Planaria harmful tank murder? slight pest? or should invite them around for the holidays?

[Marnol D]

Hello,

I was staring at my 20L for awhile today watching the masses of snails do snail things and the cherry shrimp not breed and noticed 2 tiny Planaria and one mid size Planaria they are brown in color and spade shaped heads. Now ive read online how they are tank killers and should be eradicated at all cost and no expense shall be withheld while other people say they arent super harmful. Honestly i have no clue where they came from because no new plants or animals have been introduced to that tank in 6 months.  

So heres the question i ask you who have vast knowledge of the fish world. Should i eradicated them in fear for my cherry shrimp? (theres so many ramshorn and pond snails  and mystery snails and assassin snails in the tank i wouldnt notice if a few of the rams or ponds went missing) Or is this just a part of a balanced ecosystem? 

If i dont treat will the tank be swarmed with planaria or will the populations stay low and i just pick them out as i see them? Will they attack healthy shrimp? Should i give them names and bring them into the family? I have no clue... I dont care for the look of them but i also dont know if they have any positives to being in the tank as no one writes of positives about them only negatives. I also need to stock the tank with some fish aswell so any ideas would be great.

 

If i should eradicate them what medicine is effective? I dont care if it kills my snail colony ill jsut take some out and house them for awhile in another area then reintroduce them when the time is right. 

[ange]

They're harmless in most cases and I wouldn't attempt to eradicate them. Often microfauna populations will wax and wane over time and taking the nuclear route tends to upset the tank's balance.

[Marnol D]

@ange Thanks for the input. I probably wont nuke the tank aslong as nothing drastic happens. I just started noticing daphnia flitting around the bottom of the tank and didnt want to totally kill my ecosystem. But i would if it meant saving the shrimp.