived to be about 20 years old.

I have a 12 gallon bookshelf tank that I am doing a dry start with Monte Carlo, which I started 3 weeks ago. The plants are establishing roots and I am planning on flooding the tank next week. I placed the wood and sponge filters for this tank in an established tank (3 weeks ago) to gather biofilm and bacteria to speed up the cycle. Once cycled, would it be better if I added Cherry Shrimp first, or some Endlers? How many should I start with?

I was getting very concerned about what I was sure was the eminent demise of my Monte Carlo, but upon closer inspection I can see new, greener growth appearing! There is hope after all!

Just get male Endlers, although I got only male fancy guppies for my large tank and now I have babies. Perhaps one of the "males" was man-ish looking female. Ha!

You can get an Assassin snail to deal with the pest snails.

Maybe a fancy male guppy? They prefer the water to be a little warmer, but should do OK. Do you have a heater on this tank? If not and you are willing to add one, you might want to consider a Betta, but it may snack on the baby shrimp. Also consider nano fish such as Endlers, although most are happiest in groups, maybe you could get 3? If the only other thing you have are shrimp, that should work.

Would misting with Easy Green be too much if I sprinkled the contents of several root tabs over the substrate?

The humidity is high enough that there is condensation on the sides of the tank. There is a spot where I have dug through the substrate to the bottom of the tank so I can see the water level, there is just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the tank, this can be seen in the photo. It is a rimless tank with a 36" Finnex light and is covered with saran wrap, I have pulled the wrap back about an inch on two opposite corners.

I am trying out dry starting for the very first time. I am using a 12 gallon (36"L X 8"W X 10"H) tank with Eco-Complete substrate. I set this tank up 2 weeks ago with Monte Carlo tissue culture. Since the Eco-Complete doesn't contain any nutrients I broke open some Easy Root Tabs and sprinkled it across the surface of the substrate. Misting the plants has washed the powder into the substrate. The MC doesn't look as good as I would like and was wondering if a dilute water w/Easy Green solution could be used to mist on the plants, or if it would just do more harm than good. Another option would be to use dirty aquarium water from another tank to mist the plants with.