I was told that a salt bath, bleach bath or raising the temp of the tank to over 100 degrees is how to kill Hydra. (Can't use chemicals - copper, clout, seachem, etc... - directly in tank due to inverts').

A friend with a shrimp tank suggested using Hydrogen Peroxide. (I can't seem to find much on the internet on this, and the friend is sometimes hard to get a hold of).

1. Does anyone know the Peroxide to water ratio I need? Peroxide generally comes in a 3% solution, so I just need to know how much peroxide to put in a container with how much water - if any water. (Will be dipping in a container as adding directly to tank will kill the shrimp).

2. How long do I keep the plants in this solution?

3. After the dip/bath I plan on rinsing the plants under clear running water, then letting them soak in water with water conditioner in it for an hour or two, then running them under clear running water again (possibly even doing another clear water soak and then another clear running water rinse just to be sure). Do you think this will get all the hydrogen peroxide off of/out of the plants so it doesn't leach into the tank? (I heard a little bit won't hurt, but a lot will kill the shrimp and the good bacteria in the filter).

Just found this on another site: "Hydrogen Peroxide. I dip my plants in the 3% solution that comes right out of the bottle. It's cheap, plant safe, and kills pests. A couple minute dip should take care of most things including pest algae." Also thinking I should just dip the plant and NOT the roots, so it doesn't suck any up.


I have about $50-$60 in plants and I really don't want to scrap them and start over. (My husband doesn't want me to either, as he's not as into the hobby as I am. We've already spend tons of money this weekend on a new 20 gallon kit, plus stand and some other things for the tank..... we really don't want to have to put more into plants if we can safely rid the Hydra from these ones).

Thanks sooooooo very much!!!!

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Hydrogen peroxide won't hurt your plants unless they sit in pure peroxide for very long. You can even put it in a spray bottle and while your water is down spray the sides of the tank but not sure it would get rid of the hydra.

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Thanks! The spray bottle idea is great and I will use it for when I empty the tank. For doing the plants though, I will dip and swish for maybe 2 mins, then rinse and soak like no tomorrow, lol. (I figured it would kill the Hydra since one method of killing them is using HP in a syringe and spraying it directly on them. I would do that if I didn't have shrimp.)

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PP (potasium permanganate) dip is another option to consider if you want. Many people use this when they get new plants in to sterilize them. It kills off anything on the plants. You can find it at hardware stores like ACE.

Thanks! That's another one I just heard of. If they HP doesn't work, I'll try that one!

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