Hydra and almond leaves

[maligne]

I research this online first, I didn't come up with much wich surprised me. I posted before about an explosive hydra out break in my killifish tank. I took all the fish and the plants out, I super heated the tank and killed everything filter included. Then I rebuilt. My tank was crystal clear until today. I have tones of tiny Hydra wriggling through my tank now. Both times it was just several days after introducing Indian almond leaves. Does any one know? Do these leaves create a food source for Hydra?

[jvision]

Probably. If you look up infusoria - a common first food for small fry - you'll see that the most common way to culture then is to put leaves in a jar of water. Those tiny critters are exactly what hydra eat.

Your best bet would be to create competition for the hydra - small fish that will nibble at the infusoria and maybe pick at the hydra (small gouramis are known hydra predators). The hydra will eventually starve out. Lots of WCs will help, but that'll also remove what you have the almond leaves in there for.

[maligne]

Yes I took the almond leaves out and I ordered some no planeria. I am trying to breed this trio of killis so adding other creatures just isn't an option. The fish really loved the leaves and the tannins so I'm just going to boil the almond leaves and add tannins separately once I get the hydra and potentially ditrites worms under control. As far as I know Hydra floats from place to place. I also have swimmers now. Thanks for the response