intruders already!

1539 Views 26 Replies 10 Participants Last post by MABJ, Sep 19, 2012

Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · Sep 17, 2012

im a week into cycling my 20L and i already noticed some parasites/insects. :icon_cry:

i believe its from the moss i threw in from a lfs. they are seriously way to small to take a pic and i noticed a couple in the moss when i pulled some out of the tank and put it in a container.

one is a really really really small dot that swims around. about the size of . maybe smaller.

another thing i saw was a extremely small worm. brown in color and looks like it has segments. looks more like a really small larval insect. again too small for a pic. what can i do to get rid of these?

aquarium salt? nuke them with bleach then seachem prime? any chemicals that could be shrimp safe but will kill these things?

only thing in the tank is moss no shrimp yet so should i take care of it now or i also read to ignore them because its probably harmless to shrimp and getting pests in your shrimp tank just happens

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

cantsay39

· #2 · Sep 17, 2012

if you are cycling... yea nuke them co2,,, lol or excel.

Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 17, 2012

cantsay39 said:
if you are cycling... yea nuke them co2,,, lol or excel.

ill use co2. thanks!

MABJ

· #4 · Sep 17, 2012

I personally love my Copepods, and I know my nematodes... While weird.. Help clean the tank.

The segmented worm does seem weird.

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Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 17, 2012

one more thing...

is it possible to use too much co2? like can i kill my bacteria?

SpecGrrl

· #6 · Sep 17, 2012

MABJ said:
I personally love my Copepods, and I know my nematodes... While weird.. Help clean the tank.

The segmented worm does seem weird.

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I like. Nemaftodes.

Planaria not so much.

Segmented sounds scary and I am afraid to google.

sayurasem

· #7 · Sep 17, 2012

Co2 won't kill bacteria. But the effect of Co2... Which lowers the PH of the water making it hard for good bacteria to multiply. Avoid acidic water while cycling a tank.

Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 17, 2012

and how long til i can assume theyre dead? im using a fluval 88 so i dont want to use more co2 than i need too but at the same time i want them to be dead. i was gonna leave it on for 3 days straight.

Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #9 · Sep 17, 2012

sayurasem said:
Co2 won't kill bacteria. But the effect of Co2... Which lowers the PH of the water making it hard for good bacteria to multiply. Avoid acidic water while cycling a tank.

well the co2 is only temporary. as long as i dont kill the bacteria. id hate to have to start my cycle over. my ph is already buffered to 6.7ish from my FSS so i'm probably gonna be on the acidic side.

Bubba Shrimp

· #10 · Sep 17, 2012

I have worms in both my tanks I'm hoping the catfish gets them.

Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 17, 2012

Can someone tell me how long i should leave my co2 on for? Haha

Hmoobthor

· #12 · Sep 17, 2012

if there isn't any shrimp in there at the moment...use a small neon or two and they will gobble that up for you

acitydweller

· #13 · Sep 17, 2012

better hope its not planaria. its best to treat for it now than when stocked.

Bubba Shrimp

· #14 · Sep 18, 2012

planaria is non-parasitic flatworms they are harmless

MABJ

· #15 · Sep 18, 2012

They are extremely harmful to hemp and shrimp babies. They wiped out a bunch of mine before I got rid of them all.

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MABJ

· #16 · Sep 18, 2012

To shrimp* sorry. Not hemp....

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Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #17 · Sep 19, 2012

heres a pic of the worm like intruder:

can someone id? or find a way to kill these things?

i tried gassing them out by leaving my co2 on at a high rate for 3 days straight and i still happen to find one of these guys.

any meds i can use tat will kil lfor sure?

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MABJ

· #18 · Sep 19, 2012

I've never seen them in that color... But to me that certainly looks like planaria...

Fluvobenzenol? Just look up dog dewormer on wag.com. It is inexpensive, has few aquarium repercussions and comes in 3 packets.

You dose 1/10 of the packet for every 10 gallons I believe.

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Dany08fa

Discussion Starter · #19 · Sep 19, 2012

MABJ said:
I've never seen them in that color... But to me that certainly looks like planaria...

Fluvobenzenol? Just look up dog dewormer on wag.com. It is inexpensive, has few aquarium repercussions and comes in 3 packets.

You dose 1/10 of the packet for every 10 gallons I believe.

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and its shrimp safe? i just wanted to be as organic as possible. this is an idea i just came up with... ive never heard of anyone trying this before so idk if its a good idea or a bad one.

all i have in the tank is the FSS, sponge filter and some free floating moss.
i believe the insects/parisites live in my substrate as well as in the sponge from the filter. i was thinking i drain my tank. then ill fill my tank up 1/4 with HOT water. that will kill everything except my bacteria (i think/hope).

will hot water ruin my FSS? thats the only thing...

MABJ

· #20 · Sep 19, 2012

Moving it around a lot probably will damage it over time, I don't know about hurting it with hot water.

The medicine is shrimp safe but not 100% snail safe.

People have overdosed by many times and not hurt their shrimp.

However I will say get second opinions on your worm.

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