Kimberly P Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 I'm trying to identify these worms I found in my shrimp tank. I'm leaning towards detritus worms - they are especially around the leftover food at the bottom. But I don't really see them swimming around & they also match some of the descriptions I've seen about plenaria. Would you be able to tell what these are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggle Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 They look like planaria to me. Could you get a photo of one or two? When I try and zoom in it gets a little blurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 This does not look like detritus to me. Can't speak to planaria since I have not had that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeg Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 They look like planaria to me, also known as flat worms. I find after I over feed the fish over a long period of time. It could be a combination of the two though. The worms in the rocks kinda look like detritus worms and the ones on the glass look like flat worms. But im going with planaria because of how thick they look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 Planaria have pointed heads, while flatworms have rounded ones. Here's a helpful pic. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccs410 Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 I agree, looks like planaria from what I can tell. A good way that I've found to tell the difference aside from shape is how they move on your glass. Detritus worms inch along the glass like earthworms or inch worms. I've found that Planaria usually glide across the glass with ease in one seamless motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberly P Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 On 9/24/2021 at 4:25 PM, Struggle said: They look like planaria to me. Could you get a photo of one or two? When I try and zoom in it gets a little blurry. I tried to get a better pic here. But it looks like it might be plenaria - now I have to go research out to get rid of it. I just got an order of cherry shrimp in - I wonder if they came in that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 (edited) On 9/25/2021 at 7:00 AM, Kimberly P said: I tried to get a better pic here. But it looks like it might be plenaria - now I have to go research out to get rid of it. I just got an order of cherry shrimp in - I wonder if they came in that? Planaria are very common in shrimp tanks. There are ways of getting rid of them but they involve the use of Fenbendazole which will ill off every snail in the tank and make it impossible to have any in the near future. I have done tons of reading on it and every solution comes back to Fenbendazole . The Fenbendazole will not harm the shrimp. I have spoken to bunches of shrimp keepers and while some have said MUST GET THEM OUT a lot of people have also said they just don't worry about them. The shrimp breed faster than any the Planaria could possibly kill so they just don't worry about it. I can say for certainty that I have seen a couple in my shrimp tank and while I do know that if you see one there are a bunch more you do not see....I have not witnesses any problem in my shrimp colony. Until I can find a way to eliminate them without killing off the snails im just watching and see what happens. If I start to see them winning over the shrimp...well then I may take drastic measures. Like I said I have done tons of reading ...please feel free to ask any questions! Edited September 25, 2021 by ARMYVET Wrong word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggle Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 I use panacur c with good results and I’ve never noticed it killing my mts or ramshorn snails. Flip Aquatics has a video on dosing but I use about .1 gram per 10 gallons of water. On 9/25/2021 at 6:00 AM, Kimberly P said: I tried to get a better pic here. But it looks like it might be plenaria - now I have to go research out to get rid of it. I just got an order of cherry shrimp in - I wonder if they came in that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 On 9/25/2021 at 9:37 AM, Struggle said: I use panacur c with good results and I’ve never noticed it killing my mts or ramshorn snails. Flip Aquatics has a video on dosing but I use about .1 gram per 10 gallons of water. That is good to hear but Fenbendazole is the active ingredient in Panacur C and No Planaria and it is quite known to kill snails. Maybe because of the low dosage you got those results but I know for a fact that Fenbendazole will kill pond and bladder snails dead fast. I didn't have Ramshorn's in the tank I tried it with. The shrimp were fine but every snail was dead. Ammonia started to creep up because of the rotting snails so a complete cleaning had to be done and daily water changes until everything balanced again. 2 months later went and bought 5 nerite snails for different tanks and added one to the shrimp tank. It was dead in 24 hours and the other 4 are still going now 6 months later in the other tanks. This is just my experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberly P Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 On 9/25/2021 at 8:39 AM, ARMYVET said: Planaria are very common in shrimp tanks. There are ways of getting rid of them but they involve the use of Fenbendazole which will ill off every snail in the tank and make it impossible to have any in the near future. I have done tons of reading on it and every solution comes back to Fenbendazole . The Fenbendazole will not harm the shrimp. I have spoken to bunches of shrimp keepers and while some have said MUST GET THEM OUT a lot of people have also said they just don't worry about them. The shrimp breed faster than any the Planaria could possibly kill so they just don't worry about it. I can say for certainty that I have seen a couple in my shrimp tank and while I do know that if you see one there are a bunch more you do not see....I have not witnesses any problem in my shrimp colony. Until I can find a way to eliminate them without killing off the snails im just watching and see what happens. If I start to see them winning over the shrimp...well then I may take drastic measures. Like I said I have done tons of reading ...please feel free to ask any questions! I saw the fenbendazole solutions as well. I also found a DIY trap that I've set up to see if that works. I have such a problem getting the cherry shrimp to breed. Water parameters are all good, but I've never seen a baby shrimp. I just got this new order of 20 & hoping for some babies! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 On 9/25/2021 at 6:17 PM, Kimberly P said: I saw the fenbendazole solutions as well. I also found a DIY trap that I've set up to see if that works. I have such a problem getting the cherry shrimp to breed. Water parameters are all good, but I've never seen a baby shrimp. I just got this new order of 20 & hoping for some babies! Wishing you the very best 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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