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Hi! I had a thread in the hospital forum because I found these worms crawling on my fish and other surfaces of the tank. Now, I broke down that tank, (bleached, etc.) I am now noticing something else in my other ten gallon. These worms are different. They aren't the roundish ones in the other tank.

The thermometer in the picture should give you an idea of their size.

Here are the pics (size: 500kish):

http://home.comcast.net/~pammylz/HPIM0582b.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pammylz/HPIM0579b.jpg

They are alive, the move on the glass. I've watched and made sure it just wasn't something stuck on the glass that was moving with the current. They don't crawl on the fish either...

Any Ideas?

Thanks a lot!

-Pamela

Last edited by HermeLZ at 16-Jan-2005 11:34

im not sure what they are, but i have them in my snail tank, they eat the leftovers, and the tiniest particals, they need light to live, and when they are deprived of light, they seem to die, creating an awful stench, but once light is reaplied in a few days all is well, the water is kept clear (if u call brown tinted clear) and everything thrives, oh, and bettas LOVE them, i also feed them to newborn fry, they are tiny enough for them to eat, hope this helps

Yeah, I have a betta in that tank & two cherry barbs. Well, as long as they aren't harmful...whew!

That tank does have a not so good smell too. Hmm.


Thanks fishyhelper!!!!!!!

P.S. Does anybody know where they come from? How could they get in my tank?

-Pamela

Congratulations! You have established a breeding population of planaria. Planaria are flatworms and members of the Platyhelminthes phylum. They are often found in aquariums with uneaten food.

Planaria will not hurt your fish. However, they are a symptom of unsanitary conditions in your tank such as uneaten food in your gravel. If those conditions continue you are setting the scene for an outbreak of disease.


I recommend that you deep vacuum your aquarium gravel, wipe down the inside glass and do a 30% water change. Clean your filter. In two days, deep vacuum your aquarium and do a 30% water change. In two days, deep vacuum your gravel and do a 30% water change. In two days, deep vacuum your gravel and do a 30% water change.

It should take a week to get your gravel and cleanliness to good standards. You can then back down the schedule to twice a week.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Oh geez....

I just don't get it though. I don't overfeed. And I do gravel-vac twice a week.....

Well, thanks for the advice, I will do that later...

-pamela

I think most tanks have planaria. Anyone who doesn't think they have any, may find some deep into the night, if they check the glass with a flashlight. That's when they come up. They are usually not visible in the day, unless their numbers are really big, from excessive wastes in the gravel bed. I didn't really have any that I could see, until I introduced plants. Even transferring a piece of hornwort into a 2 gallon, no gravel betta container, has produced a population of Planaria in the betta tank - all living on the hornwort (I can see the little buggers). There must be something on the plant that feeds them - like microscopic life.

I even treated my plants before putting them in the tank - with an alum soak and potassium permangenate. I do the alum to prevent snails and snail eggs and the latter for bacteria/viruses (Jungle Clear Water). Apparently, that didn't kill them.

My fish even eat them and have been doing so for the better part of two years. Every now and then, a huge explosion of them comes out of my sponge filter tube when I turn the tank back on after cleaning . It's hilarious as these little buggers squirm through the water and the fish feel its feeding time. I even scrub out the sponge filter tubes monthly and clean the sponges with a quick rinse in old tank water weekly. Doesn't do anything. .

Last edited by Cory_Di at 17-Jan-2005 12:16

Last edited by Cory_Di at 17-Jan-2005 12:17

<~~ planaria free

I had hornwort in my tank too a couple months ago. THe stuff just slowly died off.


I wish I would've know this before i bought the stuff.

-Pamela

TIM!!!!!!!!

Got plants? If so, I don't believe you don't see a single planaria on your glass at night

If no plants, then I can see not having any.

I have plenty of plants.. no planaria.

No planaria just means hasn't been introduced into his tank yet, so hey good for you

Myself I have 3 of my tanks that I know if I look at night have them. One of those 3 is bad enough that they come out during the day. Again not overfed and no plants in that tank. Just real driftwood. Well and of course an eel


People just guess when they try to tell you where they are from. I really believe in each case it was introduced into my tank at some point. Otherwise why don't all of my tanks have it?

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

I don't really see them as a harm either. I know when mine went into a real bloom, my gravel was too deep. When I first set the tank up, a friend of mine who owns an lfs talked me into setting up nearly 2 inches of gravel bed. I didn't know at the time, that this was based on the needs of UGF's, which I was not planning to use. The planaria were completely out of control. I thinned the gravel, did many vacs, cut back on feeding and their numbers dwindled. But I still see them on the hornwort when I look very closely - anytime of the day.

Just to let those interested know. I tried everything everybody suggested. And, nothing seemed to work. Actually, it seemed like the planaria population would double.....then triple with every gravel vac & water change & scrubbing.

So, I went to the the LFS to look at meds/products. On the back of the medication, Clout. It said it was highly effective with Planaria. I tried it....it wiped out the entire planaria population in 24 hours......as the box said it would.

My fish seemed perfectly fine. They didn't look or act stressed...

So, if any of you are having problems with the same thing. You might want to try Clout. It worked very, very well.

-pamela

P.S. Thanks for all your help!

None of my 7 tanks have them, and they are all planted.

I don't think there is any way to get rid of them, short of yanking your fish out dumping your gravel, and cleaning everything else.

Last edited by Booger at 20-Jan-2005 11:04

My 20 gallon has Planaria. When the Nitrites are a bit high, you can see them all over the glass in the daytime. A couple of water changes/gravel vacs. Lower the nitrites, and the planaria recede back into the gravel. How is your nitrite levels?

-Keith #2

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