what should i do with planaria?

4106 Views 17 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Paulcm10, Aug 31, 2012

Paulcm10

Discussion Starter · Aug 29, 2012

I am currently researching for a natural way of getting rid of the planaria in my tank. i have read that vacuuming is an option but it is a bit tough to vacuum since my tank is somewhat a bit heavily planted. lately i have seen 3 or 4 on the glass. i know its not many but id like to get rid of them before it becomes a problem.

I have reduced the food that i give to my shrimps and recently bought a glass dish to put the shrimp food. then i take the food out after a few hours.

are there any small nano fish that eat them or type of medications that will not harm any of my RCS or MTS?

any advice would be much appreciated!

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

sbarbee54

· #2 · Aug 29, 2012

Google planaria trap or YouTube it

Paulcm10

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 29, 2012

hmm i found a few of them and also i found a thing called gush planaria trap. its like a little tube thing. but I don't think my planaria is big enough. should i wait till they are big enough to make a trap?

sayurasem

· #4 · Aug 29, 2012

If you choose medicine, a dog dewormer called panacur can kill those planaria.

dougolasjr

· #5 · Aug 29, 2012

I tried the trap no results. Then used dog dewormer... problem fixed.

ryc120

· #6 · Aug 29, 2012

Buy No Planaria. Works very well.
Will kill every snail in your tank too so make sure you remove your MTS first. Be sure not to put them back in the tank for a couple of weeks after dosing and a couple of water changes.

diwu13

· #7 · Aug 29, 2012

Any dewormer product with flu/fenbendazole as a leading product will kill planaria. However.. if you have any snails in your tank I would be wary.

Paulcm10

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 30, 2012

i guess since the trap doesn't work ill have to go with the dewormer?
should i wait til it gets worse or get it over with? =p

antiquefloorman

· #9 · Aug 30, 2012

Green Leaf Aquariums has No-Planaria in stock right now. Get some

Paulcm10

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 30, 2012

are there any medications that will kill planaria but not snails?

ShadowBeast

· #11 · Aug 30, 2012

Paulcm10 said:
are there any medications that will kill planaria but not snails?

I've heard that dog dewormer with fenbendazole is safe for snails except nerite snails.

diwu13

· #12 · Aug 30, 2012

Paulcm10 said:
are there any medications that will kill planaria but not snails?

Not 100% safe that I am aware of. The medicanes are really hit or miss. Sometimes you commit genocide on the pest snails. Other times no effect on the snails.

garfieldnfish

· #13 · Aug 30, 2012 (Edited)

What will kill planaria, will also kill snails.
If you see 3 or 4 on the glass that means there are tons in the tank. Most tanks have them and most people are not aware that they have them. Once you see them on the glass, there are plenty in the tank. If you go with the no planaria or dog dewormer, remove as many snails as you can or you could end up with an ammonia spike from the decaying snail bodies. Also do not return the snails until several water changes later. I used it on a 2.5 gal tank. And even after totally emptying the tank and replacing the water, the added snails died within a day. It took 3 total gravel washes before the tank was safe for snails again. Since I have snails in all of my tanks, I will not use no planaria again. It did work like a charm on the planaria but within a month the first planaria showed up again. I believe they came via the gravel vac from other tanks. The planaria catcher did not work for me at all. Less food makes a difference but I doubt you will ever totally get rid of the critters. What I also found helpful is adding a flat rock, like slate. Planaria like to hide under flat rocks or decorations during the day. I remove these rocks once a day and wash them off. I am always amazed how many planaria I find this way, when in those tanks I don't even see them otherwise.

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SpecGrrl

· #14 · Aug 31, 2012

garfieldnfish said:
What will kill planaria, will also kill snails.
If you see 3 or 4 on the glass that means there are tons in the tank. Most tanks have them and most people are not aware that they have them. Once you see them on the glass, there are plenty in the tank. If you go with the no planaria or dog dewormer, remove as many sanils as you can or you could end up with an ammonia spike from the decaying snail bodies. Also do not return the snails until several water changes later. I used it on a 2.5 gal tank. And even after totally emptying the tank and replacing the water, the added snails died within a day. It took 3 total gravel washes before the tank was safe for snails again. Since I have snails in all of my tanks, I will not use no planaria again. It did work like a charm on the planaria but within a month the first planaria showed up again. I believe they came via the gravel vac from other tanks. The planaria catcher did not work for me at all. Less food makes a difference but I doubt you will ever totally get rid of the critters. What I also found helpful is adding a flat rock, like slate. Planaria like to hide under flat rocks or decorations during the day. I remove these rocks once a day and wash them off. I am always amazed how many planaria I find this way, when in those tanks I don't even see them otherwise.

Thanks for this very useful info!

pejerrey

· #15 · Aug 31, 2012

I bought no planaria exact doses for my tanks from H4N. It waa super cheap!

It killed the planaria but DIDN'T kill my ramshorns snails. I think he said it kills nerites tho.

H4N:
http://mail.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=183859

I used it on this tank with CRS CBS OEBTs and blue velvets.

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2

Paulcm10

Discussion Starter · #16 · Aug 31, 2012

garfieldnfish said:
What will kill planaria, will also kill snails.
If you see 3 or 4 on the glass that means there are tons in the tank. Most tanks have them and most people are not aware that they have them. Once you see them on the glass, there are plenty in the tank. If you go with the no planaria or dog dewormer, remove as many snails as you can or you could end up with an ammonia spike from the decaying snail bodies. Also do not return the snails until several water changes later. I used it on a 2.5 gal tank. And even after totally emptying the tank and replacing the water, the added snails died within a day. It took 3 total gravel washes before the tank was safe for snails again. Since I have snails in all of my tanks, I will not use no planaria again. It did work like a charm on the planaria but within a month the first planaria showed up again. I believe they came via the gravel vac from other tanks. The planaria catcher did not work for me at all. Less food makes a difference but I doubt you will ever totally get rid of the critters. What I also found helpful is adding a flat rock, like slate. Planaria like to hide under flat rocks or decorations during the day. I remove these rocks once a day and wash them off. I am always amazed how many planaria I find this way, when in those tanks I don't even see them otherwise.

that is somewhat depressing to know that i will not get rid of planaria

lol.
i do have MTS and they are tiny at the moment. but ill have a hard time trying to get them out =/.. also should i dose dewormer then use carbon to help get rid of the meds?

shrimpzoo

· #17 · Aug 31, 2012

I used a dog dewormer called Panacur (1 gram) to get rid of hydra in my RCS tank a long while ago.

I had MTS in the tank and took the risk of using it. I had no MTS killed using it (my experience). If MTS is the only snails you are concerned about.

You can buy it at http://www.aquarliamshop.com/supplements/panacur-1-gram/

and the guys username in this forum is mordalphus I believe (if memory is correct). This stuff should kill planaria too.

Paulcm10

Discussion Starter · #18 · Aug 31, 2012

shrimpzoo said:
I used a dog dewormer called Panacur (1 gram) to get rid of hydra in my RCS tank a long while ago.

I had MTS in the tank and took the risk of using it. I had no MTS killed using it (my experience). If MTS is the only snails you are concerned about.

You can buy it at http://www.aquarliamshop.com/supplements/panacur-1-gram/

and the guys username in this forum is mordalphus I believe (if memory is correct). This stuff should kill planaria too.

oh ok thanks!

i might look into that. i have a fenbendazole but i was told that kills any snails.

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