# Killing Hydra And Palanria Without Chemical



## Jesseter (Jul 28, 2013)

While I am not an expert I can tell you what I tried. It is a method I saw and tried with success. The only part that will stink is having to pull plants and critters. So you take out all plants and dip them in the appropriate bleach solution( the exact ratio escapes me). The critters you move to a temp tank. You then bring the temp of the tank to 104 degrees for 2 hours and maintain it there. I then let the temp drop down naturally. You should know this will kill all beneficial bacteria in the tank as well. When I did this method I had zero planaria and hydra and saved all my shrimp without 1 casualty. I have tried Fenbendazole in the past and lost 1 or 2 shrimp. My plants to be honest still have not completely recovered from the bleach dip. Time will tell. Good luck and Good Shrimping!


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I used Fenbendazole without any problems, but then I don't keep any snails intentionally.

There are also two products on the market, one is No Planaria, the other Planaria Zero. Both can be harmful to snails.


Another option is a small squirt of Hydrogen Peroxide without stabilizers... aka "Food Grade" 3%. This could potentially kill the hydra, but the planaria you would need a trap. 



Best way to get rid of them is to remove snails and nuke tank with a product to kill planaria. Otherwise, everything else will take more time because you'll need to remove shrimp and potentially even restart the tank, or keep setting up traps for the planaria and hope you remove all from the tank.


One downside to using a product to get rid of planaria is potentially ammonia spikes, so if you do choose to go that route, keep an eye on parameters.


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

I have used no planaria in one of my tanks, It killed all my snails and 4 months latter I still cant keep snails alive in that tank,


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

NickAu said:


> I have used no planaria in one of my tanks, It killed all my snails and 4 months latter I still cant keep snails alive in that tank,


Do you have access to Purigen and Activated Carbon???? Maybe use both in the tank for a week or longer?


Any chance that the water parameters could have changed prior to using No Planaria vs afterwards? i.e. a difference in the pH?


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

> Do you have access to Purigen and Activated Carbon????


I don't use Purigen or Carbon in my tank, But after 4 months of weekly water changes you would think its out of the system.

This is the tank in question.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1132594-my-2-foot-betta-sorority.html


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

NickAu said:


> I don't use Purigen or Carbon in my tank, But after 4 months of weekly water changes you would think its out of the system.
> 
> This is the tank in question.
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1132594-my-2-foot-betta-sorority.html


I haven't heard of anyone having issues with No Planaria and snails as long as they removed the snails from the tank prior to dosing, and once the meds are gone, reintroducing the snails. Can't help but wonder if something else might be going?

It's a great looking tank! I was actually speaking with my boss the other day about betta sorority tanks, since she has a female betta.


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

> Can't help but wonder if something else might be going?


I have no idea, Shrimp happily live and breed in that tank, In fact they breed so much I have to cull them, People complain about pest snails and how fast they breed, In my tank its Red Cherry Shrimp.


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