# Super resistant planaria!



## customdrumfinishes (Apr 4, 2008)

ive heard guppies, mollys eat them but never seen it personally.


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

Thanks for the info. I'll get a couple of guppies tomorrow. The guppies mouths are pretty small, right?


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## iantan05 (Aug 24, 2008)

a baby rcs will still be very vunlerable to a guppy. The only fish safe to baby rcs are otos. I would continue dosing the de-wormer


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

The thing about otos are their sensitivity to ANY water conditions. The oto would not survive this change in the water. 

With the guppy theory, I could let them knock the bugs back down till I don't see them anymore and then take the guppies back over into the 55 gal tank. I think that it's a good plan.


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## bulrush (May 7, 2007)

I'm gonna have to be the guy that says it? Me? Ok: Planaria don't swim in the water, they crawl on the glass/objects. 

There. I think you have misidentified the critter, and used the wrong medicine, which explains why the critters are not dead.


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## Natty (Apr 2, 2008)

My solution would be to keep your substrate and filter equipment clean. Get a turkey baster and push up some of the gunk in your substrate for awhile. Be persistant and your problem should lessen significantly or completely.

I've had planaria and that's how I solved it. I also keep algae and debris from building up on the glass surfaces and feed less. Put a dish in there and make sure all food items fall on the dish to keep uneatened food from falling down between the substrate.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

bulrush said:


> i'm gonna have to be the guy that says it? Me? Ok: Planaria don't swim in the water, they crawl on the glass/objects.
> 
> There. I think you have misidentified the critter, and used the wrong medicine, which explains why the critters are not dead.


+1.


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

OK, let me change my description of them and say that they weren't "swimming" around, but "lazily darting" in the moss and substrate. I suck them up with the small tube as often as I can when I see them, and yes I can verify that they are indeed planaria. From the thread on the critters, the pics and the description of them, they are indeed planaria. Now there are many kinds of planaria, but from the looks of them and the description I would say 99.99% positive that they are. Anyway, I'm doing what I can to get rid of them.


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## GillyJ (Jun 17, 2008)

Natty said:


> My solution would be to keep your substrate and filter equipment clean. Get a turkey baster and push up some of the gunk in your substrate for awhile. Be persistant and your problem should lessen significantly or completely.
> 
> I've had planaria and that's how I solved it. I also keep algae and debris from building up on the glass surfaces and feed less. Put a dish in there and make sure all food items fall on the dish to keep uneatened food from falling down between the substrate.


this way work well for me but 1 of my tank is starting to get it again i thought they were harm less are they not


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## bulrush (May 7, 2007)

Ok, since you saw a pic, that will help you a lot. 

("lazily dart" indeed.)


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## PROX (Oct 20, 2009)

You might want to try this out. Apparently it is able to remove Planaria without killing your shrimps. Just follow the recommended dosage and you should be able to keep Planaria away. If you need help to get one, please do let me know.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/andrewlim52/Noplanariapacking.jpg


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

This is a first I have ever read other than the RARE occasion of planaria killing shrimp. Strange.

I just did the neon tetra thing to my 20 gallon that had a small population of planaria in it. Within 3 days, all of them were gone. Now they are over in my other tank, cause I am not chancing it with my BT fry.

Have you tried sucking them out with a syringe?


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

PROX said:


> You might want to try this out. Apparently it is able to remove Planaria without killing your shrimps. Just follow the recommended dosage and you should be able to keep Planaria away. If you need help to get one, please do let me know.
> 
> http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/andrewlim52/Noplanariapacking.jpg


I don't think we can get this here in the states. Good to know betle nut has this use.


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## skratikans (May 23, 2008)

Planaria definitely can kill shrimp..they can latch onto them and start to feed on them

I've had an outbreak of them and added a recommended dose of fenbendazole which didn't completely eradicate them, so I waited and repeated the dose 24hrs or so later and eradicated them without any harm to my shrimp


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## sidef (Mar 31, 2010)

I've ordered No-planaria from ebay. It was a package with Biomax and Eikoso. It worked pretty good for me. Unfortunately not always is available.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

skratikans said:


> Planaria definitely can kill shrimp..they can latch onto them and start to feed on them


I know this, however, I have only heard of this happening on very rare occasions. I have never heard of a situation where a whole colony is getting attacked as much as his are. There is only a small percentage of this happening in whole.


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## Mikaila31 (Mar 28, 2010)

Odd I've never thought of planaria as anything but harmless when you see the free living kind. The Planaria class turbellaria is labeled almost totally non-parasitic. I started finding some big ones in my 55gal after a impulse buy of some angels which led to all the shrimp in that tank becoming dinner. I agree that I have never seen a planaria dart... even "lazily dart". Planaria crawl, things like copepods dart. Any way their is a planaria party going on in my rena xp3, their use to be a cherry shrimp party in their. I really see no harm in their presence, I'm fairly certain reintroducing cherry shrimp will make their numbers crash. These one get to a decent size of 1/2" so adults are quickly eaten by my rainbows and other hungry fish. 

I know I have them in my shrimp tank too, but its a smaller kind. Cherry shirmp are still producing babies like mad. I had some big adults in a dish with some fish eggs an their was still successful hatching. 

I would love to see planaria feed on a shrimp. The front claws of a shrimp look like death to any planaria I have seen. On top of that a quick look under a microscope will reveal if the animal has any parasitic traits. Sucker mouth, hooks, claws? No. Then if everyone is acting fine I don't worry about it. A planaria would have to get inside the shrimp, I don't think an organism with a "water skeleton" can actually penetrate directly through the exoskeleton of a shrimp. At the same time I'm sure their is some species that can, but the chances of you getting a parasitic type are very slim. I would personally suspect the med of doing more harm than the planaria. 

This is one of my planaria.


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## Mikaila31 (Mar 28, 2010)

Well I'm doing a little experiment for you. I added a speck of levamisole in a cup with one of my adult planaria. I can tell you he is VERY upset. I'll let you know if he dies, settles down, or becomes paralyzed.


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## PROX (Oct 20, 2009)

If you guys are interested to try out No-planaria, please let me know and I will see what I can do to help. However, shipping cost will be around/or less than USD40. Better if you can gather few to purchase to save the shipping cost. I have few packets with me.


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## Jaggedfury (Sep 11, 2010)

Potassium Permanganate will kill planaria, it's sold at Ace hardware. Not sure on dosing measurements. I've tried Aquarium salt, that works too. Low minimal dosage if used with Aquarium salt. Snails will be dead so remove all snails. I've also tried Hydrogen Peroxide, but that's with the fact that I sucked out a few Planaria and tested it in a cup of water + Hydrogen Peroxide injection from a syringe. Not sure if Hydrogen Peroxide will have any effect in a shrimp tank.


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## PROX (Oct 20, 2009)

Well, you might risk the life of sensitive shrimp like CRS if you use Hydrogen Peroxide.

No-planaria is a guaranteed product that will kill planaria without killing plant/shrimp. I have tested it. Almost instant effect on planaria. Planaria will be dead by 1st dosing and follow by WC to remove floating planaria.


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## Jaggedfury (Sep 11, 2010)

I heard about "No-Planaria" a few weeks ago, but it's illegal at the moment due to it not having a label of ingredients on it for the USA markets. Someone should contact GenChem and have them sell to the USA market provided with a label of ingredients.

The Myanmar and Laotians concentrate Betel Nut and leaves into a potent narcotic lasting from 12 hrs to several days.

Maybe No Planaria just whacks the little buggers out of their minds and they die with a smile on their face.

I find that to be hilarious.


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## OhNo123 (Jan 8, 2008)

I know planaria kill snails, but I'm not sure about shrimp... I've seen planaria crawl into my apple snail shell and kill it from the inside. Once i removed the dead snail into a container with fish water, bunch of planaria crawl out. 

I think my guppies ate the planaria since I haven't seen any since, but I can't confirm.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Fenbendazole, normal dose for hydra and planaria is 100mg per 10 gallons. If planaria are still alive after 24 hours, dose 100mg per 10 gallons once more (meaning dose is now doubled). Perform water change 48 hours after last dose.

I agree that it isn't normal for planaria to kill several shrimp overnight... For this to happen, there would need to be an absurd amount of planaria in your tank, meaning you've been overfeeding (by a LOT) consistently for a long period of time. I think it is more likely that there is a water quality issue. Most likely after you dosed fenbendazole the first time, it caused a massive amount of planaria to die inside the substrate. When this happens, an ammonia spike occurs which can kill shrimp very easily.

Now if you really have a horde of killer darting planaria, you need to adjust the amount you are feeding your shrimp, because it is WAY too much. Planaria population will dwindle very quickly when faced with a lack of food, much like snails.


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## PROX (Oct 20, 2009)

Some shrimp tank still have planaria even without feeding much. Wonder where they come from...


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