How to Kill Hydroids in Dwarf Seahorse and Fry Tanks

Hydroids are tiny jellyfish-like creatures that infest tanks with low flow, such as seahorse fry tanks and larval rearing vessels. The bad news is, they can sting and kill dwarf seahorses and fish fry that get too close to them. Hydroids love to eat baby brine shrimp and can be introduced to the tank on almost anything, including the shells of brine shrimp eggs.

There are a couple things you can do to prevent contamination of your tank with hydroids. Make sure you are using decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, or decapsulate them yourself. You can buy already decapsulated brine shrimp from seahorsesource.com.

Your best weapon against hydroids is a drug called Fenbendazole (Panacur). However, you should familiarize yourself thoroughly with this drug before using, or better yet, talk to your veterinarian first. Reeftools and its colleagues can not be held responsible for any result of you reading this blog and using Fenbendazole. Personally, I’ve used this drug safely with dwarf seahorses and Fundulus heteroclitus Killifish. I’ve read that it can be safely used with other fish fry such as Clownfish. In low doses it can be safe for clean up crews such as Nassarius snails, cleaner shrimp, and hermit crabs. Be careful and do lots of research before using Fenbendazole.

Any living creatures or plants you want to add to your dwarf seahorse or fry tank should be treated with Fenbendazole first. Keep in mind, most invertebrates and corals DO NOT tolerate Fenbendazole and will die. Macroalgae such as Caulerpa and Chaetomorpha as well as the beneficial nitrifying bacteria in live rock handle treatment with the drug very well. Fenbendazole is by no stretch of the imagination considered to be reef safe. So don’t dose your reef tank with this stuff. Fenbendazole also tends to absorb into glass and rock, leaching into your tank forever. The granules seem to leach worse than the liquid does.

What should you do if you find hydroids in your dwarf seahorse tank or fry tank? Fish seem to tolerate Fenbendazole treatments well. Unfortunately, hydroids don’t even flinch from other common parasite treatments like low salinity, Praziquantel, or formalin baths. So far only Fenbendazole has proven an effective treatment.

Where can you get Fenbendazole? There are plenty of online or local farm animal feed stores that carry it. I use Safe-Guard Fenbendazole/liquid Goat Wormer by Intervet (fenbendazole) Suspension 10% (100 Mg/ml). It’s very important to choose one that is not flavored. Make sure you have done plenty of research and are aware of the risks of using this medication before you proceed. The dosage for fry tanks is 0.2 ml per 10 gallons. Repeat the dosage every other day for a total of three dosages. By the third dose, all hydroids should be dead.

Fenbendazole can also eradicate Aiptasia, bristleworms, and other marine worms.
http://reeftools.com/news/how-to-kill-hydroids/

Jsoh79's Reef Tank

Acan lord closeup, a photo by Felicia McCaulley on Flickr.

I recently took some photos of my friend Josh's tank. Here's a teaser pic, if you want to see the rest, go to the Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/feliciamccaulley/sets/72157626814724924/with/5763863666/

hybrid guppy endler pintail

hybrid guppy endler pintail, a photo by Felicia McCaulley on Flickr.

This is one of my favorites. He is an old man now; he even moved from Wisconsin to PA with me in January. His father is an albino endler hybrid created by Adrian HD and his mother came from a line of yellow snakeskin doubleswords I'd been breeding for many years.

Athanas sp. red striped shrimp

Athanas red striped shrimp top, a photo by Felicia McCaulley on Flickr.

Another cool hitchhiker my co-worker Bill Lowe found in a rock where we work at The Hidden Reef in Levittown, PA. This one is super tiny, maybe a centimeter. He found it a couple weeks ago, and it's still alive and well in my tank!

Seahorses on Blue Zoo Radio!

I was honored to be a guest on Blue Zoo Radio last month talking about seahorses. The show was recorded and can be listened to here:

http://sportstalknetwork.com/main/bluezoo/bluezoo060511.mp3

I'm the second guest, starting at about 24 minutes.


Listen in every Sunday night at 8 pm or Check out the archives

About Blue Zoo Radio:

"...Blue Zoo Radio. A show dedicated to each and every aquarist making a difference in the hobby. Blue Zoo Radio features interviews with Industry Leaders, best selling authors, manufacturers, fish clubs, other hobbyists and You.
Blue Zoo Radio is live every Sunday evening at 8pm EST. The archives are available for immediate download to your computer, iPod or Mp3 player OR you can stream them on your computer ON Demand."

Delaware Valley Reef Club Spring Frag Swap 2011 Recap

If you’re like me, you’re a big fan of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation. If you missed the Delaware Valley Reef Club Spring 2011 frag swap and you still want to see Ken’s keynote speech, you can watch the video provided by DVRC on youtube:

I was honored to do my aquarium photography presentation at the frag swap. You can watch video of the presentation here:

Go to http://reeftools.com/news/delaware-valley-reef-club-spring-2011-frag-swap-recap/ for more pictures, videos, and info about the frag swap.

H. angustus x H. erectus Hybrid Seahorse fry – first ever crossing

hybrid seahorse fry, a photo by Felicia McCaulley on Flickr.

On May 12th, my beloved Hippocampus angustus female named Marmalade and my Hippcampus erectus male named Kohala (who I raised from birth) gave birth to about 25 little hybrid fry!

Go to http://reeftools.com/news/h-angustus-x-h-erectus-hybrid-seahorse-fry-first-ever-crossing/ for tons more photos of the fry and parents.

pistol shrimp long leg

pistol shrimp long leg, a photo by Felicia McCaulley on Flickr.

On June 14th my co-worker Bill at The Hidden Reef in Levittown, PA noticed an extraordinarily long, but thin, shrimp leg darting in and out of a series of holes that appeared to be drilled through the top of the rock. He chiseled open the rock and found this pistol shrimp. The pistol shrimp had to have been growing inside the rock unable to leave since it was very young, similar to the way a gall crab grows inside a coral. If anyone recognizes this pistol shrimp and can identify it, please go to http://reeftools.com/news/unusual-pistol-shrimp-hitchhiker/ to leave a comment

Hybrid Guppy Endler

hybrid endler guppy, a photo by Felicia McCaulley on Flickr.

This is one of my favorite guppies. He is a cross between a hybrid albino endler and a red guppy female. Notice the colored pelvic fins.

How to: Aquarium Photography with Felicia McCaulley Part 2

How to: Aquarium Photography with Felicia McCaulley Part 1

Coral Eating Nudibranchs and Slugs

Always check new corals for coral eating nudibranchs and slugs. Many people are familiar with the Zoanthid eating nudibranchs, but there are nudibranchs and slugs that eat all types of corals. These pests are well camouflaged and not easy to spot, preferring to hide at the base of their hosts. Look for them around receding tissue, polyps that won’t open, or dead white skeleton. It is strongly recommended to quarantine new corals and to dip them in a coral dip, flatworm exit, or iodine before placing them in the tank.

Tritonia spp. nudibranchs are often seen on purple Gorgonians from the Caribbean and can do serious damage in a short time if not removed. Unfortunately, they are extremely tiny and transparent. LPS eating slugs like the Turbinaria eating slug and Scolymia eating slug are not particularly common, but they show up from time to time. Removal is not difficult since they are relatively large and don’t seem to reproduce in captivity. Phestilla melanobrachia is a nudibranch that eats Dendrophyllid corals and grows up to 2 inches in length. They are usually found on Tubastrea spp. corals in captivity. Small Zoanthid eating nudibranchs are fairly common on almost types of Zoanthids. There are countless other species of slugs and nudibranchs that eat other corals like Xenia, tree corals, Montipora, etc.

Anatomy of an Aeolid Nudibranch

Zoanthid eating nudibranchs and Tubastrea eating nudibranchs are both types of Aeolid nudibranch. The black specks behind the first two antennae are the eyes. The finger-like appendages on the back are called cerata. The darker tips of the cerata are called cnidosacs. A Zoa eating nudibranch can consume immature nematocysts from its prey and store them in these sacs for protection against predators. The nudibranch also gets its coloration from its prey. Like their cousins the photosynthetic Elysia spp. slugs, Zoanthus eating nudibranchs even steal zooxanthellae from the Zoanthus.
Reefers have had success eradicating the Zoa eating nudibranch with Salifert’s Flatworm Exit in high doses. Obviously, you have to be careful using this method. It’s best to take affected colonies out of the tank and treat them in a bucket of tank water with an overdose of Flatworm Exit. If you have a lot of hidden planaria (which release toxins when they die) in your main tank, it could crash. Have several pounds of carbon on hand when using Flatworm Exit. Since Flatworm Exit won’t kill the eggs of the nudibranch, you need to repeat the treatment four days later. These treatments may work on other types of coral eating nudibranchs and slugs.

 This is a Phestilla melanobrachia, a Dendrophyllid eating Aeolid nudibranch sometimes found on sun corals Tubastrea spp. in captivity.
 

Pictures of my Livestock

I recently moved from WI to Philadelphia, and these are some of the fish that came with me:

Gobiesox Clingfish Larvae at 7 days old

My Clingfish larvae have made it to 7 days old. They are growing and looking great!

More Pics and story here:

http://reeftools.com/news/gobiesox-clingfish-larvae-at-7-days/

Raising Clingfish Larvae

I'm trying to raise Clingfish larvae that I got form work (The Hidden Reef in Levittown, PA). If you have any tips and helpful hints, please leave a comment.

More pics and info here:

http://reeftools.com/news/breeding-gobiesox-clingfish/