# anyone tried "No Planaria" ?



## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

has anyone tried the "No Planaria" product ? It says its safe for shrimps but I am curious if anyone has used it, and their results? 
found a few planarias and would like to get rid of them, but I dont want any adverse effects with the shrimps


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

I'll be trying it very soon and let you know how it goes.


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

ok great, yes please let us know!


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

I'll be using it on a Sulawesi tank but that shouldn't matter. If anything the Sulawesi will be more sensitive.


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

are those the little white squiggles you get on the glass?


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

yes that sounds like planaria , but they can also be white/pinkish and also larger than the little squiggles if they grow... and hard to remove even with a gravel vacuum they can hang onto a piece of gravel and seem near impossible to pick out with tweezers lol. I gravel vac twice a week when Im doing water changes to keep My tank really clean, I just dont want any harm coming to the baby shrimps and ive heard the planaria can attack a shrimp, tho ive never seen it myself...
Ive only seen a couple but would prefer not to have them, and wondering how well the NoPlanaria product works, and more importantly if it affects the shrimp at all.


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

well i discovered a few tiny white squiggles as i discovered some baby shrimps
kinda burst my bubble. So i did some digging on the net and most people recommend just starving them out.


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

when i did a complete tare down of my 15g i found a worm like thing in my tank. I tore down the whole tank rinsed my crushed coral substrate in scaling water. I put everything back together and started my cycle when it swam by,
the thing could blob up like a slug or stretch right out to like 3+" and resemble a thin worm. I caught in and smushed it after thoroughly cleaning the tank a second time, what do you think it was?


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Probably a big planaria, ive seen the same when i tried to grab is out with tweezers it could shrink up really tiny and when left alone it stretched back out... Im pretty sure if u squish it, it will only make more planaria , i remember in science class they showed us how planaria when cut in 2 pieces made 2 planarias , eek lol


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

They're most likely not planaria and could be nematodes. Planaria are flat and don't swim around squiggling around like nematodes. 

I think people just assume they have planaria in their tanks when it's not actually planaria.

Edit- this was a response to mrobsons first post


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Thats right, the ones im talking about dont swim, theyre in gravel. The ones that swim and kinda wiggle around and are very thin are something different, and i dont think those are harmful. Do nematodes get thick or only stay thin?


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

thanks for the tip that looks like what i have im guna try and starve them out, i have 4 fat khuli's in with the shrimp so hopefully they get hungry fast and munch them.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

ShrimpieLove said:


> Thats right, the ones im talking about dont swim, theyre in gravel. The ones that swim and kinda wiggle around and are very thin are something different, and i dont think those are harmful. Do nematodes get thick or only stay thin?


They stay really thin and best way to know they are nematodes is the way they freak out swimming around like they're having a panic attack lol

There is so much conflicting information on forums about these things it's not even funny.

Like the little pink things you might find in a filter that has not been cleaned for a while on some sites say they're planaria when in fact they are microfex worms. 
The ones swimming around squiggling on some sites say they're planaria when they are nematodes. Pita when trying to find the right information on these things lol


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Here a pic I just took showing how bad the information on the Internet is. 
The snail has died in the past hour or so. The cause the worms you see hanging out of it.
These are what is being sold as black worms at dragon aquarium. Most sites say they are harmless and do well with pond snails lol so how is it that I have been feeding the ones I raise the pond snails I have been picking out of my one tank? Mystery to me lol 
They burrow into the snail from the inside and kill it eventually eating the whole thing over a few days. Pretty sick but so freaken cool at the same time lol
Even if they are just a large type of tubifex and not actual black worms this according to all the sites I have read should not be happening.


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

that is disturbingly cool, couldn't imagine that happening to me


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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

mrobson said:


> well i discovered a few tiny white squiggles as i discovered some baby shrimps


I had a planaria outbreak right when my CRS had it's babies.

Probably coincidence but worth noting.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Are you guys sure they are planaria? Nematodes can also be seen gliding along the glass. Planaria are a flat worm that look like slugs sort of and nematodes are a round worm or tape worm. Nematodes can be found all over the tank from substrate to glass.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

Jackson said:


> Are you guys sure they are planaria? Nematodes can also be seen gliding along the glass. Planaria are a flat worm that look like slugs sort of and nematodes are a round worm or tape worm. Nematodes can be found all over the tank from substrate to glass.


How would I be able to tell when they're very small? I do see mine, they're about 1mm and they do dart around randomly like you described. I also see them at all levels of the tank, mostly in substrate but also on glass. I've seen a few that have grown to 2-3mm, but that's as big as I've seen. Can nematodes also be starved out? What's the best method of getting rid of them?


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

yea they can the main cause is over feeding so a good clean and a few days with out food should help


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

IME my fluval edge had an outbreak of planaria.
I considered using a dewormer but wanted to try the natural way first.

It worked.


Here are steps I took.

A) cut back feeding by 50%. 
B) pick them off the glass 1 by 1. (key element)
C) I haven't seen a single planaria for over 2 months. Before it was 3-5 every time the lights went on. 





additional tips
(use hard food like mosura excel and shirakiku so it doesn't break up and spread, also helps to turn filter/ pump off during feeding to prevent water movement)
(use a plastic ruler to knock them off the glass, then gently let it fall onto your ruler and slowly remove-especially when approaching the water surface)
(Make sure the filter is off to reduce water movement)
(Only front and side glass are required. I ignored the back glass)
This should take 1-3 months depending on outbreak but it's actually fun and gives me something extra to work on in my tank.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

SmokeSR said:


> How would I be able to tell when they're very small? I do see mine, they're about 1mm and they do dart around randomly like you described. I also see them at all levels of the tank, mostly in substrate but also on glass. I've seen a few that have grown to 2-3mm, but that's as big as I've seen. Can nematodes also be starved out? What's the best method of getting rid of them?


Yes you can. water changes and less feeding will kill them off. Both are very sensitive so only a few water changes a few days apart can get rid of the problem as well as sudden temperature changes. 
Planaria are mostly seen at night so if you have bright lights on and you see things that are long and round ( not flat ) on the glass they are nematodes. Planaria are light sensitive. It's really easy to tell planaria apart from nematodes. They look nothing alike. Google search will bring up lots of pics of both. They are too small for me to take pics of lol


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

Thanks for the clarification. Mine must be nematodes then.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

So I did a major cleaning of one of my tanks 2 days ago and now there is a lot of larger sized planaria (up to 1cm) that have come out. I'm guessing they're looking for food since the gravel is now lacking food. The tank has also changed from 78*F to 70*F. Previously, I never saw any this large so I assume they were just in the gravel eating away and growing. I'm worried since they look large enough to take down a shrimp and since they no longer have a good food source, they may try to. This tank has not been fed in 5 days (livestock was moved to other tanks as this tank was being setup for new shrimp). 

I believe planaria (and nematodes or other misc snails/worms) were striving in my tank because I use normal gravel and a lot of the food gets down there - out of reach of the shrimp.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

I have never seen planaria in any of my tanks with fish in it. I only see them in my culturing tank and I don't mind if they are there.

They could just be out and about because of the lack of food like you said keep doing water changes and syphon the gravel.

As for them eating fish or shrimp it has to be bull crap. 100% of the papers you can find on them all state they are free living. Forum information IMO on these things is lacking big time.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

So much misinformation online on this topic lol

Some sites say they will bite and attach onto shrimp, while most sites say they will not harm adult shrimp, but will eat shrimplettes. 

I know guppies, and most other fish, will eat planaria, but my tank only has shrimp. 

I'm wondering if UGF or RUGF will help, or maybe change substrate to something with less room for food to fall. Hard to find info on UGF and RUGF for shrimp. 

I've also started feeding on a food plate - that should help a lot.


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