Is this hydra? Baby cherry shrimp?

[Tom H]

Can anyone identify what this is and if I need to get rid of it?

[Odd Duck]

It is a hydra and whether you need to get rid of it depends on what you have in the tank.  They can apparently take tiny fry and shrimplets.  Anything much larger shouldn’t be an issue.  Treating is usually by adding fish that will eat them.  Supposedly pond snails and maybe bladder snails will eat them.

They can also be treated with fenbendazole or No Planaria.

I see them sporadically but haven’t had to do anything but add bladder snails to the tank and they disappear eventually.

[Tom H]

This is my first experience with it so I just wanted to make sure. I do have platy fry so I'll look into medicine. I have ramshorn and a few bladder snails so 🤞 that they'll help. Thanks!

[Trish]

Don't squash it as they regenerate.  I've only had them in my quarantine tank and think they must have hitchhiked with some shrimp I bought.  Still in there and I tend to use a small syphon to suck them off the glass when I see them.  Nothing out of that tank goes anywhere near the other tanks! 

https://aquariumbreeder.com/hydra-in-a-shrimp-tank-treatment/

 

[Tom H]

The Co Op has a good blog post I found so I am doing what they said in it and I'm starving out my fish for a few days

[Guppysnail]

Starving them out helps.  They will form cysts that go dormant until an appropriate  food is reintroduced. Thoroughly gavel vacuuming once they go dormant helps keep numbers in check. Powdered food/fry food bacteria ae shrimp fit shrimp baby and any foods that are high in yeast will re-stimulate them. They are attracted to yeast and gluthionine(spelling?

I find them now and again but mine never get out of control. They do get active when I have fry. 
quick fix i use in my fry tanks that are overstimulated remove hard decor spray hydrogen peroxide rinse return. It does not eliminate the problem but holds down numbers until I’m through the powdered food stage. I have done the same with a plant or 2 but only for a second or two so it does not hurt the plant. Anything that will in tank kill hydra will kill all snails Guppies and I believe mollies will eat hydra. 
 

I have them in my shrimp tank.  Most people have them but never even notice they stay so small until fed. they are not as big if a deal as you may think. They are part of nature. Good tank maintenance keeps them at bay. Cory did a video on them.  I don’t know how to link but here is a pic of the video🤪

Edited July 25, 2021 by Guppysnail
Horrible typing errors

[Bobbie]

 
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/hydra 

[Diving Aquarist]

Found them today in my fry tank as well.. startled me a bit, but quickly found out that they are harmless to my fry. The tank has quite a few daphnia in there as a 'stable' food supply for the fry (adults are still too big for the fry), so I doubt I can get rid of the hydra any time soon. I have a ton of bladder snails, so maybe they keep them in check.

[Streetwise]

@Daniel has convinced many of us to stop worrying about interesting little hitchhiking organisms in our tanks.