# White worm hoard?!? WARNING! pictures can be slimy



## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

Okay so i just have a 10 gallon Java moss carpeted tank with about 10 harlequin rasboras in it...
tank is running with a tetra filter, heater (80ish) and air bubbles...
nothing special just a regular tank that i have running for the carpet itself...
these worms were present in the tank before but only on a small number (say less than 10)...

it use to house hundreds of cherry shrimps...they started slowly dying so i scooped them all out, shut down the tank, and started over with just the moss carpet...then my harlequins wernt doing well in my other tank so i transfered them over to the 10 gallon...

so i came home today...starred at my moss tank for a bit while feeding the rasboras...then i saw a white patch under the javamoss...then slowly...and literally...slowly a HEARD of these suckers (seen in picture) came out!!! it was like they were attracted to me...

my question is...WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!?! are they dangerous?!?! they arnt the regular white micro worms that you find in overfed tanks...these guys are a good cm and pretty thick...they however swim the same as the white microscopic worms but they almost never swim in the water but crawl on the glass...

any inputs would help.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Hmm, looks like XXL planaria worms... Or some sort of white leech perhaps.


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

i never seen planaria get this big tho...the tanks completely empty...i mean there use to be snails...but snails can cause planaria?

i did a project where i just dumped a ton of nitrates into the tank (fishless)...did this result in planaria?


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## onefang (Apr 10, 2011)

They appear to be very well fed planaria(the arrow shaped heads are a giveaway). They can definitely be dangerous to shrimp. They have a pretty lethal sting that is a problem for small invertebrates and fish fry. 
You can do one of two things. 
#1: Get some powdered canine dewormer(specifically one with fenbendazole) and using a flat toothpick(about 1/32 tsp) as a scooper, put one toothpicks worth of powder in and watch them die. This will not harm the shrimp or other inverts in your tank in any way. This medication also has the added benefit of killing hydras.

#2: Get some "No Planaria" from somewhere.

The Shrimp Lab has it

As well as Green Leaf Aquariums

And Aquarliam has Fenbendazole with dosing instructions for shrimp tanks.

-Paul


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

lol XXL planaria!
either fenbendazole, prazi pro, or assassin snails. assassin snails will eat planaria.


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## timwag2001 (Apr 15, 2009)

now thats a crazy outbreak! never seen so many like that before.

+3 on fendbendazole


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

damn nice shot lol


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

HAHA i never seen them this big either...the funny thing is...they came out from a bunch...as if they just hatched or something...spreaded all over the tank, then i cant find them anymore...like there are some left but not in this ammount...as if they were hiding in the javamoss carpet or something. there are no shrimps in the tank but it explains why my shrimps were dying...i dont even feed this tank...no idea how this many got in...

but to clear up my question...they dont feed on nitrates do they? cause heavily dosed the tank with nitrates as a project to see if the moss would explode...it didnt :x


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## onefang (Apr 10, 2011)

No I don't think nitrates are really the issue. Planaria feed off of other organisms, so chances are, there is, or was a dead shrimp, or snail, etc, that was undiscovered. There was probably one or two that rode in on a plant, and with an abundance of food(when there were shrimp in the tank), they reproduced accordingly. 
They are probably swarming for lack of a significant food source.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

not only overfeeding and dead things, they like decaying plant matter too. check your filter. they tend to hide there.


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

i think the decaying plant matter explains it...i have tons of dead moss below the carpet. that prob explains it.


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