# To Kill...or Not To Kill....Planaria



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I'm trying to decide whether or not to treat my tank with fenbendazole. I have a few planaria - I see them only in the evenings, and can never count more than 5-7 at a time, though there are undoubtedly more in the substrate. I check after the lights go out and don't notice large numbers out on the glass or anything - is it even possible to have a "small" population of planaria? Yesterday I saw 2 weaving their way through the velcro matrix on the inside of my magfloat...They like to gather on algae wafers and whatnot when I feed my shrimp and plecostomus; the first time I noticed it I removed the algae wafer and through it in the trash. 

I found 4 - 1g tablets of fenben. at my feed store today (only $4.99, so I couldn't refuse) and am debating on what to do. The planaria aren't really a nuisance (though they're kind of nasty to look at), and I only see them a few minutes out of the day. Should I just kill them now, or should I wait until I really need to (ie population explosion, etc)? Will their numbers stay in check as long as I avoid overfeeding and the like? Note that I don't overfeed my fish - I'm very strict with the amount of food they get, and I don't even feed every day, so.... I hate to add anything to my tank if it's not absolutely necessary, so your thoughts would be well appreciated. 

Also - for my dosing I'm thinking (from what I've read) 0.1g/10 gallons...yeah?


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I wouldnt risk it. I have them in my shrimp tank and just put up with them.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I was kind of thinking along the same lines, but everything I read makes it seem rather innocuous...I can't find anything that suggests it's dangerous to fish, plants, or shrimps, though apparently some snails suffer (MTS and nerites I know, maybe some others).


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

It seems safe enough but why risk it? If you absolutely cant stand them go for it but if it was me I would wait untill it became unbearable.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

I'm convinced they have completely destroyed my population of CRS in my 10g.

Want to send me some pills?:icon_roll 

I'll send you some shrimp food!:icon_smil (since I clearly have no need now only 4 males left)

-Andrew


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

Planaria will kill shrimp! 
Flubenol 5% will kill planaria/snails but is completely save for shrimp/fish. I've use it several times without any harm to shrimp or fish. Once I didn't get the math right and used a 500L portion in a 54L, (10x max. dose). Come to think of it, never had planaria after that, snails do fine though.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Does anyone have any real proof of this? Or did you find some eating a dead shrimp?


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

Planaria are predator do attack molting shrimp, try google, or find out yourself. Just a matter of time.

no longer available but shrimpdiseases.com wrote: _"They rest the aquarium equipment in rest, however masses of planarias are able to bring litter skinned shrimps and cancers into danger or even eradicate the whole tribe."_
take a look at: 
http://www.planet-science.com/outthere/lifemasks/mask.php?kingdom=animal&species=planaria


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## dr.tran (Oct 8, 2007)

A Hill said:


> I'm convinced they have completely destroyed my population of CRS in my 10g.
> 
> Want to send me some pills?:icon_roll
> 
> ...


 
Just tp clarify, do u mean that the pills killed ur shrimp?

Or the planaria?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

bsmith782 said:


> Does anyone have any real proof of this? Or did you find some eating a dead shrimp?


I've seen them attack shrimp. Then they all come and eat it, they are horrifying to say the least.

But they tend to prefer them when they're molting...

-Andrew


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

There are many species of planaria.. Some are predatory, some are not.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

and the plot thickens.....

Care to expand mistergreen? I'm kind of ignorant on this topic. What are _your_ thoughts about eradication via fenben? The tank in question is only home to larger shrimp (C. multidentata); my concern is more aesthetic than anything, but I'm still curious for more information.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I think I'm going to go ahead and do it...I just read an article on planet inverts and am going to follow the .1g/10gallon dosing routine. I'll update the thread with the results later....unless anyone wants to try and talk me out of it in the next little while....


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

dr.tran said:


> Just tp clarify, do u mean that the pills killed ur shrimp?
> 
> Or the planaria?


The planaria...

Cole man, let me know how it goes. Usually you need a vet prescription for dewormers I thought?

-Andrew


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## Valthenya (Feb 15, 2009)

spixi snails... if you can find them locally they are illegal to send across borders but i've heard they eat planaria


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## OhNo123 (Jan 8, 2008)

Planaria eats snails alive.. 

I'd get rid of them if you can, they are very annoying. And Im sure they did something to my pregnant yellow shrimp, cause I can't find any baby shrimp in a 2.5g. I have probably have over 40+ planaria in that tank.. If I look hard, I can probably find at least 10+ at a time.

So do the spixis and planaria eat each other?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Valthenya said:


> spixi snails... if you can find them locally they are illegal to send across borders but i've heard they eat planaria


Personally

I've got rabbit snails in the tank...

-Andrew


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

I've experimented with levamisole and that stunned/killed the planarians. And it's snail safe.. Haven't tried it on shrimps.

I hear Praziquantel works too.

Oh, and try to aim for 4ppm of the drug in your tank... If you over-dosed a little like 8ppm, it won't be a problem.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Okay - I'm finally getting ready to go ahead and dose the fenben., but I have a question: should I expect a white mess in my tank since the medication isn't really too keen on dissolving in the water? If so, how long will it be there? I didn't get the liquid form because I would've had to buy 1 full liter. Anyone know?

I've got company coming over this evening and don't want a bunch of white nastiness all over the tank, so I wanna know if I should wait until after they leave to dose 'er on up.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

mmmkay....I guess I will wait until after the company leaves to find out the answer to my question. Exciting! Let's hope it isn't too much of a mess...


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## Joetee (Mar 28, 2006)

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread. But if you are talking about the dog dewormer powder, (can't remember the name), but it killed all the planaria within 2 days. I just poured in 1/10th of the pack per 10 gallons of water. It killed everyone of the planaria. My tank was over run with 1000's of them. Planaria does kill shrimp too. They would climb in a female just before she laid her eggs, killing her and the eggs.
I forgot to mention that I had fish in the tank when I dosed. I dosed on a Wed and change water on Sunday. Everything was fine except for the planaria were gone totally. This has been about 2 months ago I think and I still don't see any. I didn't vacuum my substrate either.

Joe


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

for levamisole, dose 4-5ppm. Do a massive water change a day later, with substrate vacuuming.. Planarian live in the substrate so a vacuum might be called for.

2 weeks later repeat to catch any left overs parasites.

I guess this should be a method for other drugs too.


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## ultasol (Jun 27, 2005)

I have planaria in my tank. While they don't seem to bother anything, just in case I would prefer to be rid of them. Please let us know how your shrimp do during/after treatment.

I have a bunch of berried CRS in the tank with planaria. I did see a planaria climb on the eggs (on board the female) once, but she made short work of getting it off. As of now, she is still berried and it has been a few weeks so I expect her to drop shrimplings (?!?! what is the proper term for this?) soon.


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## niptek (Nov 9, 2008)

yes it works ive dose 1 pitch per 10 gal. i had berried crs otto, tons of blue ramshorn snails and 1 dwarf puffer. all still alive and no more planaria or hydras!!!!


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I've been hesitant to dose my tank, as I mixed the .9 grams of fenben. in a jar beforehand and it was a deep, milky white color, seemingly adhering to the sides of the jar and making it opaque. Can someone tell me if my tank is going to be covered in a white film if/when I dose it?


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## Joetee (Mar 28, 2006)

Mine just fell to the bottom like salt. By the next day, you could not even tell that I dosed except the population was down 98% and over the next 2 days I couldn't see any at all. Tank looked fine.
Joe


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Excellent, Joe. Thanks so much for the reply. I guess I'll go all in tonight, that way I (hopefully) won't even have to notice it at all....:icon_smil


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I just added about 35 percent of the solution I made up, which was about .9 grams panacur-c mixed with 3-4oz tank water to dissolve. I would have added more, but it made my tank rather cloudy, and so I decided not to add anymore. We'll see if this has any impact on the planaria population. As expected, the fish, shrimp, and snails (mostly pond snails at this point, but some MTS) seemed totally unbothered by the addition of the medication, feeding and going about their business without notice...


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

Do you run activated carbon after the planaria are dead?


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## cwilfinger (Jul 8, 2008)

I've dosed my tanks with the deworming meds and the white powder gets over everything but it disappears after several hours to several days depending on your water prams. I have had no ill effect on the fish or shrimps but it does great work on killing planaria and hydras. I have even over dosed on my shrimp tank once and no ill effects on the shrimps. I have not seen any planarias or hydras in my tanks since the treatments and it is going on 7 months on one tank.


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## ultasol (Jun 27, 2005)

Coleman, looking forward to the update.

Cwilfinger, were you using the livestock version of the drug panacur? Just curious, as this is the only version I can find.

I appreciate this information. Gosh, this forum is a wonderful resource.


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## cwilfinger (Jul 8, 2008)

I used this http://www.westcoastpetsupply.com/2/8in1-Safe-Guard-Canine-Dewormer/
I had grabed the green carton. I have dosed as much as half of a packet at one time in a 10 gal without harming the shrimps in there. But like I posted earlier..It'll look like a snow storm hit the tank but it will all go away in time, along with the planaria and hydras.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Okay - so here's an update for those of you interested. 

I went ahead and ended up dosing the entire .9 grams of fenben. solution last night (again, .9g powdered medication mixed with enough tank water to "dissolve")...I was hesitant at first, after seeing the amount of cloudiness just the small dose created. I found a trick though: dose after the lights go out. This way, you won't even notice your tank is cloudy. :hihi: After dosing, I noticed a few of the planaria were out, and they seemed relatively unbothered by the addition (of course, this was literally only a few minutes after dosing, so...), though I did notice they seemed to be heading for the substrate.

Although I can't see any planaria this morning, it doesn't really tell me much about the efficacy of the treatment, as I rarely if ever see planaria during the daytime. The tank is not at all cloudy from what I can tell, though the lights haven't come on yet so I'll reserve judgment until they do. I'll update again later this evening after I can make a more deliberate assessment of the situation.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

ultasol said:


> Coleman, looking forward to the update.
> 
> Cwilfinger, were you using the livestock version of the drug panacur? Just curious, as this is the only version I can find.
> 
> I appreciate this information. Gosh, this forum is a wonderful resource.



There is a liquid version of panacur for livestock, but it comes in a 1 liter jug - much, much more that (hopefully) I'll ever need! I was considering going this route after I saw the milky color of the medication-water solution I mixed up, but am glad I just went ahead and dosed the powdered form - it was only $5 for 3, 1 gram pouches...not a bad deal, really, though they gave me a really weird look when I said I was adding it to an aquarium...:icon_lol:


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Quick update (maybe I'm doing this for myself, but oh well): 

The lights came on, and although the tank is as clear as ever, there is a bit of oily, white film at the top of the tank - it's not bad, not bad at all really, but it is noticeable if you're an attentive person. It's nothing a meager water change wouldn't take care of, but I figure I'll leave it be until the big Sunday water change....


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## customdrumfinishes (Apr 4, 2008)

i use the dog dewormer powder. cant remember the name brand but works great in ew days! i dont measure or divide the pack ( 1gram) into 10 parts. i did that once and it killed the shimp in few hours. 
now i take pack before opening and crush pack with something to break down some to finer powder. use a knife and get a bb size amount of powder on it mix in water and pour in tank, i use this for 10-30g tanks.after 1-2 days if i still see them i dose it again.
works great and didnt kill anything


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Here's a final update: 

Last night I observed a total of 3 planaria. I did NOT dose the tank again. This evening, I have seen a total of 0 planaria. The treatement seems to have worked, with no negative side effects. MTS, pond snails, amano's and fish are all fine and have shown no signs of stress. 

Overall, I would say this method is a very effective, inexpensive and nearly effortless way to rid a tank of planaria (and apparently hydra as well, though I can't personally attest to this).


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## Joetee (Mar 28, 2006)

Glade you had a good experience. My tank had hundreds all over the tank. All over the glass, floating on top, etc. I just sprinkled the powder into the tank and by the next day I could not see any powder left. This totally cleaned all the pests out of the tank.
Joe


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