# Detritus worms or planaria?



## christeez (Jul 20, 2018)

Recently I spotted one big planaria worm in the planted shrimp tank so I took action and bought no-planaria and it seemed to kill off that one planaria I saw around my tank.

Now, I just turned my lights on to a surprise of 2 little wriggling buddies on my glass. They’re thin and less than 10mm long. It’s hard for me to take photos but i tried my best with my iPhone lol.

What could these little guys be? 

























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## powderwt (Apr 21, 2017)

Its hard to tell from the pics but I don't think those are planaria. More like detritus worms if I had to guess? 

Get a magnifying glass if you have one or get close with your camera on your phone and zoom in on the head. The head of planarka is like an arrow or triangle not round and bulbous (like a detritus worms') 

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## ladykemma2 (Jul 10, 2018)

Detritus worms come out when there's not enough oxygen in the water. When was the last time you did a water change?

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## christeez (Jul 20, 2018)

Thanks for all the feed back, I have a biospon type filter that I think is giving plenty aeration. I performed a water change yesterday and go about doing it weekly at 20% intervals :/


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

ladykemma2 said:


> Detritus worms come out when there's not enough oxygen in the water. When was the last time you did a water change?
> 
> Sent from my KYOCERA-E6820 using Tapatalk





christeez said:


> Thanks for all the feed back, I have a biospon type filter that I think is giving plenty aeration. I performed a water change yesterday and go about doing it weekly at 20% intervals :/
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I find detritus worms traversing my water column frequently, so oxygen levels may be only one of several factors as to why they decided to come out and play. As long as your sponge filter is appropriately sized for your tank, it should be providing adequate agitation to create gas exchange.


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## Jontym (Mar 2, 2018)

These are most likely completely harmless and your shrimp may even take to eating them.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I find these and it is often when I move plants or stir the sub as they seem to be there. They do not last long as my fish love them and go into a feeding riot! Since detritus worms are pretty common and planaria less so, I would go with them being harmless until I found cause for alarm. I tend to let nature deal with small things as so many of the meds/prevention we use also do away with things we like? I suggest, watch, wait and only worry about it if it gets worse. They may all be back under cover tomorrow?


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## christeez (Jul 20, 2018)

PlantedRich said:


> I find these and it is often when I move plants or stir the sub as they seem to be there. They do not last long as my fish love them and go into a feeding riot! Since detritus worms are pretty common and planaria less so, I would go with them being harmless until I found cause for alarm. I tend to let nature deal with small things as so many of the meds/prevention we use also do away with things we like? I suggest, watch, wait and only worry about it if it gets worse. They may all be back under cover tomorrow?




Well said  


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