# Invasion of the organisms!!!



## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Planaria, daphnia, small white worms, small red worms, hundreds of snails? 

Perhaps I should start cleaning out the shrimp tank more often.

I know there are posts for it throughout the net, but has anyone used dog dewormer to kill the worms and planaria in your tanks?

Since they're there... are they not creating a mini ecosystem?

Will they cause any issues with my shrimps???

I am at a loss here


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## ErioLover (Apr 30, 2009)

There is no problems. If anything introduce a few small fish like boraras.


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## outofstock (May 20, 2009)

catch the snails and sell them...to me! As long as they arent MTS


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## Pyro (Nov 20, 2005)

If you do have Planaria in your shrimp tank, this is something you should deal with. Planaria and shrimp don't play nice together. There was a suggestion earlier in the thread to add a small fish. I've never done this method, but I'd be afraid the fish would snack on planaria _and_ shrimp.

I've had a lot of luck with fenbendazole, the dog dewormer. I got it at PetSmart as SafeGuard or something (make sure the ingredient is fenbendazole. There's some other weird dewormers out there that I wouldn't try. I added .1 grams/10 gallons, and the next day, my planaria were gone, and the shrimp were perfectly fine. I had to do .2 grams then .1 grams in my 20 gallon, but still, planaria dead, happy shrimp.


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

I've heard some mixed opinions regarding the interaction of planaria with shrimp. I recently noticed planaria in one of my tanks and have been keeping a close eye on how they interact and have to admit I haven't noticed any detriment to having them in there. At times I have even seen the shrimp picking at them while foraging the tank for food. They don't eat them, but they just graze over them like there is nothing there.

That being said, I think they are nasty to look at so I am planning to take some fenbendazole to the tank at some point. I am planning to order it in liquid form under the name of Panacur as I have heard many people have had success with it and the liquid form mixes easier in water. Make sure you don't get the apple-cinnamon flavored one though.


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

I had a pair of angelfish that had camallanus worms (red ones that stick out of the anal vent as adults) and I treated those with the powdered form of Panacur (fenbendazole). It worked very well. I had to dissolve the powder in water and soak some food, then feed the affected angelfish in order to kill these internal parasites. Anyway, I just wanted to add to the others' post that the fenbendazole (sold as Panacur) has worked well for me with worm problems.


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

Hmm, maybe I will try to powder form then. I heard it was hard to mix with water but it is much cheaper to purchase. Thanks.


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

dgphelps said:


> Hmm, maybe I will try to powder form then. I heard it was hard to mix with water but it is much cheaper to purchase. Thanks.


You are right - it doesn't dissolve well in water, but it *is* less expensive and I got a lot of it so for the amount of times that I actually have to do treatment with fenbendazole, I figured it was okay. I have heard that the little white undissolved clumps are okay if they end up in the tank. It should eventually go away on its own - this was what I read on a related post either in APC or SFBAAPS.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

I decided to cut the top off a water bottle to create a small bowl to feed my shrimp on. It keeps the dissolved and uneaten food out of the substrate. Hopefully doing so will eliminate the worms. The shrimp hang out in there and eat their fill.

Doing so also has allowed me to remove 20 snails. 150+ more to go!!!!


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