# Creatures in my plants!



## quasi-starfish (Nov 17, 2008)

Arrow-shaped head implies planaria, most likely.

If they become a problem, as they have been in one of my tanks, you can use the dog-dewormer solution, described elsewhere in this forum.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

I read this thread title as "Creatures in my pants!" and thought to myself "Uh-oh, you should get that checked out by a doctor!"


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Planaria worms. Harmless. Fish find them tasty!

Only if you have a dirty/overfed tank, or a lack of predators, will there be a possibility of them multiplying out of control.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

epicfish said:


> I read this thread title as "Creatures in my pants!" and thought to myself "Uh-oh, you should get that checked out by a doctor!"


Hee hee!

Reminds me of one of the most epic typos I've ever seen:

_"I found out I have harpies"_


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

I'll second, or third.. Planaria worms. Split their head in half and they'll grow 2 heads!(Strange what high school biology teachers will have you do).


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

:hihi: Yeah.....I don't think it would have been too much fun having found these things in your pants.

Planaria.......that's it! That's exactly what they were.

Should have seen how fast I pulled my hand out of that water though!

Nasty looking things....... I'm glad to learn they're pretty much harmless though.

Thanks all!


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## Mr. Fisher (Mar 24, 2009)

Prazipro is a medicine that kills Planaria, too. Shrimp and fish safe...remove snails that you want.

I hate planarians. I hate all worm-like creatures.


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## Green024 (Sep 19, 2009)

Lycosa said:


> Split their head in half and they'll grow 2 heads!(Strange what high school biology teachers will have you do).


Holy crap! I remember doing that! My last few braincells made a spark when reading through your response


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## Joetee (Mar 28, 2006)

Planaria will kill RCS, but thats about it as far as I know.


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## orktank (Dec 17, 2009)

This is total grossness. The worms look like lint on ther glass. I wonder if using peat moss as a subsrate has something to do with these planaria.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

No, overfeeding contributes to planaria infestations.


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## JimmyYahoo (Aug 14, 2005)

They start in your tank... and end up in your lungs. Beware. 

^BS


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

JimmyYahoo said:


> They start in your tank... and end up in your lungs. Beware.
> 
> ^BS


There's bizillions of species of planaria.

The likelihood of the same species that can live in aquariums being ones that will internally parasitize human lungs isn't high. I won't say it's impossible, but it also isn't something I'd spend much if any time worrying about.

I do think it's always good practice to wash your hands after working in your tanks, however.


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

Thanks LauraLee!

I haven't been feeding anything since my tank is undergoing 'fishless' cycling. 

These came from plants I purchased from my local fish store. This store came highly recommended and had the nicest FW tanks of any I have seen in the area..... 

I have since discovered that the planaria were not the only hitchhikers. Now I'm seeing tiny little brown snails which have been eating holes in my sunset hygro leaves.

I've also found white round scale-like circles on my bacopa stems which have not moved (nerite snail eggs?)

This morning, I find my amazon sword leaves and stems are covered in tiny bryozoa. They look like miniature hydra, all lined up one after the other.

How do I get rid of all this mess now?!!! 

I realize that some of these are actually harmless, but I'd rather not have them in my tank if I can help it.

Does anyone know of a safe method of treating new plants which will remove these type of pests so that they will not get into your tanks?

I've read about potassium permanganate (K2NO4 ?) rinses, but I've been told that since 9/11, you can no longer purchase the stuff.


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

JimmyYahoo said:


> They start in your tank... and end up in your lungs. Beware.
> 
> ^BS


 
What is your source on this?

Everything I've seen states that freshwater planaria are pretty much harmless. These aren't like liver flukes or tape worms.

-Regards


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

msnikkistar said:


> No, overfeeding contributes to planaria infestations.


msnikki,

Yes. I can understand that with plenty of food, they will multiply like crazy.
But,.... they don't just appear magically out of your commercial substrate because you're overfeeding, right? They had to have been introduced from somewhere, unless you are using topsoil (MTS) or some other organic source which already contained them.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Planaria, Hydra, snails and many other small animals are found in almost any body of water that has some sort of life cycle going on, for example the water circulation in plant growers' greenhouses, and especially in the tanks in stores. The original 'infection' may have been some wild collected plants. 

To kill a lot of these things look into the various worming medicines sold for fish, cats, dogs... Since it sounds like you have quite a collection of 'critters' you might need to alternate between 2 types of medicine. 
Chose 2 meds that kill different things. This will give you the best chance of killing the largest amount of 'critters'. 

As far as I know all the fish wormers are OK for the nitrifying bacteria. The bacteria may slow down their growth and reproduction, but just keep on feeding ammonia and they will pick up their growth when the medicines are cleared from the water. If any of the worming medicines specify a water change that is OK, too. Simply re-dose the ammonia so the bacteria continue to thrive. 

Another option is to remove the plants from the tank. Treat the plants with one or more of the treatments listed below and use salt to kill the fresh water organisms in the tank. 
Then do a 100% water change to remove all the salt from the tank and replant.

To pre-treat plants you can use a wide range of things. Probably no one item will kill all the possible hitch-hikers. Do a little research:
Alum: Especially good for snails. Takes a long soak. 
Bleach or salt: Not good for the plants. A quick dip in one or the other may help, or may hurt the plants worse than the pests. I know salt will kill a lot of fresh water organisms. 
Worming meds, used at a stronger dilution: Might work against the more durable pests. 
Hydrogen Peroxide, Excel: I do not know what critters it will kill, but I have used these (separately) on plants that had some algae. 
Copper: Kills snails. But can linger in an aquarium, making it difficult to keep shrimp later. Using it as a pre-treatment, and rinsing really well might avoid introducing too much copper into the tank.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You can still get potassium permanganate, it's just not quite as common, especially in the powder/crystal form. Check the pool supply section at Ace hardware for a bottle of the liquid form.

Since you don't have any other livestock in the tank ATM you could nuke it with PP and kill most of those critters. You probably won't get all the snails since they can retract into their shells and hide from it, but you'll get quite a few of them, at least.


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

Diana said:


> Planaria, Hydra, snails and many other small animals are found in almost any body of water that has some sort of life cycle going on, for example the water circulation in plant growers' greenhouses, and especially in the tanks in stores. The original 'infection' may have been some wild collected plants.
> 
> To kill a lot of these things look into the various worming medicines sold for fish, cats, dogs... Since it sounds like you have quite a collection of 'critters' you might need to alternate between 2 types of medicine.
> Chose 2 meds that kill different things. This will give you the best chance of killing the largest amount of 'critters'.
> ...


 
Wow! Thanks for the info Diana....You're an awesome source of information! I'm actually using your 'fishless' guideline from an older post which someone directed me to in cycling my tank. :icon_smil
My journal is located here.

Okay, I've done some checking and it appears that fenbendazole (SafeGuard - pet dewormer) should be effective at killing planaria and hydra (not sure about the bryoza, but since they're similar I'm thinking it will). Since these are my two biggest concerns, I think I will try this.

Regarding the snails, it seems there is really no way to avoid getting them, and they do appear to be at least somewhat beneficial. I'm thinking I'll leave them alone for now and if they get out of control, I can always use the lettuce leaf trap to reduce their numbers. Also, the nerite eggs will never hatch (or if they do, they won't live long) since they require briney water to do so, as far as I've been told.

What'ya think?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Sounds like a good plan to me! :smile:


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

lauraleellbp said:


> You can still get potassium permanganate, it's just not quite as common, especially in the powder/crystal form. Check the pool supply section at Ace hardware for a bottle of the liquid form.
> 
> Since you don't have any other livestock in the tank ATM you could nuke it with PP and kill most of those critters. You probably won't get all the snails since they can retract into their shells and hide from it, but you'll get quite a few of them, at least.


Laura,

Thanks for the tip on the permanganate. I will look into that and maybe perform the dip on all future plant purchases and aquisitions.

If I were to 'nuke' the tank, wouldn't that also harm the beneficial bacteria which take care of the ammonia and nitrite as well as the plants?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

AZMike said:


> If I were to nuke the tank, wouldn't that also harm the beneficial bacteria which take care of the ammonia and nitrite as well as the plants?


Yep.

But if there's no livestock in the tank yet producing any ammonia, your N-bacteria colony is going to be negligable, anyways.

PP won't hurt the plants as long as you don't leave it in there more than 20-30 min.


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## PC1 (May 21, 2010)

got a little lucky, ive had leachs show up. that sucks


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## AZMike (Apr 27, 2010)

PC1 said:


> got a little lucky, ive had leachs show up. that sucks


 
Yeah, they do suck, don't they? :icon_lol:


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## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

> Originally Posted by *JimmyYahoo*
> _They start in your tank... and end up in your lungs. Beware.
> 
> ^BS_


Has no one noticed the carrot pointing upwards, followed by the letters BS? He was joking.


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## Robert H (Apr 3, 2003)

It is an aquatic flat worm, and there are actually hundreds of species. Planaria is a flat worm, but typically planaria are small white worms less than an inch in size and very thin. They are tiny. Larger, brown/red/gray flatworms are not considered to be planaria exactly. They feed on decaying organics, mostly fish food and decaying plant leaves. They are typically stuck to plant leaves when shipped from nurseries in florida, particularly plants that are grown in outdoor cement ponds.

Here is a photo of a larger one in one of my tanks I posted in my facebook page. This is willy the worm, 2.5 inches long 3/8 of an inch wide. Its body can contract and expand, but is flat, not round like a earthworm, an d the head is triangular shaped.

People always claim to have leeches, but they are very rare in the aquarium. Flatworms are extremely common and extremely harmless.

I have been to four different Ace hardware stores looking for PP, and none have it, and look at me like I am from another planet when I ask for it! I sell it, pre mixed and bottled. The pure chemical is actually considered hazardous and requires a permit and hazardous shipping.


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## mattycakesclark (Jun 11, 2010)

If you know someone in the water / wastewater treatment field, they might be able to get your some potassium permanganate from USABlueBook.
Not sure of what concentration you would need.


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## fisfan (Mar 27, 2010)

Thanks for the information


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## NicotineRush (Jul 24, 2010)

Just bought a one lb bottle of PP, (dry), at chemicalstore.com


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Ok, this may sound really dumb, but how about fish??? Isnt that way easier than chemical this, beware this, removal that? I have these same things in fishless tanks, but have never ever seen random planaria with fish around. Or did I miss that? I got that you are fishless cycling, but is it for a shrimp tank? Id think 1 neon would dessimate the population in a few days.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

My Ace had liquid PP about a year and a half ago but apparently doesn't any more- I guess as a result of the recent law change. Oh well!


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