# planaria??



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

I was cleaning out my planted tank trimming and ridding some snails manually by dumping them on a fish net. To my surprise I noticed red and white slug like worms googled it think its planaria....just kind of concern do they hurt fish or cherry shrimp? Also have assassin snails

Never noticed them before. Is there anything I can add to get rid of them or just cut back on feeding? Its in my discus planted tank so dont know what should I do?? Any advice would be appreciated.


----------



## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

What I did when I had this problem was, do a complete vacuum of the gravel followed by a 50% water change afterwards. Next cut back on feeding as these worms live in the substrate. Do a 50% water change weekly for about 3 weeks and check your filter with each water change. They are not a threat to the fish as some fish will eat them the threat is the ammonia caused by the leftover food. Good luck.


----------



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Thanks bob123. I will try that good to know they dont hurt the fish. I was disgusted when I first saw them.


----------



## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

There are lots of little critters that can end up in your tank in FW. 99% of them are totally harmless and if anything they are beneficial, cleaning up rotten vegetation, leftover food, etc.


----------



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Icic thanks for the reassurance mistersprinkles.


----------



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

When I had my cherry shrimp tank, i got planaria and ended up with dead shrimp. i dont know if it was connected or not but i liked to believe so. Any who, I got biomax no planaria and it destroyed them. it is shrimp safe and will get rid of them in a couple days.


----------



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Yea I read about that too. Wasn't sure myself but noticed the numbers are down but slowly recovering but then again I gave away like 30 or so shrimp. Is the biomass no planaria safe with fish? Discus in particular?? And where can youb pick it up? Just debating should I do something or just let it be?


----------



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Its supposedly fish and shrimp safe. 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk


----------



## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

Biomax will reduce the ammonia and nitrites in the aquarium which may have been very high when you were losing shrimp, by adding biomax you reduce the ammonia and nitrite making your tank safe again. Biomax is a ceramic type filtration system that the beneficial bacteria thrive in keeping the tank safe.


----------



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

bob123 said:


> Biomax will reduce the ammonia and nitrites in the aquarium which may have been very high when you were losing shrimp, by adding biomax you reduce the ammonia and nitrite making your tank safe again. Biomax is a ceramic type filtration system that the beneficial bacteria thrive in keeping the tank safe.


No, no. I'm not talking about cermaic media. Biomax no planaria is a powder made of some sort of nut. i think betel? Anyways. its a natural way to kill off planaria and do no harm to shrimp and fish. I dont think it does anything to the filtration of a tank. As novice as my post seemed, my shrimp tank was fully cycled and planted HEAVILY. I bought it from some site that was form the UK. Big mistake, took 2 weeks to get here and cost me a fortune. I highly suggest finding a seller closer lol.


----------



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Yea that's the only thing, dont think I have seen it for sale at the LFS. At first was going to let it slide but kind of bothered me when I managed to pull out another six planaria today. I want them out, let me see if tommy might have or not. If any has or knows where I can get a bag locally in markham or scarborough please let me know.


----------



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Found it shrimp fever has. A little pricey but I had enough of these worms.


----------



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Fwiw, planaria are not red. They're a very pale, dull shade of very slightly pinkish, whitish yuck that's hard to describe. They don't swim, rather, they glide, over leaves, glass or substrate. Flat bodied, even if you can't quite distinguish the triangle head and two eye spots, the bodies are noticeably flat.

If you had really red looking critters too, they were something else.


----------



## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Here's a pic. Anyone know what it is? And is it something you need to worry about? Slides around quite quick, just looks like a red planaria, does have some what of a triangle head. Dont know what it is, but caught these guys after a major water change and vacuum today.

And any idea of the type of snails? Have a ton. Threw in some assassins kind of reduced the number but they never get large.


----------

