# Fresh water feather duster



## THE BLACK PIRANHA

I have a 50 breeder with some plants and a DIY co2 system and I just noticed what looks to be hundreds of feather dusters on the back of my tank. Has anyone ever noticed anything like it before, I would post pics but they are to small only about 1/8".


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## maknwar

its probably either Hydra viridissima or Bryozoa. They both pose no threat, they are just annoying.


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## Ibanez247

Trying not to jack the thread but where do the hydra come from? A friends tank had hydra after a year. They dont come in with the fish or food so is it possible you just witnessed evolution in your own aquarium? Try and snap a photo anyway. They look like an organsim or plant? Im leanign toward hydra too. They look like the pic?
View attachment 190239


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA

Ibanez247 said:


> Trying not to jack the thread but where do the hydra come from? A friends tank had hydra after a year. They dont come in with the fish or food so is it possible you just witnessed evolution in your own aquarium? Try and snap a photo anyway. They look like an organsim or plant? Im leanign toward hydra too. They look like the pic?
> View attachment 190239


Thats what it is, looks just like the pic.


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## Piranha Guru

Ibanez247 said:


> Trying not to jack the thread but where do the hydra come from? A friends tank had hydra after a year. They dont come in with the fish or food so is it possible you just witnessed evolution in your own aquarium? Try and snap a photo anyway. They look like an organsim or plant? Im leanign toward hydra too. They look like the pic?


They came in with his plants and larvae can come in with fish or live food.

I think you also have a big misunderstanding of what evolution is, but that is a separate discussion.


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA

So they come in on live plants or live food but all my plant are from over 2 years ago and I never use live food and they have bloomed since I added a DIY co2 system. I dont mind them in the tank because they are so small and as long as they will not harm my fish they can stay. Thanks for letting me know what the hell they are.


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## Piranha Guru

You probably had a few, but not enough to notice...they reproduce sexually under unfavorable conditions and release eggs that can lay dormant for months before they die. Once conditions are favorable, their population explodes as they start to rapidly reproduce asexually by budding (the addition of CO2 probably triggered this). You could have also introduced them if you recently added rocks or driftwood or anything the tough eggs could have hitched a ride on. I tend to see them more often in tanks that I added apple snails too.


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