Planaria and breeding shrimp—what to do?

[Odd Duck]

On 9/6/2021 at 12:44 PM, Scott P. said:

Found this on youtube yesterday. Cheap diy planaria trap. Trap construction starts at the 3 minute mark.

 

 

So, . . . . This planaria trap is working already!  I used a 22 ga hypodermic needle since that’s what it looked like he was using.  I have a few tiny planaria and one larger one in the trap within about 30 minutes. Just in case anybody was wondering, pea puffers don’t eat planaria.  Since their tank has the most detritus, they had the most planaria.  Next I’ll be moving it to one of my shrimp tanks that hasn’t been doing as well as expected.  I’ll see how many times I have to reset it to knock them down.

[Tihshho]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:35 PM, Odd Duck said:

pea puffers don’t eat planaria

If they won't eat them, then nothing will. I swear DP's are little pigs with fins that try to eat everything meaty. There has to be a reason or some toxin/pheromone that they give off that makes them unappealing. 

[Odd Duck]

On 9/6/2021 at 7:48 PM, Tihshho said:

If they won't eat them, then nothing will. I swear DP's are little pigs with fins that try to eat everything meaty. There has to be a reason or some toxin/pheromone that they give off that makes them unappealing. 

Right?  They eat most meaty stuff voraciously and stuff their little bellies.

Maybe they just taste bad?  It’s got to be something because I’ve seen them eyeing them but never seen one try to take a bite.  I’ve also done a few fasting days intermittently, I know they graze on snails, and likely work on some microfauna, too.  Yet the planaria have been slowly increasing.  I’ve been slowly pushing down the amount I’m feeding (clearly, with algae issues and planaria I’m feeding too much), but it hasn’t decreased the number of planaria.  I’ve been reluctant to use meds because I’ve got snails in there.

I’m very happy to find something that will help!

[Tihshho]

The only stop all seems to be meds or redoing a tank and scrapping the flora in there. Otherwise you'll have planaria in there forever. I went get one out of my tank once and it broke in half, as it was split, both halves tried to crawl away. This parasite is so annoying.

[Odd Duck]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:07 PM, Tihshho said:

The only stop all seems to be meds or redoing a tank and scrapping the flora in there. Otherwise you'll have planaria in there forever. I went get one out of my tank once and it broke in half, as it was split, both halves tried to crawl away. This parasite is so annoying.

If I have to make more, I’m happy to upcycle more water/juice/soda bottles.  I’ll keep one in every tank if I have to.  😆 

[Tihshho]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:31 PM, Odd Duck said:

If I have to make more, I’m happy to upcycle more water/juice/soda bottles.  I’ll keep one in every tank if I have to.  😆 

If you have something in your grocery store called "Sparkling Ice" in the drink isle the bottles are slim and might work for smaller tanks. Unlike picking things for packaging, you might actually like the sparkling water drink too before it becomes a planaria trap!

[Odd Duck]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:39 PM, Tihshho said:

If you have something in your grocery store called "Sparkling Ice" in the drink isle the bottles are slim and might work for smaller tanks. Unlike picking things for packaging, you might actually like the sparkling water drink too before it becomes a planaria trap!

😆 Good to know!  I haven’t seen any planaria in my smallest tanks, so far.  My 10’s (shrimp tanks) are not displays so it doesn’t matter if they have a bottle in them.  The 20 long (puffer tank) is in our bedroom so it doesn’t matter to me if there’s a bottle in there intermittently.  I’ll see how effective it is and decide if I make more or just clean it and move it around.

[Scott P.]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:35 PM, Odd Duck said:

So, . . . . This planaria trap is working already!  I used a 22 ga hypodermic needle since that’s what it looked like he was using.  I have a few tiny planaria and one larger one in the trap within about 30 minutes. Just in case anybody was wondering, pea puffers don’t eat planaria.  Since their tank has the most detritus, they had the most planaria.  Next I’ll be moving it to one of my shrimp tanks that hasn’t been doing as well as expected.  I’ll see how many times I have to reset it to knock them down.

Good to see it's working for you. I always take those videos with a grain of salt till someone else tries it.

I don't have planaria but at least now I know what to do if I ever do.

[Odd Duck]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:25 PM, Scott P. said:

Good to see it's working for you. I always take those videos with a grain of salt till someone else tries it.

I don't have planaria but at least now I know what to do if I ever do.

Same.  That’s why I tried it right away.  I’ve been putting off doing meds, didn’t want to pay for the fancy glass thing, so this is a good thing for me to see how many I can catch and how many I might have left after I’ve set it a few times.

[Nanci B]

@Ken @darkG @Guppysnail @Tihshho @Scott P. @Colu

 

i really appreciate everyone’s thoughts and ideas. I decided to order a glass trap and will use it for the six days I have before leaving. And I am going to fast the tank that entire time. 
 

i will report back on the success of the planaria glass trap, but I must say, I am trying to figure out a way to get the trap out of the tank without picking it up and placing my finger over the holes.  the more I see these worms, the more creeped out I am becoming. I don’t mind a lot of things, but typically like to observe, rather than touch very small critters. 
 

any thoughts on removing these traps? I was considering using 2 shrimp nets doubled up and bleaching the heck out of them to both kill the planaria and clean the nets.  
 

Other ideas?

 

 

 

 

 

[Guppysnail]

I would just wear rubber gloves. If you o that make sure they are the ones not powder coated on the inside. I wear them during tank maintenance if I have a cut.

[Nanci B]

@Guppysnail thanks that’s a great idea! In your picture, have you used duct tape to seal the gloves? 

[Guppysnail]

On 9/7/2021 at 6:34 PM, Nanci B said:

@Guppysnail thanks that’s a great idea! In your picture, have you used duct tape to seal the gloves? 

Yes I did so no water got in 😁

[Torrey]

I have also had great success with the plastic water bottle traps.

 

Tips I found to make them more effective: skip feeding for 2 - 3 days, and then put the trap in with frozen blood worms or similar right before tank lights go out.

Check in 2 hours, and reset the trap.

I actually kept 6 traps😬

Rubbing alcohol is the only thing I found that appears to kill planaria....so I used a fresh trap every 2 hours, and then dumped the bottle in the garden and poured in an ounze (shotglass) of rubbing alcohol to kill anything left in the bottle. 

Feed fish in the morning, fast for another 3 days, and reset the traps. 

Personally, I liked the plastic bottles better than the glass trap I bought:

1. Easier to remove, just turn it upside down before removing from the tank.

2. Easier to clean, and if algae grows in spite of the isopropyl alcohol bath, i put the bottle in recycling and replaced it

3. Holes are smaller, don't require me to cover them with my fingers, and planaria are less likely to crawl back out.