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formalin, hydra, plants
Obviously each of us has a different set of conditions in our aquaria,
which may explain why my experience with formaldehyde and plants is
different than Henri and Wright. I had a serious hydra infestation in a
50gal heavily planted tank about 2 months after it was set up. I treated
with 3 drops of 37% formaldehyde per gallon (assuming 40 gallons of water,
with 10 gal displaced by substrate, wood, etc). A single treatment killed
the hydra - altho some took 3 days to die. After the hydra die off, the
water went milky gray, and over the next couple weeks I lost about 2/3 of
the plants in that tank. If my recollections are correct... the unrooted
plants went first (salvinia, najas, riccia), next the fast growing "bunch
plants" (hygrophilia, anacharis, cabomba), and the last to go were the
valisneria, aponogetons and swords. The only plants that were not
destroyed were java ferns, java moss, anubias, crypts and (surprisingly)
rotala. The crypts "melted" but came back eventually - the rest of the
injured plants were history. I changed water, and set up a carbon filled
cannister filter for a few days, and then basically had to replant.
Since java moss, java fern, and anubias are popular plants with killie
keepers, it may be safe to use formaldehyde to kill hydra/planaria in
killie tanks - but if you keep plants other than these species I would
advise caution.
Best Regards,
Matt
Matt Hirvonen, 5801 Taft Street, Middleton WI 53562
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