Please Help Identify Critters In My Cherry Shrimp Tank

[Gvilleguy]

A few pictures of my 10 gallon cherry shrimp tank. If anyone can help confirm what the critter population might be, I would be grateful. Copepods, etc? They are everywhere in the tank.
 
First - picture of the entire 10 gallon. Sponge filter, 3D foam backdrop, coral substrate, real driftwood, java moss and java ferns.
 
 

 
This shot shows a new'ish baby shrimp (3 mm) along with critters on the glass. I took these shots with a magnifier held in front of my iphone. Still could not get the critters in focus, though. The oval shaped guys swim as well as crawl.
 

 
This shot shows a worm-like creature that also inhabits the tank:
 

 
More critters on the glass:
 

 
And some of the adult shrimp:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[bluesword23516]

Thats very interesting. Have you added new plants, decor, or changed a filter from a previous tank? 

 

[Meeresstille]

I believe it's planaria. They are harmless and usually a sign of over feeding. 

 

[Gvilleguy]

I bought this entire setup last month. So it had all the critters when I bought it.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I measured tank stats today and everything is still good. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all zero. I'm cutting back algae flakes to once per week to see if the critter count goes down. I have not vacuumed the gravel because of the babies.

 

[Baccus]

The small swimming and climbing critters could be a type of seed shrimp. While the worm looking thing could be a planaria (which is a dangerous pest in shrimp tanks), but i suspect its actually a less harmful worm that often inhabits tanks without predators.

 

[Alasse]

The worm thing is planaria, i can tell you they are not harmless, i went from 700 or so red cherries to 20 or so very quickly. I would be treating the tank very soon

 

[Gvilleguy]

Is there a safe way to treat for planaria without harming the shrimp?

 

[Alasse]

There is a product called "No Planaria", it is safe to use with shrimp, providing you follow the dosing as directed

 

[Gvilleguy]

Okay I did a little more research. If they are indeed planaria, it does sound like I need to treat, as you said. I searched for "no planaria" but suspect it is not sold in the USA. From what I have read, I can buy "fenbendazole" and carefully follow the dosing instructions. It will treat worms and hydra and not hurt the shrimp as long as you don't overdose it (0.1mg per 10 gallons). I checked with the guy I bought the tank from. He said he always had a few worms in there, but did not notice any trouble with his shrimp. So I am going to carefully monitor the babies and see if my population is growing or shrinking. As long as my population goes up (and I estimate I have around 40 total adults and babies right now) I will not treat the worms yet.

 

[stanleo]

I had the little worms in my shrimp tank too when I started it up. But when I put in some endle's livebearers they ate the worms but left the shrimp alone. You may not want fish in your setup though. 

 

[Baccus]

If you do go with the No Planaria treatment I would be very careful with it. It seems to have had some very mixed results with some people swearing by it, while others claimed it did nothing even after they ended up doubling the doses, and yet others claimed it killed their shrimp while following the instructions to the letter.
I am still not convinced that the worm like thing is a planaria since I can not see the typical arrow shaped head of a planaria.
 

 

[Gvilleguy]

On my lunch break I looked closer at a bigger one with a magnifier, and it does not look like a planaria to me, either. The 'head' is totally oval shaped - no characteristic lobes jutting off the sides of the head.

 

[Meeresstille]

Yikes, I did not know they are dangerous to shrimp. Seeing that you may have two different kinds of worms in your tank maybe you want to consider treating the tank with a dewormer. Be careful to choose one that is safe for shrimp. Found this: http/www.planetinverts.com/killing_planaria_and_hydra.html Maybe more experienced members can advice on its safety. 

 

[Alasse]

That definitely looks like planaria to me.....
 
I had to treat multiple tanks thanks to a LFS whos plant tank was infested with them and i didnt know, wont be buying from there again lol
 
All the treated tanks have shrimp, all tanks were multiple dosed to ensure the planaria died, never lost anything from using it, so i would say it works and is safe (as i said use the correct dosage).