# What the hell are these?!?!



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I am so angry yet upset at the same time! :sad: 

This morning, I went to open up my curtains and afterwards, I looked into the 10g tank. I noticed something very small on the side of the tank(slightly over 1mm in size, if that). At first I thought it was part of a plant leaf that fell off but when I looked at it again, it started moving! Then I noticed a few more of them on the sides and a couple swimming around in the water!

What the hell are these creatures? Would it be best to tear down my tank and redo it because of them? I know that this type of set up is basically an ecosystem within an aquarium but are things like these normal to have in there? Will they harm my boy when he goes back in there? My apple snail doesn't seem affected by them. My plants had already growing roots within the soil and removing any ammonia within the water so I thought things were on the right track and now this happens! My tank gets a bit of sunlight in the morning(about an hour or less) and I have two 10 watt Cool White bulbs that light the tank when the sun no longer comes in through the window.

Can someone tell me what these "things" are? Will I have no choice but to tear down my 10g tank or are they harmless?

*sigh* I feel like such a newb.


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## Left Coast DJ (Nov 16, 2006)

I think what you got are PLANARIA, eh!

Planaria are harmless flatworms. Throw in a few Endler males or some other small fish and they'll pick the planaria off the glass. No need to tear the tank down. If you turn the lights back on at about 1AM, after the tank's been dark for a few hours, you'll be surprised at all the little critters that go bump in the dark inside an established tank.

DJ


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

If they are planaria, it may be an indication of poor water quality and or over feeding. I don't think you need to tear the tank down, but you may want to thoroughly vacuum your substrate with each water change. Just curious, have you tested your water parmeters. Some say that the onset of planaria coincides with deteriorating water quality and in some cases high ammonia/nitrites. What type of fish do you have in there?

Interesting articles and information about planaria.
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Ali_Planaria_Worms.html
http://www.aquariumcorner.com/planaria.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/qa/f/faq0050.htm


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Left Coast DJ said:


> I think what you got are PLANARIA, eh!
> 
> Planaria are harmless flatworms. Throw in a few Endler males or some other small fish and they'll pick the planaria off the glass. No need to tear the tank down. If you turn the lights back on at about 1AM, after the tank's been dark for a few hours, you'll be surprised at all the little critters that go bump in the dark inside an established tank.
> 
> DJ


Thank you.  I have a feeling that my betta will try to eat them! lol

You know, I had done a search on Planaria and it's strange how some sites will say that they are harmless yet others say that it's an external parasite and that the tank should be treated for it.



Homer_Simpson said:


> If they are planaria, it may be an indication of poor water quality and or over feeding. I don't think you need to tear the tank down, but you may want to thoroughly vacuum your substrated with each water change. Just curious, have you tested your water parmeters. Some say that the onset of planaria coincides with deteriorating water quality and in some cases high ammonia/nitrites.
> 
> Interesting articles and information about planaria.
> http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Ali_Planaria_Worms.html
> ...


Actually, I tested the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates yesterday and these were the readings.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5.0

I can't see it being from over feeding since the only thing that's in the tank is my snail. My betta is currently in a hospital tank recovering from Columnaris.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

Red_Rose said:


> ...You know, I had done a search on Planaria and it's strange how some sites will say that they are harmless yet others say that it's an external parasite and that the tank should be treated for it...


So true.... The articles I posted were just for information. Even if I had a planaria problem, I cannot imagine taking some of the drastic measures mentioned in the article. I mean come on bleaching disinfecting filters....! So much for the beneficial bacteria that keep your tank in balance. If anyone even considers this, then you better have a heavily planted tank to compensate. Personally, the only time I experienced a planaria problem was when I tried setting up a one gallon nano bowl using some plants, cultured gravel, and no filter. I believe the cultured gravel from the other tank likely had a lot of fish waste. That combined with a lack of filter/aeration and the fact that the plants began to decay ended up setting up a situation ripe for planaria. The funny thing was that I was doing 1 cup water changes daily and weekly water changes, and there were no fish in there(thank God). When I dismantled the bowl, it stank like a sewer and the plant leaves and stems were so soft and mushy. They literally fell apart.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Okay, I just did another set of tests and my ammonia and nitrates stayed the same but the blue color of the nitrite test was a slightly darker blue and I mean slightly! I think there's a small trace of nitrites in the water. I have java moss in the tank and apparently it's good for getting rid of nitrites.



Homer_Simpson said:


> So true.... The articles I posted were just for information. Even if I had a planaria problem, I cannot imagine taking some of the drastic measures mentioned in the article. I mean come on bleaching disinfecting filters....! So much for the beneficial bacteria that keep your tank in balance. If anyone even considers this, then you better have a heavily planted tank to compensate. Personally, the only time I experienced a planaria problem was when I tried setting up a one gallon nano bowl using some plants, cultured gravel, and no filter. I believe the cultured gravel from the other tank likely had a lot of fish waste. That combined with a lack of filter/aeration and the fact that the plants began to decay ended up setting up a situation ripe for planaria. The funny thing was that I was doing 1 cup water changes daily and weekly water changes, and there were no fish in there(thank God). When I dismantled the bowl, it stank like a sewer and the plant leaves and stems were so soft and mushy. They literally fell apart.


I've come across more sites saying that Planaria is harmless then ones that say that's it's something that can be dangerous for fish. Some people on some other forums that I'm a member of have also had this problem at one point or another but their tanks aren't set up the way mine is.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

I wouldn't worry about it.
We've had our Betta in a 2.5 Gallon since March(see signature link).
We have planarians, little creatures that swim across the the glass and baby snails (really small and look transparent on the glass).

All part of the system. I have had planirians consume a red cherry shrimp shell in 48hours. Part of the system.
I did notice an increase in them when I added extra food in the tank.

As for the nitrite. Never had any or ammonia. Anacharis is a good fast grower and so is duckweed. Duckweed is my friend. I've got roots that are 1" long on them.

So my only advice would be to add some fast growers.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

Planaria are harmless, free-living worms. Look on the bright side; they make excellent live food for fish.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

You know, even though when I first saw them I was a little upset because I thought I had a problem with the tank but now after reading everyone's posts, I'm kinda looking forward to seeing my betta go after them to eat them. 

I'll try looking for some fast growing plants. I think there was some Duckweed in a nearby LFS but I'm not too sure. I'll have to check it out.

Thank you!


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

I would not recommend duckweed. Once you have it, it is a big pain to get rid of. P. fluitans is a nice floater. You could also use Pistia, water lettuce. The plant finder lists a few others. 

Enjoy watching you betta go to town on those worms!


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

I agree with Kelley. Duckweed is a HUGE PITA!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I second Kelley on avoiding duckweed. It is a real hassle trying to manage it compared to other floating plants. In addition to the 2 she mentioned, I like Salvinia minima and Amazon frogbit. Another good fast grower is hornwort. It prefers just to float beneath the surface, don't try to plant it.


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

Hornwort is good. I ended up removing it. It's stems got extremely thin, just started looking scraggley, and become one huge jumble. It does grow EXTREMELY fast.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Thanks for warning me about Duckweed. I do know that I can get water lettuce in local garden stores so I'll get some of that but I do have one question about it. Will water lettuce be or get too big for a 10g tank?

I have Hornwort in there right now as a floater but I would like to get another floater to go along with it.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

Water lettuce certainly might get too big. just throw the too-large plants out and keep the plantlets.


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

I've been trying to get rid of duckweed here for years. Vile stuff.

As for planarians, get a coupl eof ammano shrimp. While they do indeed eat algae and decaying plant material per the book they go absolutely nuts over any small worm they can eat.

Even the filter feeding ones like wood/bamboo shrimp do. I have quite a bit of video footage (somewhere) of wood shrimp eating live white worms. Ammanos are much more agressive about eating them them though.

Water lettuce makes a great aquarium plant it turns out - never gets too big and reproduces like crazy. It'll almost (almost!) outcompete duckweed. It stays about an inch or inch and a half or so. Pics here: (lousy ones, I gotta find the good ones)

http://images.aquaria.net/plants/floating/Pistia/


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

I had water lettuce for a while, they never got as big as you see pictures of wild ones. In fact, the picture of the water lettuce in the Dazzling Plants photo contest is some of mine.  My pics were #'s 6 and 7. :mrgreen:
Like Kelley said, once they get too big, just remove the large ones and keep the sprouts. I was pulling a handful a week out. Still, they are much easier to remove than duckweed!


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Wow! Water lettuce grows that fast? I'll be getting some today so I guess I'll soon see for myself!

Thanks, everyone!


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Red_Rose said:


> Wow! Water lettuce grows that fast? I'll be getting some today so I guess I'll soon see for myself!
> 
> Thanks, everyone!


I got a single water lettuce as an extra plant in a shipment from a seller on aquabid.com. That single plant has multiplied to such an extent that I have often given away and/or thrown away bagfuls of the stuff. It's much easier to control than duckweed.

As for planaria, there was someone one here (I don't remember who, but they were pretty active when this was part of the Wet Thumb Forum) and if I remember correctly, they tried to grow planaria in their NPT on purpose.

I once tried to establish a colony of blackworms in my tank, but my cories and clown loaches kept eating them!

-ricardo


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

Blue gouramis are the age-old recommendation for eradicating planaria. Many fish eat them, but blue gouramis really really eat them.

I added a bunch more water lettuce photos to the link I posted above. The stuff grows like a noxious weed but unlike *&(#^(*# duckweed it's easy to remove.


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## ringram (Jan 10, 2005)

Just wondering, b/c I have tons of planaria in the same tank as cherry shrimp. Babies too..Will the blue gouramis eat them? Or is using them assuming you don't have shrimp?


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

ringram said:


> Just wondering, b/c I have tons of planaria in the same tank as cherry shrimp. Babies too..Will the blue gouramis eat them? Or is using them assuming you don't have shrimp?


The gouramis probably will eat them, particularly if you cut down on their food.

Reducing food levels will also cause the planaria to become fewer in number.

BTW, planaria and most of the crawly things that are seen in aquaria are harmless and sometimes interesting in themselves. I had some mayfly larvae "hatch" into mayflies a few weeks ago.

Good luck!

Bill


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