Mr Aqua Man Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 (edited) Hello friends, I have been struggling with planaria for quite some time. I have read many suggestions about gravel vacuuming and feeding less. I've tried both inasmuch as I can. I have a monte carlo carpet (picture attached) so it's perfect for them to hide in. I do vacuum it (at the risk of up-rooting plants) and I collect a lot of planaria. However, at the end of the day, I can't keep up with it and I'm done trying "natural" ways of getting rid of planaria. Thus, I'm looking to treat the tank chemically with either Panacur C (fenbendazole, animal de-wormer) or No-Planaria made w/ Betal Palm Nut extract and produced by Genchem. I've seen a few of my shrimp be killed by planaria so I'm very fed up with them. I've read many stories, good and bad, about using both products. For example, while using No-Planaria some had their biological filter bacteria crash and thus, toxin levels rised rapidly. Or, that fenbendazole has killed shrimp and made them early molt. Or, many stories of people using either product and both worked fine with no problems. My tank is stocked with some valuable fish (chili rasboras, other micro rasboras, celestial pearl danios, emerald dwarf rasboras, pgymy corydoras and a lot of cherry shrimp) so I'm very hesitant about doing any chemical treatment at the risk of killing any of my livestock. I know that Girl Talks Fish (who works with Aquarium Co-Op) has made a video about using Panacur C and the dosing of it but I'm still hesitant. Can anyone shed some light on the truth about the safety of using fenbendazole or No-Planaria in an aquarium? Is there just some level of risk that much be accepted if using either? Is one more riskier than the other? Should I try to remove all my fish temporarily when treating the tank? Are fish more at risk to either of these treatments than shrimp are? Thanks for your help and insight! Tank specs: 22 gallon, remineralize RO water with Salty Shrimp GH/KH+, C02 injection, Oase Biomaster 300 filter w/ Seachem Matrix media Edited June 27, 2022 by Mr Aqua Man Typos, adding tank specs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 I can’t help with chemicals but might be able to shed some light on why vacuuming doesn’t really help. Planarians are amazing creatures when it comes to division and regeneration. You can cut it in several pieces and end up with several planarians. So as the vac moves about the substrate it chops them up and always leaves some pieces behind capable of regeneration. So you may have 1 and suck up 2 pieces three pieces may be left behind and you end up with 3 planarians vs the original one. So cutting back food and sucking up debris definitely helps control how fast they reproduce it really doesn’t do much for numbers reduction in the immediate term. Not helpful but hopefully informative. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Aqua Man Posted June 24, 2022 Author Share Posted June 24, 2022 Hi @Guppysnail, thanks for the info. I have heard of this feature of planaria which is honestly quite fascinating. They are very resilient (unfortunately for our sake). AFAIK, when I suck them up with my tub line, I'm not cutting them into pieces and am sucking them up whole. I can end up with over a hundred planaria all moving around in the bucket when I do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 On 6/24/2022 at 9:28 AM, Guppysnail said: I can’t help with chemicals but might be able to shed some light on why vacuuming doesn’t really help. Planarians are amazing creatures when it comes to division and regeneration. You can cut it in several pieces and end up with several planarians. So as the vac moves about the substrate it chops them up and always leaves some pieces behind capable of regeneration. So you may have 1 and suck up 2 pieces three pieces may be left behind and you end up with 3 planarians vs the original one. So cutting back food and sucking up debris definitely helps control how fast they reproduce it really doesn’t do much for numbers reduction in the immediate term. Not helpful but hopefully informative. Ya know.... I have an entire grow out for planaria. I wonder how much better of a microscope I need to get to show/record the Reverse Osmosis?🧐 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Aqua Man Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 Bump for visibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.modest.aquarist Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 I've personally have had good luck using no-planaria without any negative impact to my livestock or plants. I use in my plant quarantine tank for whenever planaria hitch a ride on new plants I've purchased. I personally run an airstone during any sort of treatment or medication as precaution, but YMMV. Hopefully others can chime in with their personal experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Aqua Man Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Thanks for your input, @a.modest.aquarist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 (edited) I have used No-Planaria successfully as well. Shrimp and fish were fine, snails were not. It will kill snails of any kind. I had no issues with the BB either. Edited August 14, 2022 by eatyourpeas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Aqua Man Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Thanks for the info, @eatyourpeas. I appreciate you sharing your experience. Please remind me, what is BB in this context? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Beneficial Bacteria. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Aqua Man Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Ah, thanks for the reminder! Good to know. I was concerned that there could be BB collapse w/ using No Planaria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 The heat wave has created a party! The pea puffer is befuddled! 🐡 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjum Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 @eatyourpeas Does your Pea Puffer eat them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 On 8/12/2022 at 2:19 PM, Anjum said: @eatyourpeas Does your Pea Puffer eat them? I wish! He comes up to them and is very curious, but does not know what to do with them. I swear the planaria do the Can-Can in front of him as entertainment! 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjum Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 On 8/12/2022 at 2:47 PM, eatyourpeas said: I wish! He comes up to them and is very curious, but does not know what to do with them. I swear the planaria do the Can-Can in front of him as entertainment! 🤣 Well, he's not a very murderous little murder bean, now is he? Hopefully he figures it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim M. Posted August 13, 2022 Share Posted August 13, 2022 I've used traps with pretty good success. I just didn't like the idea of putting anything in the water to kill them. Plus I have snails, and didn't want to hurt them. The traps are cheap, and work pretty well to seriously cut down the population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedrock Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 (edited) I have shrimp only tanks and have had to use No Planeria. I never saw an affect on the shrimp but the planeria did disappear. You may need several treatments especially with a tank that large. Also I would manage expectations of ever removing them totally without a total vac and turn over of the substrate with meds. I hope this helps. Tedrock Edited August 14, 2022 by Tedrock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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