Planaria- Do I Need To Worry?

[trianglekitty]

I keep reading conflicting reports about Planaria and if they are dangerous to shrimp. I have cherry shrimp and I know they are breeding because I find babies every time I do a water change. Yet these babies don't seem to be growing and increasing the total population.

I see a few Planaria in the bucket every time I do a water change. I don't routinely see them on the glass or crawling over the gravel as in some videos I've seen. So while I have them in the tank, I don't seem to have a large abundance.

Could they still be responsible for the disappearing baby shrimp? I'm going to make a planaria trap to make sure I don't actually have more than it seems. From my reading a tiny dose of febendazol is the best way to clear the tank

 

[tomtomtom1230]

I was under the impression that Planaria were 'herbivorous' organisms that fed on organic microorganisms, which baby shrimp aren't - I might be wrong though. If what I have said turns out to be true (I'm sure I've read that somewhere, unless I misunderstood the info) then I would keep them in the tank, they may or may not be beneficial to the tank's eco system.

 

[elmo666]

As I understand, planaria have a toxic slime on their skin which is harmful to shrimp and makes them un-pallatable to most fish. They are extremely difficult to get rid off, even using a trap.

 

[Gilli]

Planaria is a sign that you are overfeeding your fish and are not cleaning your substrate well. Cut back on feeding and make sure you do thorough substrate vacs removing all decorations ect to give everywhere a good clean at every weekly water change and you should be able to get rid of most of them.

 

[trianglekitty]

Planaria is a sign that you are overfeeding your fish and are not cleaning your substrate well. Cut back on feeding and make sure you do thorough substrate vacs removing all decorations ect to give everywhere a good clean at every weekly water change and you should be able to get rid of most of them.

I have live plants, so that's very difficult unless I uproot them all. I can cut down on feeding through...I think I overfeed the cory cats and can cut them down to half a wafer every night instead of a whole wafer.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

My pleco eats a lot and shares half a wafer with (would you believe it) the neons and the other five cories either get a few sinking pellets or half an algae wafer to share as a staple in their diet. Hope this gives you some indication on how much to feed.

I feed all my fish once every other day.