# Planaria



## Petah

How do you get rid of these? without harming shrimps.


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## Diztrbd1

here's a couple good links....hope it helps a bit 
Planaria and Hydra Elimination in Shrimp Tanks - Library - Aquatic Plant Central
Killing Planaria and Hydra .:. Information on killing Planaria & Hydra with Fenbendazole


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## CRS Fan

Peter.

Canadian Aquatics sells No Planaria (a very effective palm based planaria killer). It is absolutely shrimp safe.

This is what it looks like:










Best regards,

Stuart


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## effox

I second No Planaria, I've used it with great success. Contact "Mykiss" for sure.


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## Petah

The instructions say to clean the gravel... Is this a must do? I don't want to stir up the substrate since my plants will probably be uprooted.


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## effox

I didn't bother, I just dosed it for the three days and it wiped the bugs out.


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## BossRoss

very helpful - thank you. will this harm the snails at all?


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## Kei

if i remember yes....


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## Ursus sapien

BossRoss said:


> very helpful - thank you. will this harm the snails at all?


yes. No Planaria will kill off your snails. Ramshorns survive the longest, but they eventually go, too.

I've done this dance a few times. Planaria has survived in tanks when I've tried to keep the plants in tact. Ideally, you will remove most of the substrate for treatment.


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## BossRoss

any agent that is safe for snails and shrimp but will kill planaria? removing substrate is too much work!!!


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## BossRoss

hmmmm further research leads me to believe that they are not planaria after all - they are not flat, but rather thin white worms wiggling/swimming in the water column. So now i guess i need to know if they can be harmful to shrimp (or fish) and any fish that will eat them but not the shrimp/snails?


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## Kei

thoughs are called white worms u need to clean the substrate and feed less.
i had some befor i made the substrate paper thin the worms are almost gone.


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## Ursus sapien

the little worms in your substrate are common enough and harmless. fish eat them, which is why you don't see them in set-ups with fish.


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## BossRoss

hmmm are there any fish that would eat the worms but not disturb the shrimp? Last time i had a few guppy fry in a shrimp tank they really upset the shrimp. These are painted fire red shrimp if that matters at all.


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## Sayonara

This is my first post, and for some reason it is on this topic... why I don't know. Planaria is not so bad. I occasionally see them in my tank and it's because they are there to maintain a balance in our tank. If there is too much food and junk in our tank, something needs to deal with it. So many times we all want a pristine looking tank but when you try to get rid of a 'pest' it offsets the balance.


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