The History of Hydra - How It All Began
I will tell you how this project started, this idea. . .
Chapter 1 - The Parents' House
Since I was young, still at my parents' house I had aquariums, the basic ones with cold water fish, colorful pebbles from the Chinese store and of course plastic plants to accompany the landscape (forgive me but we always start somewhere and it's rarely the best), filtration ditto.
The problems were the usual ones and the, now that I know, expected, always very dirty water, green algae pebbles, fish with not long life. For much maintenance I had, it was always a frustration to see the aquarium in that state. Given the disappointment, the aquarium ended up staying there like another toy that had on the shelves and there it was, without fish, without water and without life. Abandonment of hobby #1
With the passage of time and still at the parents' house, but already working (€€€), I decided that I was going to have an aquarium as it should be, research on a still poor internet (compared to the avalanche of information today), I researched, the pebbles gave way to other Pedrinhas, the filter to a bigger one, the plastic plants passed the real ones, a thermostat and some fish of hot water and there I was thinking that it was going to be the best aquarium ever, ignorance brought this conviction. Despite the changes and investment, the problems were exactly the same as the previous ones. So much work and dedication and it was algae and more algae, mainly in the glass, 1 week and the glass was so green that I didn't even see fish, the result of too much light in the room, but at the time it didn't associate things. I got fed up. . . Abandonment of hobby #2
code has already been used
Chapter 2 - Our House
However, life advances, love happens, the nest is abandoned and another is built with the middle face, , , of course the aquarium leaves the parents' house and enters the new house, of course if the aquarium goes home it is to be active and working. . .
This time I wanted to do things well, I went to a store and said I wanted to make a planted aquarium, they gave me a substrate, JBL Manado, whether it was good for planted and so I bought it, thinking it was a fertile substrate and in the specialized store they had recommended it because it was fit (error #1), I bought the plants, assembled everything and waited for success. . . But he didn't come, the algae started to appear and the plants to die (it even rhymed), and off I went to the store, I was recommended an anti algae and a fertilizer because it could be a lack of nutrients, it was a brownish fertilizer, recognized brand, everything ok. But nothing has changed, you read some things, others ask yourself, after all it was CO2, there was no CO2 from the plants for them to thrive, as I'm thinking, spend €150 on a CO2 kit + drop checker + reagent liquid, blablabla, 160/170€, I wouldn't even think about it, so I researched and decided to make my own CO2, a semi-homemade system with citric acid and sodium bicarbonate (Error#2), now yes, that aquarium was going to be top.
Until it didn't go wrong, the plants grew more but more or less in appearance, algae continued, until a green mantle began to appear covering the entire aquarium, cyanobacteria, invaded everything killed many plants, it was a movie to have them aspirate everything to get back to the same after a week or another, difficult to get rid of, it was everywhere, ok, it was the filtering that was insufficient, it was made an upgrade, it aspired. . . aspired. . . He aspired and disappeared there. Now my focus was on the plants, I wanted to have a planted one as I always dreamed of, I had "substrate" for the plants, I had CO2, I had enough light. . . Let's go to this, buy more demanding plants, more varied than the foxtail that grows anyway and begins the fertilization saga. . .
Chapter 2 - Arrival of Miguel
However comes a son, the best of our lives. Our whole life changes, but it gets richer, more complete, with more love and dedication, our priorities change, but the motivation to have a beautiful aquarium continues. . .
I still had that brown fertilizer, I put it on religiously as I said in the instructions and week after week, no healthy plants, little life, little color, little growth, algae did grow abundantly. . . But what would you be doing wrong??? I went to the store, they said that fertilizer was not enough for an aquarium with CO2 and more demanding plants, the best was the green one, and so it brought this one. . . He applied religiously as he said on the packaging and as they had recommended in the store, and effectively the growth was huge. . . The seaweed, of course, the plants grew but had so much algae on top that it looked like nothing, what initially after CO2 was total enthusiasm became demotivation, frustration, disillusionment, was doing everything as they had been told, even I had put CO2 that I changed the reagents every 2 weeks, dirtyed everything, had to clean everything, put the powders, every day shake because the reaction stopped, then stirred and the pressure went up in a vertiginous way and had to close the valve, open the valve, close a little more, opening just a little bit, it was too much, it closes more, now it doesn't come out, now it comes out a lot of grrrrrrrr Error #2 Remember??? And Abandonment of the hobby #3
And so was the aquarium. . . (real images to follow)
And so it was. . .
Chapter 3 - The New Opportunity
Until my wife after many times, and rightly to say that if she is to be like this, it is better to get rid of him, she did it differently and offered me a larger aquarium with mobile and everything else on the condition of having to take good care of it and have a beautiful aquarium, this time I couldn't fail.
I researched more and more and chose a fertile substrate, but really fertile, CO2 kept what I had, lights, I made some gutters with enough power, I assembled everything and waited. . .
He continued to fertilize with that green fertilizer and brown, more dose less dose, and the plants grew and the algae, too, play with the anti-algae thrust all the time, he was solving more or less, but he never really treated, the plants also never had the growth expected, what was making me hurt???? It had a good fertile substrate, it had CO2 (half stuck, but the green drop checker), it had almost 1watt of light per liter, fertilizers, which would be missing???
I started to think, perhaps by professional defect, that it could only be the nutrition of the plants, if everything else they were right. Raising this question of nutrition, I started to question the basis - what do plants need in terms of nutrients??? And what quantities do they need to have available???
As you have seen, the path to the successful aquarium is often difficult, full of setbacks, illusions and disappointments, full of mistakes, bad counseling and even various dropouts.
So whenever a customer comes to ask for help, because they are fed up, tired and disillusioned that the aquarium is never doing well, I say: "Calm down, let's solve it. everything has a solution"
I know what he's feeling and what's on his mind, after all, I've been through it too, through all the phases from illusion to disappointment and frustration and so I easily identify with these cases.
Often, the feeling is of despair, it may seem exaggerated but no, it is the despair of those who already (thinks) who have done everything and cannot do better. . . Algae are often the cause, it is the despair of having already tried everything and being on the verge of undoing the whole aquarium, boiling all rocks and areon and everything else (Been there, done that) And whoever did it, after 2 weeks of the aquarium already assembled, Booom returns the algae all as if they were there waiting for a lot of hope for the aquariumist to appear again for them to return in force to send the whole moral down.
But there is a solution, and the solution is not just Hydra products, there are no miracle products, even if customers often refer to Hydra as such, the miracle happens for everything we talk about, what we perceive of the aquarium, diagnosing what is wrong, what has to improve Or even to change and it's all this advice that Hydra makes that brings good results.
Attention: there is always a solution to all the problems of an aquarium, the question is what you are willing to accept and change to solve things.
Chapter 4 - The Fertilizer Saga
Now I was trying to solve the problems of my planted, between the up and down of doses of brown and green fertilizers, I thought it would happen with the right dose, but the plants, some more demanding than others, laughed in my face and showed me the His displeasure with his beautiful yellow leaves, research on the internet and I came to the conclusion that it would be a lack of iron, I went to a store, I explained the situation of the yellow leaves of the plants and the fertilizers I used, I couldn't develop much more, I think that more than the iron, I needed a little of attention, comfort and empathy, of the kind: "Epah what a bummer, have you tried everything and the plants are like this, do you have photos for me to see and evaluate better? Don't be discouraged, take this bottle of iron, put X quantity, x times a week and you will see that it will help, if you don't solve it, tell us we see what we can do. I hope it works and that it puts this beautiful aquarium" But instead one came out: "That's a lack of iron, it's this bottle that has to take" , not that I sought validation and that it was a lack of iron I had already noticed . . . I just wanted a little more, I think you know.
There I go I put iron, it really improved the green of the plants, although I noticed that the water darkened a little, normal, since the liquid is very dark too.
And that's it, everything was fine, but not, now it was time for the plants, mainly with a bigger leaf, to be with a holes, it seemed that, out of evil, someone had walked with a needle to pierce my most beautiful plants grrrrrrr. and . . . Internet, searches: "Aquarium Plants Holes in the Leaves", Mr. Google knows everything and there were many photos of plants just like mine, full of holes like a passer, diagnosis: lack of potassium.
We went back to a store and: "This is lack of potassium, It is this bottle that you have to take", well there I went from a bottle home.
On the way home I was thinking, but what the hell, I'm using green fertilizer and more brown, supposedly they have everything plants need, but here I go with another bottle "in my pocket" (and minus €14 in the wallet) because plants continue to lack nutrients. It's just bottles and more bottles. . .
I, who am a little disorganized (very disorganized, according to the better face), had to manage everything I had in my life and with the aquarium in addition to food, fish, tpa's, pruning, attack on algae, cleaning of glass and rocks, now I had 4 bottles with liquids to put in the aquarium, 1 pump of green, 1 pump of brown, go get a syringe and put x ml of iron, go wash the syringe and put x ml of potassium, go wash the syringe and pray for no have forgotten about any of them or coming tonight without remembering if I had already put any of the fertilizers in the morning.
There had to be a better solution, yes. . . The plants were better, but there was all that logistics, which annoyed me and still weren't perfect.
Chapter 5 - Dissatisfaction in search of a solution
I'm tired of that routine and all those liquids, and not even my aquarium and plants were minimally similar to the beautiful aquariums I saw on the internet and youtube, or I should dedicate myself to something other than aquarium and the ones planted or I had to try Solve things and try to do better.
As I always try to solve everything myself (quality and, at the same time, a defect of mine), I saw that in the Facebook groups of Aquariophilia, the headaches with the plants and the algae were a constant of the publications. The frustration, the dissatisfaction with the aquariums, and even often the reason for giving up the hobby was the plants and the algae, I was not alone in this fight. I saw that there was one or another member who sold fertilizers and I thought why not try to make mine, instead of trying from others, nothing against but remember the quality and defect??? try to solve everything by yourself.
And so began research in this world. . .
Chapter 6 - Research, Research and Research . . . and more research
From that moment I decided that I was going to make my fertilizers, everyone, but all the free little bits I had at work, lunch time, at night after everything was dispatched, the research was my air, I will never know how to count how many hours it was, but believe me, there were many, many, Many hours, the topic was almost an obsession for me, I had to read everything, see everything, know everything.
I read dozens of scientific articles from botany, agriculture, fertilization agricultural, mechanisms of action that lead to transport in nutrients, chlorine channels, potassium, types of iron, bioavailability of nutrients, influences of pH on absorption rates, blablablabla . . . I think I saw all the videos on YouTube about fertilization and plant care (and look at that there are many), forums (my doom) and hundreds of publications of aquarium philists with problems in plants, fertilizations, with their own schemes, with dosing tests and sources of nutrients, a wealth of information and I think I read all the publications made by Tom Barr in the forums, it was crazy, often from a 50-page study, an already expected conclusion is squeezed, but from reading he understood the mechanisms of nutrients action, how they They entered the plants, as they were transported inside the plant, through which channels, causes and effects of deficiencies, excesses, everything. . . I said it was obsessive.
If we already have the bases, we have to know what already exists on the market, I went to research and find out what all the other fertilizers had on the market (yes if they weren't all, they were almost), it was to understand what we put into our aquarium, what amount of nutrients, what ingredients they came from and Why these and not others. It was not easy, there is a kind of secrecy in knowing quantities and composition of the things we buy, from the commercial side you can see why, from the side as a consumer it makes me confused not being able to know, it was a discovery and opening your eyes to many myths and ideas formed that are not real, it was realizing that In some cases, many of the claims made by the brands have no scientific basis, or others are chemically impossible reactions, or the product X has the Y molecule, which is exclusive and proprietary but which actually does not even exist, or there is no record that exists. . . But that would give a few chapters on its own.
Chapter 7 - The Creation of the Formula
Organized the information, knowing what the plants need and in what quantities, it was time to know how to achieve this, that is, to create the formulas for fertilizers.
I soon realized that, although less practical than a all in one, have macronutrients and micronutrients Separately it was advantageous, if the aquarium is more or less demanding, it may need more than one than the other, so having it in the same bottle removes this hypothesis, if I need to add only iron, it makes no sense to be adding more macronutrients as well.
macros, let's get to it, we need nitrates, phosphates and Potassium, funny that although potassium is one of the nutrients that plants need most, it was the nutrient in which fertilizers were poorer, so potassium was one of the priorities. It was necessary to choose and decide what ingredients to use to get optimal levels of others and potassium, quickly doing the calculations I realized that I would not achieve this to save on the amount of ingredients. Maybe that's why the others had little, less use of various ingredients is used.
micros, the star of the micros is iron, and despite this this is one of the nutrients in which more plants suffer from deficiency, many cases of deficiencies in plants, it is noted that it is a lack of iron, because also many fertilizers have iron levels 3-4 times below the recommended, so let's put Iron, but which one???
It is important to have iron, but more important than having it in the product, it is to know if plants can absorb it, otherwise what is it for? It was necessary to research the best sources of iron, with greater bioavailability for plants and that was stable in the possible pHs of our aquariums, so Hydra Micros has 3 different chelated iron sources, guaranteeing good bioavailability.
Formula outlined and now, finding where to order all these ingredients, I gave priority to the national market and it was possible in many of them, despite this and currently, the national or European ingredients come from many different sides and they all meet to create the Hydra products.
liquid carbon, I had to have an anti algae, after all this was my struggle since always, the solution is always to eliminate the causes that lead to the appearance of algae of course, but I needed an effective SOS to eliminate the bastards. I wasn't going to invent the wheel, glutaraldehyde was more than tested and used by many brands for this purpose, but copying a product was not interesting, otherwise why use mine when there were so many others alike??? I wanted to go further and for that I had to learn everything about glutaraldehyde, there are immense studies and research carried out with it, not only for the functions but of the molecule itself, its conservation, stability, etc. I arrived at the concentration that concludes to be more effective and maintaining the safety of the living and colony of bacteria, as there is a way of enhancing its effect, so I did too. The brutal tests, 4, 3 or up to 2 applications and the BBA's (my pet hate) changed color and after a few days they disappeared, bingooo!!!
Did it look easy??? It took hours and hours and hours to research where the nutrients came from, buy prices, requests for information, calculation of shipments, etc etc etc. The Liquid Carbon then added more hours than the others all together.
Touch of ordering everything, very scared, because not everyone can order a small amount, all the troops gathered and after all the math done and several pages of Excel, in which it was calculated how many grams of the ingredient F, 9, 2, 7, and, 3 (code has already been used)etc, it's time to test the formula.
After a few dozen fertilizers down the drain and had come to something that pleased me, I had reached the ppm's I wanted of all the nutrients and the balance of the ingredients that provided them. . . Let's test in my aquarium, if you kill a fish or a catastrophe happens, it happens in mine and no one knows.
Chapter 8 - The First Test
The time has come to apply the fertilizers, a week passes, the plants improve and only with 4 macro and micro pumps, before leaving the house. . . 2 week, a little distracted as always, I notice at the end of the week that the plants are in great color, they have grown considerably and all look good.
Over the course of a few weeks, a little more of this, a little less of that and I was trying to balance the formula, for something that would be in the middle of what would be a sustained, balanced and above all growth, keeping the plants with a healthy appearance and vivid colors, which can be used to grow a lot if they grow up looking malnourished and full of algae???
The formula was fixed in what I saw and it seemed more effective and practical.
Finally, I had something in my possession that was transforming my aquarium into what I always dreamed of, with the plants I wanted to have and with the look I wanted so much.
Finally, happy and satisfied. It was there in those bottles bought in a Chinese store, already with a dispenser (ahahah) 2 liquids that were having a huge impact on my plants. And that was it, it was to keep the routine and everything went well.
Of course, the restless mind thought, there are so many cases that I see that they are also unsuccessful with plants, would this be useful for everyone??
Chapter 9 - Limiting Beliefs
Then, of course, come the Limiting Beliefs, the doubts, the fears, the afraid to risk it's from Get out of your comfort zone, how many of us have happened on other occasions?? often?
- How many times have we boycotted in any idea or project??
- How many times did we think we weren't capable, without even trying???
- how many "What if . . . " Have we ever had it in our heads???
- how many "It's not worth it, I won't be successful"???
I thought if:
- Does it make sense to share the product with more people??
- Will anyone want it??
- What if they go wrong and damage the plants???
- And if they die fish and they will think it was the products??
- I will spend money on all these things and no one will want to buy. There are so many recognized brands on the market, I will have no chance of gaining people's trust.
- I already have so much work, I won't have the time and head to do this anymore.
etc etc etc
Our mind is plotted, the limit is what we impose on ourselves, increasingly convinced of it.
"Don't impose limits on yourself, there are no limits but those created by us." There are so many examples and life stories that demonstrate this.
I decided to move forward, come on, I have a product, what do I lack??
Almost everything. Lack of brand name, lack of product name, lack of labeling, beautiful and practical packaging (that of having syringes everywhere to measure things is not for me), create a page on social networks, graphic design, publications, etc etc. It's hard to start, we have to do it and that's it. . . We think and plan too much and do little, action triggers the rest.
Chapter 10 - Branding and those things. . .
Let's create a name, a brand, it has to be something to do with water/sea/ aquariums/ plants.
as I always liked Egyptian mythology and culture it's from mythology braid, by the mystery, the adventure, by the fantasy imagination and I thought of going around. . . Egyptian gods and Greek gods, I fell more to the Greeks, Poseidon (god of the seas), Demeter (fertility goddess in agriculture and protection of the fields), was not sounding good to me, god of the seas, the aquariums is of fresh water, Agriculture does not have much to do, and while sailing through Greek mythology, the Hydra of Lerna appeared to me, monster of Greek mythology, dragon's body, serpent's heads, lived in a lake, entered the stories of Hercules, the hero. . . Perfect!!! It had the power, the mystery and the image that remains in our minds. The Hydra was born!!!
Let's create the image and logo that will be part of the products, I leave below what was the first page of the brand's creative process, some PowerPoint slides with which the sketches of what was to come:
The first logo sketches:
the images that would integrate the background of the labels
The first sketch of the label:
From the first sketch of the label and after many hours of testing, changing position, creating the small images that we see on the label, some things stayed, others changed, like the color of the logo, the symbol joined the letters. The texts of the labels changed sides, that horrible blue background was lost, it became cleaner and more harmonious:
(code has already been used)
Now it was to create the sources of dissemination, Facebook was the one that made the most sense to me since I spent much of my time on the social networks in the aquarium groups, the page was still in secret, without any disclosure. . .
Chapter 11 - the logistics. . . powders, powders and more powders, bottles and labels
It seems that everything is already but no, not wanting to make the article even longer. . . What was missing, suppliers of ingredients, bottles and labels.
Stuff, in the 4 Hydra products combined, there are about 13-14 ingredients and you have to have them all gathered to move on to production, unfortunately for me (shipping, postage, shipping €€€€€€€) Everyone and having it all together was an auutchhhh, I'll invest all this and if no one buys I'll stay here with kgs and kgs of material. Finding the suppliers of everything was not easy, but a few hours, and the Liquid Carbon was the one who had the most hours of research on top, but couldn't help but have it, if what motivated me to all this, it was a lot of algae, I had to get it.
Without risking, you can't advance.
labels, I thought it was the easiest and cheapest, I have the designs all done just print it, because it is, research research research, after all it is easy, now cheap ahahah, producing on a small scale is always much more expensive, but follow was decided.
Flasks, given the volume and my pretensions to keep everything national, I found the right company and I still keep it, it's not the cheapest, but the quality makes up for it, one thing I was sure, I wanted flasks with dosing pump, walking with syringes from one side to the other didn't bring the quality And the premium feeling I wanted, they fulfilled everything aesthetically and at the same functional level.
Chapter 12 - the beginning little by little
Everything was ready, Facebook page created, it was to start getting into action, talking about the groups actively participating in discussions and publications, which already did it but personally and never in the sense of imposing the products but genuinely trying to help the hobby teammates and I keep it today in day.
As I said before, it is not selling products that the solution is solved by itself, the success of an aquarium depends on several factors, including fertilization but not only.
A lot of fear there I published, talking to people, at first I think there was normal distrust, nobody knows, nobody knows who I am, what products they are, I'm going to pay and they don't send me anything, etc.
The first client appears, the second, I feared the feedback's, would it go wrong?? Would you notice a difference?? Will algae appear?? And if some fish died, they will think they were the fertilizers.
These fears have always been present, although theoretically everything makes sense, the tests in my aquariums with fish and shrimp and plants have gone very well, would the same happen in the other aquariums????
I'm having more customers and collecting more positive feedback's and I was sharing, happy customers bring more customers, some suspicious others more believers, Hydra grew up.
I was getting more confident of Hydra products, although my faith and conviction is great, there is always that voice that says: "This will still go wrong, you won't make it" , I ignored and was increasingly confident in recommending and advising and helping with everything I could to elevate the aquariums to another level of success. And throughout this side of counseling and changes, sometimes simple to do in customer aquariums, led to successes multiplying, hence the motto: "In Hydra you don't sell fertilizers, results are sold".
Chapter 13 - Hydra and the Future
It all seemed very fast but the growth was organic, slow or not, I don't know, it was at the pace that I had to go and at the pace that my availability also allowed, it was more than a year from the idea until now at the beginning of 2024.
Hydra, is solid and recognized, the feedback's from new customers, loyal customers and Hydra's friends are many and continue to increase every day, I hope that Hydra grows much more and always counting on all of you on this path.
Now the Facebook page has exceeded 1100 followers, there is instagram, there is whatsup community, there is this site, all the result of a lot of work and a lot of dedication, many hours of personal investment in Hydra, in helping customers, improving formulas, constant research for Bring Hydra the best ingredients and best formulas to provide the best results.
I cannot fail to thank everyone who trusted and trusted Hydra, a special thanks to the pioneers who risked trying this new brand, leaving the comfort they used before.
Get to Hydra wherever you go, and I hope that far, the customer and your satisfaction will always be, always the priority, the mission and values will remain the same, you will all always be the "Hydra Family".
I wish that this year 2024 will bring many news and changes, keeping the usual Hydra.
