# Damn Planaria



## Maximuz Aliuz (Jul 20, 2005)

the damn things are back again!!!!







....i turned up the heat added salt vacummed the gravel changed water...how else do you get rid of them??my local pet store told me to add copper safe to kill the fawkers







..but i havent tried it yet..i wanted to get more info on this if its safe?? i kno their harmless but the damn things look like they wanna just bug the hell outta me when im lookin through the glass... 
my heat has been steady at 80 im thinkin of adding another heater just to get it up more...
what do you guys think i should do????


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## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

i kinda like them, my fish used to always eat them. I dunno about the copper thing, never used it. Mine have been gone for a couple months now, i cut back on feeding a little bit and that helped, plus i think my fish ate them all


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## Zoo_Keeper (Aug 31, 2005)

I wouldn't nuke them with chemicals or heat. You can get rid of the adults by sucking out all your water and filtering it through an unlaundered nylon stocking. You will have to do it several times to get rid of the generations of eggs. I actually add planaria to my aquariums after we use the cultures I buy, so the aquarium water has interesting stuff in it examined under the microscope.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Zoo_Keeper said:


> I wouldn't nuke them with chemicals or heat. You can get rid of the adults by sucking out all your water and filtering it through an unlaundered nylon stocking. You will have to do it several times to get rid of the generations of eggs. I actually add planaria to my aquariums after we use the cultures I buy, so the aquarium water has interesting stuff in it examined under the microscope.


OMG that sounds like a total pain in the ass!









I have always killed my planaria off with temperature alone.
Frequent vacuumings and more vigilant feedings will prevent their return.

80 degrees won't cut it.
85 will.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

The only way i got rid of mine was by daily glass scrapes, gravel vac, and running a Diatom XL mechanical filter full time. Haven't had any since last year. It took about 3 weeks to eradicate all. Tried the salt thing, didn't work. I wouldn't nuke them because planaria is not harmful to your p's just an annoyance. If you nuke them most likely you will also nuke your p's if not done correctly


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## Maximuz Aliuz (Jul 20, 2005)

the temperature is up for now (82)...thanks for the help...and Zoo_Keeper thats nuts to just start over with new water..but imma def cut down on feeding...any idea how much i should cut down? should 3 times a week do good?

Their diet is as follows...
morning> its nothing...or jus frozen brine shrimp, or 2 cubes of bloodworms for snack its rare that i feed them in the morning tho cause i dont feel like doin sh*t but sleep....!!!
afternoon> its either one if these tilipia, shirmp,catfish, or squid
night> small amount of cichlid gold pellets..


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## Round Head (Sep 26, 2005)

Maximuz Aliuz said:


> the damn things are back again!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You don't need heat, just add more salt.
I am talking about 2 cups per 10 gal, but don't add it all at once.
If you have a 60 gal, then add 2 cups after the water change, then 1 additional cup per hour, and do a 50% water change the next day. After 6 cups you can see the worms begin to float around in discomfort and they will starting to burst open near the end of the salt treatment.
Trust me, it won't harm your fish at all. I do this all the time (at least every other month) to my discus, flowerhorns, and piranhas.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Maximuz Aliuz said:


> the damn things are back again!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You don't need heat, just add more salt.
I am talking about 2 cups per 10 gal, but don't add it all at once.
If you have a 60 gal, then add 2 cups after the water change, then 1 additional cup per hour, and do a 50% water change the next day. After 6 cups you can see the worms begin to float around in discomfort and they will starting to burst open near the end of the salt treatment.
Trust me, it won't harm your fish at all. I do this all the time (at least every other month) to my discus, flowerhorns, and piranhas.
[/quote]

Not to be disagreeable, but _I couldn't disagree more._

There is nothing more easily controlable than heat. You turn it up for as long as you want, then turn it back down, and everything- water parameters, filter media... *everything* is back to normal--- instantly.

Heat will kill the planaria and won't harm your fish one bit.

In the wild, the fish undergo much more severe temperature changes as they are confided to small drying pools baking in the sun...

They can certainly handle 85 degrees for a week or so


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## Round Head (Sep 26, 2005)

Piranha_man said:


> the damn things are back again!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You don't need heat, just add more salt.
I am talking about 2 cups per 10 gal, but don't add it all at once.
If you have a 60 gal, then add 2 cups after the water change, then 1 additional cup per hour, and do a 50% water change the next day. After 6 cups you can see the worms begin to float around in discomfort and they will starting to burst open near the end of the salt treatment.
Trust me, it won't harm your fish at all. I do this all the time (at least every other month) to my discus, flowerhorns, and piranhas.
[/quote]

Not to be disagreeable, but _I couldn't disagree more._

There is nothing more easily controlable than heat. You turn it up for as long as you want, then turn it back down, and everything- water parameters, filter media... *everything* is back to normal--- instantly.

Heat will kill the planaria and won't harm your fish one bit.

In the wild, the fish undergo much more severe temperature changes as they are confided to small drying pools baking in the sun...

They can certainly handle 85 degrees for a week or so








[/quote]

So how much heat are you talking about?
I keep my discus growouts in 90F and give all of my discus a quarterly heat treatment of 100F for a week and that doesn't bother the planaria at all. 
You may be right if you crank it up above 100F which I have never done.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

I have never heard of planaria being subjected to the temperatures of which you speak and living through it...

I don't know how to answer that one!


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## Maximuz Aliuz (Jul 20, 2005)

Round Head said:


> the damn things are back again!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You don't need heat, just add more salt.
I am talking about 2 cups per 10 gal, but don't add it all at once.
If you have a 60 gal, then add 2 cups after the water change, then 1 additional cup per hour, and do a 50% water change the next day. After 6 cups you can see the worms begin to float around in discomfort and they will starting to burst open near the end of the salt treatment.
Trust me, it won't harm your fish at all. I do this all the time (at least every other month) to my discus, flowerhorns, and piranhas.
[/quote]

Not to be disagreeable, but _I couldn't disagree more._

There is nothing more easily controlable than heat. You turn it up for as long as you want, then turn it back down, and everything- water parameters, filter media... *everything* is back to normal--- instantly.

Heat will kill the planaria and won't harm your fish one bit.

In the wild, the fish undergo much more severe temperature changes as they are confided to small drying pools baking in the sun...

They can certainly handle 85 degrees for a week or so








[/quote]

So how much heat are you talking about?
I keep my discus growouts in 90F and give all of my discus a quarterly heat treatment of 100F for a week and that doesn't bother the planaria at all. 
You may be right if you crank it up above 100F which I have never done.
[/quote]

Thats some serious heat!! you got planaria that are beasts...


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## GlassblowRBPown (Apr 4, 2005)

i dont have planaria, but i have those anoying free floating worms, but you have no idea how cracked out i get when it come to cleanliness, i dont get how their there. i also just added some java moss to add some oxy, bout a week later i see all this crap all over my moss, so i thing im gettin some blue slime goin, but to closer look, its budles of worms, livin off the plants, or just hangin on them. i put some danieos in there, but they dont eat to many of them. anyone?


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## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

those lil buggers took over my tank for about 3 weeks as well. i used feed feeders to my babys but i stopped when one of my guys had some white stuff coming out of his eye socket!!!!yuck. put him in hospital, now i feed beefheart, frozen silver sides and krill. havent seen any worms in about 4 days now







. also dont use chemicals, just turn up the heat and keep changing water, not to much though and youll be fine in a week or 2. dont let the lil white dudes bother you, they dont bother the fish so who cares. i also have a pleco and she is a great planaria vac. herself.


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## Round Head (Sep 26, 2005)

What I found is that you can control planaria but you can't get rid of them totally.
You would think if a bunch of them die, then the whole population would die from the treatment.
Is there any research about these guys?
I would assume they are a benefit to the aquarium since they are not parasitic.

I have tried everything and only high salt concentration seems to kill them off; you would actually see them burst open and float in the brackish water.


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## Maximuz Aliuz (Jul 20, 2005)

joey said:


> those lil buggers took over my tank for about 3 weeks as well. i used feed feeders to my babys but i stopped when one of my guys had some white stuff coming out of his eye socket!!!!yuck. put him in hospital, now i feed beefheart, frozen silver sides and krill. havent seen any worms in about 4 days now
> 
> 
> 
> ...


your p's dont bother your pleco? id be skurred if i was to add a pleco due to my p's being so agressive...


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Planeria are caused by bad water or food rotting in the tank... nothing a raise in temp can kill.

All tanks have planeria, some have a little, some have alot. They're harmfull little worms that can easily be rid off by small fish or better filteration. Think of them as aquatic maggots. You get rid of the dead/decaying piece of food, the maggots leave.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

RhomZilla said:


> Planeria are caused by bad water or food rotting in the tank... nothing a raise in temp can kill.
> 
> All tanks have planeria, some have a little, some have alot. They're harmfull little worms that can easily be rid off by small fish or better filteration. Think of them as aquatic maggots. You get rid of the dead/decaying piece of food, the maggots leave.


That's interesting Rhomzilla...
In my 30 years of fishkeeping I have always gotten rid of them that way.









(I wonder why it works for me and not for you?)









p.s. In what way do you deem them harmful.... and harmful to what?


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