A "Freshwater Reef" is waaaaay underated, I'm glad to see someone else going
this path and enjoying all that our waters provide in diversity.
First question is, where are you at? "State" would be sufficient if you
don't feel like giving specifics, to get an idea of locale. Pictures are a
huge help as well, especially if you have a good macro lense on your camera.
That may be the key to getting a proper ID. There are also various field
guides that have had thier names bounced around the list that would allow
you to use a magnifying glass and key out. I'm going to look in the
archives and will repost those guide names. I meant to save them, I need to
pick them up for birthday related type things coming up :)
With the hydra, hydroids and the like... Something that can and does often
occur is a population explosion upon introduction (kind of like what happens
when an exotic organism is introduced to a new ecosystem), the food source
is specific and available, but is consumed too quickly. The population then
crashes. Chances are, you have "Darwin's Select (tm)" still living in
there, they're just not as obvious as when you had "Hydropolis". I would
watch for medusae still, but my guess is this is what occurred.
You may be able to nurture the population using something like Brine Shrimp
Direct's Golden Pearls (brineshrimpdirect.com) with their < 60 micron
clusters and spheres and stuff. I don't want to discourage use of this
product because I'd really like to see more freshwater aquarists developing
this approach to husbandry, but it is possible you would run into some algal
bloom issues as you're figuring out the balancing act of "food to mouth"
ratios. I've been "gut loading" tiny bluntnose minnows with the product
for my Stonecat (using the Artemia 1 product), and haven't seen any algae
issues... But I'd hate to hear "My tank is covered in cyano and it's your
fault for not warning me!" :)
The worms are detritus generalists, so they probably have a sufficient food
source.
Hope this helps... Hope to get back with the field guide names here shortly.
Todd
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Whitacre" <streptoprocne_at_earthlink.net>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 9:10 AM
Subject: NANFA-- hydras, flatworms, etc.
> Hello NANFA folks,
> I have been listening in for a while, and now have a question or two. The
only
> fish I have at the moment is a gorgeous Black-striped Topminnow, who is
living
> off the fat of the land in a 10-gallon tank. I have been feeding him/her
> zooplankton all spring, that I get with a plankton throw-net at a nearby
> cattail/duck marsh.
>
> One of the benefits of this method of food collection, is that various
cool
> critters become established in the tank from time to time. So, I had a
huge
> crop of Hydra for a while...but in the past 10 days, all the "adults"
(polyps)
> have disappeared. What has happened to them? Did they die off, or merely
> change form? There are now many tiny, translucent smudges on the glass,
that
> might be new polyps getting established. Did the polyps produce tiny
medusas
> that are floating around in there now? Any ideas?
>
> Also, I now have a crop of tiny white worms crawling all over the glass.
They
> are about 1/5 inch long, quite slender, with a noticeable swelling at the
> anterior end, and they cruise rapidly, and in rectilinear fashion, on the
> glass. Their motion resembles that of a flatworm (say, Planaria)--just
> straight, fairly rapid creeping--no wiggling. Any ideas? Could these
indeed be
> some sort of Turbellarian?
>
> Also, lots of smaller white things that are also wormlike--say 2 mm long.
They
> may be growing into these longer white worms, but I'm not sure.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave Whitacre, Newbie
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