# How to get rid of nematodes?



## battered (Jan 1, 2012)

I have hundreds of white worms crawling around the surface of my 2 gallon fluval spec that I think are nematodes. Panacur hasn't affected them, and even though I scrape them off the sides of the glass with paper towels, they seem to come back within a matter of hours. The only livestock in there is about 12-15 rcs and a nerite snail. What do I do? I feed the shrimp maybe once a week - they seem to be doing fine surviving off what is in the tank, so I don't think it's possible I"m overfeeding them. Help!


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

You sure there nematodes? I ask because they are usually in the water swimming around and not on the the glass it self.
Stuck on the glass itself sounds like Planaria


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

battered said:


> I white worms crawling around the surface of my 2 gallon fluval spec


Nematodes don't crawl... they free flow in the water column. Are you sure what you have are nematodes? I had a huge population of them but I don't even see one after a single dose of panacur (which I used to kill hydras). I'm not sure if panacur killed them, some says it doesn't so could be coincident in my case.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/176357-how-i-got-rid-my-seed.html


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

First, make sure they are nemotodes and not planaria. If they are nemotodes put some guppy fry or other small fish in to eat them up. Remove them after, and if the nemotodes reappear in large numbers repeat this process.

If they are planaria you're gonna have to treat your tank with fen/flubendazole or "no planaria". Be warned that both of these treatments will most likely kill your nerite, even after you stop treating. However, planaria will kill shrimp, so it's better to get rid of that ASAP.


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## battered (Jan 1, 2012)

I thought they were planaria at first, but realized they didn't have the triangular shaped heads/didn't react to the panacur (fen/flubendazole). http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/40061-whats-bug-how-recognize-them.html in the second picture of the freshwater limpet, there's one of them to the bottom left of the limpet. Any ideas what it is?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Oh that? No idea lol. I think it's also a nemotode. I had them in my tank at one point and yea, they did crawl on the glass but didn't have the triangle heads either. Never did find out what they were exactly, but there are TONS of different types of nemotodes so I'm pretty sure it's that.

I'd say your best bet is the guppies/small fish for like a week.


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## Kunsthure (Aug 2, 2010)

battered said:


> in the second picture of the freshwater limpet, there's one of them to the bottom left of the limpet. Any ideas what it is?


That's what a limpet looks like from the outside of a tank. 

I've always called any long, white worms planaria. Not sure if that's right, though. I had a bad infestation of what I declared planaria (it was nasty, the sand was undulating) and as a coincidence I had to move cories into that tank in an emergency and they PIGGED OUT! One cory even threw up from eating so much. Within a few days the white worms were all gone. So if you have some cories, move one in there and see if that helps. 

If what you have is limpets, Excel killed all of mine. You'll have to remove the nerite and make absolutely, positively sure that you don't overdose the tank. 

-Lisa


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## battered (Jan 1, 2012)

I don't think I have limpets; it's the worm looking thing BY the limpet in the picture. If I just got a feeder guppy and put him in the tank, what are the chances he would eat the worms?


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## Kunsthure (Aug 2, 2010)

battered said:


> I don't think I have limpets; it's the worm looking thing BY the limpet in the picture. If I just got a feeder guppy and put him in the tank, what are the chances he would eat the worms?


Oops, sorry. :icon_redf

That wormy thing is what I call planaria. I could be wrong, though. 

IME, adding an animal to eliminate another animal usually backfires. I'd be worried that the guppy would eat the shrimp. 

-Lisa


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

battered said:


> I don't think I have limpets; it's the worm looking thing BY the limpet in the picture. If I just got a feeder guppy and put him in the tank, what are the chances he would eat the worms?


Like I said, when I asked the question about what those worms were a while back, everyone said they were 100% not planaria because they don't have the triangular head as planaria do.

If you put in guppy, I'm quite sure it will eat the worms as long as you don't feed it. To help it you can bump the worms off the glass so they wiggle in the WC. That usually attracts any fishes attention.


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## Kunsthure (Aug 2, 2010)

You can see little triangular heads on those tiny things?

Is this what you have? http://www.oscarfish.com/articles/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=2-nematodes.jpg

Google says these are planaria: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lUK1cCk_TW8/0.jpg
And these too http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/detritusworms.jpg <-- That's what I had, all living in the substrate like that. 

-Lisa


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## battered (Jan 1, 2012)

No, I'm fairly certain they're not planaria. No triangular heads, and they did not react to the panacur I dosed (I did this a couple of times as well). They look like the nematodes in the first link you provided, just much shorter.


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

They may not be nematodes either. Using a really good magnifying glass, like 30x, Look at one as it crawls on the glass. If you see tiny segments with 2 hairs coming from each segment, it's an annelid not a nematode. The hairs are really hard to see.

In my experience, it's more likely to be an annelid than a nematode. The ones in my tank like to collect at the water's surface and form big pink globs in the corners of the tank.


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