Planaria Worms.....

[shi24137]

So I've been keeping fish for over 5yrs and have NEVER had a problem like this, I've recently been having an outbreak of Planaria worms on the side of my tank...from what I've read they aren't harmful to my fish but just the thought of worms in my house....yuck...makes me shudder. So far it is only in my betta tank and sometimes he will even eat them off the sides...Will my betta eating the worms make him sick? How can I get rid of this problem? I've read that adding a teaspoon of salt will "most likely" kill them but I have a plant in there and I do not want to kill it...It's a 10 gallon tank, split down the middle. What should I do? What is a safe amount of salt to put in the tank without hurting my bettas and killing my plants? Any and all info is welcome!!!!!!!

 

[Tolan]

I'm pretty sure the less food will help get rid of them. I had a ton of them in my substrate, but when I stopped feeding to much they mostly all died out.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

As Tolan said, you must have leftover food in the substrate or they couldn't survive. The simplest way to reduce (and possibly get rid of) them is to give your substrate a really good clean and then stop feeding your betta. The betta will eat the planaria because he has no other food and the lack of food in the substrate will naturally reduce their numbers. So the betta gets fed and the planaria are attacked on two fronts. It also means you aren't harming your betta with salt.

However do clean the substrate at least daily as any dead planaria will decompose and may raise ammonia levels.

You could add salt as well if you want to be absolutely sure but don''t overdo it. Say 1tsp per 10 litres. Dissolve it in some tank water and then add that gradually over a couple of hours.