To dwarf or not to dwarf

[nawilson89]

I have a 2.5g that sit on my desk and was hoping to start in a few days with the goal of having Dwarf Seahorses in it at some point next year.

I had plans of trimming my macro algae from my 20g to put in this tank. Until this...



This is a cerith snail that seems to be covered in hydroids.

So what to do? I don't know where the hydroids are in the tank. I never see them, nor do I ever see this particular cerith, infact I haven't seen him since I took this picture.

What can I do for these hydroids? From what I've heard, they are quite dangerous to dwarves.

At the same time. I want to say if I don't get dwarves it's not the end of the world, because MTS is deep in my veins, I have a 29g that I've been waiting to set up with a particular plan in mind. I can have another type of seahorse in this tank, then again. I don't know how dangerous hydroids are to other seahorses or fish for that matter.

 

[kizanne]

I wanted dwarf seahorses at one point and found many articles talking about Panacur. Here is an excerpt from Reeftools:

"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.
"

If you want to try to eradicate the hydroids and you are willing to risk what is currently in the tank I'd try it.

Good luck

 

[nawilson89]

I wanted dwarf seahorses at one point and found many articles talking about Panacur. Here is an excerpt from Reeftools:

"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.
"

If you want to try to eradicate the hydroids and you are willing to risk what is currently in the tank I'd try it.

Good luck

Thanks. I read it and I'll do some more research on it. Though it seems more like a last resort.

I'm still interested in learning if hydroids are dangerous to all tank inhabitants and not just dwarf seahorse and fish fry. If anything I can live with them and not do dwarf seahorse.

The risk seems high with that treatment; I can always do a temporary home for what I want to add and treat it there....

 

[PfenWendt]

I'll throw my opinion out there about dwarfs now that i've had them for a good bit. They are a lot of work...i'll just tell you that strait out haha. I feed mine 2 feedings of live baby brine shrimp a day. Now with that being said, after a short bit you'll get into a schedule and its just a habit of feeding them and then it really doesn't seem like that much work. But you need to stay on top of water changes with the heaving feeding requirements. Hydroids were a big concern of mine aswell but i went with brand new sand, just regular aquarium sand not live sand, and just some plastic plants. So no live rock or anything to minimize the chances of introducing hydroids, So far so good, The seahorses love to hitch on the fake plants, the black sand looks great with bright plastic plants and they are doing great. as far as im aware, someone could give more information on this im sure, The main issue with hydroids is they will eat the baby brine shrimp and out compete the dwarf seahorses for food and leads to them eventually starving. But all in all, less hydroids the better I personally find the seahorses worth the time it takes to care for them...They are absolutely amazing! you'll just fall in love with each of them

 

[nawilson89]

Thanks! As I have been since I started my research on Dwarfs. I'm wavering between dwarfs or gobies. I think i may even scratch the whole tank in favor of my 29g.

 

[Daltonbilecki]

I have a snail exactly like that with hydroids covering it. Never seen hydroids on the rocks. If you find him and throw him out you should be good.

 

[BlueCat1949]

I have a snail exactly like that with hydroids covering it. Never seen hydroids on the rocks. If you find him and throw him out you should be good.

If they are on the snail shell they are already established in the tank and taking out the snail will not work.

It sounds like you have changed your mind about dwarves. They do require a pretty much sterile tank and live foods but they are not that much trouble if you start out right.

Rather then trying to make an existing tank work I would start over and make it right form the get go.

Bruce