RCS and Planaria

[Aqualady]

How do I get rid of planaria in my RCS tank? I do not know how I got them. This tank was originally a qt tank with no bottom.....I did not see these creepy things before getting my RCS. Once I got them, I did not feed for 2 days, then I feed I tiny wafer and BAM the next day when I turned on the light I saw them on tank wall...the only thing I currently have is CYROPRO which kills parasites...Does anyone or has anyone used with shrimp or know if it is safe? Or, any other suggestions to rid them...

[Fdsh5]

No-planaria worked for me. Real easy to use and no harm to shrimp

[ravensgate]

You positive of the id? As in triangle head and eyes?

[GeToChKn]

+1 raven. I've had lots of different worms, none that turned out to be planaria but I thought they were at the time. I went to my LFS and saw an infected tank with planaria, and once you see them in purpose, you know. The big triangle head is a give away.

[ravensgate]

Yeah, I've panicked to the point of tearing down a tank thinking what I was seeing was planaria when it was actually Rhabdocoela. When finally saw my first real planaria yeah, ya can't get them confused with anything else. LOL! But you can confuse other things for planaria

[Aqualady]

to me they look like tiny grains of white rice

[ravensgate]

Originally Posted by Aqualady

to me they look like tiny grains of white rice

If it doesn't have the triangle head it's not planaria. Please go here and read post #12.

http://www.shrimpnow.com/forums/show...imp-tank/page2

The reason you need to be SURE what it is is because #1 most other flat worms that are similar are harmless and #2 the meds that kill planaria won't kill some of these other worms.

Also lots of flat white worms in the aquarium are going to look like grains of rice, that's not really descriptive enough to help determine what you have.

[Soothing Shrimp]

First time I saw worms crawling on my glass I freaked, broke it down and bleached everything. LOL Don't make my rookie mistake. As long as you don't have that triangle head worm, you are good.

[wicca27]

i see little worms all the time but untill they finaly got bigger i couldnt tell they were planaria cause at first i didnt see the triangle head. i figure might as well treat my tank if i even think it could be now.

[Fdsh5]

I agree, definitely make sure they are planaria before napalming the tank.

[wicca27]

ok stupid question time..... what other worms have triangle heads? i never have seen eyes on the few i have seen with triangle heads in my tanks but i dont normally let them get big enough to see they triangle head either

[MABJ]

There are various coloration of planarian, and they don't live just in water. But once you decide if you have planaria for sure, you can use the search function to decide what treatment you like.

There is a new thread every week on this. Lol.

[Aqualady]

They are so small to get pic and I tried looking through my cheap magnifying glass but not strong enough to be sure if it is or isn't with a triangle head....is there a site with all the different white worms images so I can look and see if I can identify them? I been dealing with this awhile but I never let them be in there long enough to see if they grow, swim, etc...I siphon out as many as possible during every weekly water change....please someone help me even if they are harmless I don't like it in there.....:-(

[jimmytruong87]

They are harmless , I have a lot of worms from my shrimp tank. If you try to use any chemicals kill worm, then your shrimp will be die
You need reduce feed them, change 10% water per week, and Otto fish like eat those worm

[ravensgate]

Originally Posted by jimmytruong87

They are harmless , I have a lot of worms from my shrimp tank. If you try to use any chemicals kill worm, then your shrimp will be die
You need reduce feed them, change 10% water per week, and Otto fish like eat those worm

I didn't think ottos ate planaria...or any other bugs and fauna in the tank