# Tubifex Elimination



## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

I recently noticed that I have a tubifex colony growing in a shrimp tank. In the past when I've noticed them I either added hungry fish or vacuumed the gravel thoroughly, but of course, this tank is shrimp and microcrabs only, and under about 1/2" of gravel is dirt, so the gravel vac isn't going to cut it. I made a super small gravel vac and managed to catch a few of them, but if they make it into the dirt it's pretty much hopeless, honestly. 

Any thoughts on getting rid of the things? I hardly feed anything in that tank as it is (a 20L with 100 inverts lightly fed perhaps every 3rd day) so cutting back on feeding isn't going to do it.


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## blacksheep998 (Jan 16, 2011)

Only thing I can think of would be to try dosing the tank with Fenbendazole. It's harmless to most crustaceans and mollusks (except for nerite snails) but kills hydra and planaria. I don't know if it will kill tubifex, but if anything will hit them without harming your shrimp or crabs it's that.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Second dosing fenbendazole. I just had to dose one of my tanks because there was a random planaria outbreak. Haven't even been feeding much either.

Start off with a smaller dose 0.05g/10 gallon, work your way up if it doesn't work. Then do a 20% water change after 3 days.


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## gowfan05 (Feb 16, 2010)

I thought shrimp can eat tubifex worms (small little worms), or am i wrong?


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## Sherminator (Aug 29, 2011)

gowfan05 said:


> I thought shrimp can eat tubifex worms (small little worms), or am i wrong?


I have Bee Gobies with Amano Shrimp and Cherry Shrimp. The Amanos love Blackworms I feed the Bee Gobies with. Never seen a Cherry Shrimp eat a blackworm.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

I've seen some of my Crystals eating blackworms, but they don't seem to hunt the tubifex in their tanks.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

I've got bumblebee, yellow, amano, and orange sunkist shrimp in addition to microcrabs and otos in the tank. None of them are interested in the tubifex in the slightest. I went on a DIY gravel vac rampage last night and got maybe 10 of them, but they were back in force tonight, including one monster that I managed to get out of there.

I've taken to calling them graboids.


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## szenic (Aug 15, 2011)

Will tubifex actually harm the shrimp, or are they just a nuisance? I also have a colony growing in my shrimp tank :/


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

They're just a nuisance. They eat some pretty vile stuff, so it's possible for fish to get sick from eating them as well.


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## szenic (Aug 15, 2011)

They mostly eat old food and detritus right? Will their population eventually stabilize or will it grow until your tank is crawling with them? They're a little unsettling with their heads sticking out of the substrate here and there... Don't want to see that everywhere... :/


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## tzen (Dec 31, 2008)

I'm always of the live-and-let-live mindset. Somethings in our tanks are not worth fighting.


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