Matthew Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 Somehow worms have invaded the gravel in my tank, they are an opaque white and are probably 1/4inch to 1/2 inch long. any ideas? what's the best way to eliminate them? Cheers matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 if they're the worms I'm thinking about, they turn up from a lack of water changes / gravel cleaning... I had them as well, didn't notice until I emptied a tank out, because it was infested with snails... I took one of the worms to Hollywoods, to identify it, and they said that it was for the above reason... Don't take my word as gospel, but may be a good idea to take your gravel out and give it a good clean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 They are probably planaria worms. Harmless but unsightly. Caused by over-feeding and lack of maintenance. Feed less and regular water changes using a vacuum to clean them out of the gravel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted July 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 I do clean my tank regularly 160L tank and water change around 30-40L weekly. I do gravel clean as well, I have just noticed these worms at the last gravel clean. If they are harmless I guess I may just leave them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 You can easily check if they're planaria. If you remove one from the tank and put it in a small clear dish then you should be able to clearly see. If it is a planarian then it should contract at first to be short but fat. After a minute or so without disturbance it should elongate again to form a long, thin worm. The head is shaped like an arrow with two distinctive spots, is eyes. The flaps on either side of the head contain chemical receptor cells that allow it to find food. Planaria are mostly scavengers, feeding naturally on meat or dead insects. If they get extremely hungry then they will attack and eat small aquatic insects or small crustaceans. These little worms shouldn't be harmful except perhaps in the presence of small fry when there is insufficient other food to support the population. The planaria could only catch fry resting on surfaces for long periods of time anyway as they're very slow. I found some of these in a stream this weekend and have set them up in a plastic fishbowl. They can be fed on small bits of hard boiled egg yolk or meat. If you were in Wellington then I'd ask you to give them to me . They're very interesting due to their powers of regeneration and for experiments in conditioning. If cut in half these worms will grow back both halves. Even if the piece cut off can't eat then it'll consume some of its own body tissues to grow a new head and/or stomach. It has also been proven that they are more easily conditioned to react in a certain way to a stimulus if they've eaten another blended planarian that was conditioned before being ground up - they learn from other planaria that they eat . Really interesting little things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Warning: These things can be expensive and cause addictions I had in my old tank a large happy common Pleco (the tank was kept clean and regular water changes) who was the sole occupant for about 2 years. One day I made the mistake of noticing some planaria :evil: , and decided the cure was a few tetras. Of course buying a "few" tetras means coming home with some loaches and SAE's as well. The fish quickly cleaned out the worms, and started to grow thus forcing me to up-size my tank. A large tank is empty without plants, so a jungle was produced. Unfortunately the Pleco didn't like his new home and started landscaping so he was donated to Fees shop. The removal of 20 odd cm of fish from the tank meant I could get more and different varieties. Thus the expensive addiction! So beware of these "harmless worms" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Wish people could learn like that. Could make heaps of money waiting outside a university graduation ceremony with a gun, van and a couple people to help put the bodies in the truck. $100 per lb of uni graduate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar Sheila Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 http://forums.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=17926 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Haha, I clicked on that link and got distracted then came back and red the message, scrolled up to the top and thought, "Hey, when did the fishroom's logo get an oscar?!?" That board's layout is identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Interfecus said... > You can easily check if they're planaria.... I've only very rarely seen true planaria in aquaria. Mostly we see various other small non-segmented flat worms. They're almost always a sign of overfeeding but are generally considered harmless themselves. I'd rather have planaria though because, as has been pointed out, they're quite interesting little critters. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 Great info Interfecus, thanks for posting it I knew about the little guys, but this explains a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 There's lots of info on these guys here: http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/man ... Worms.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 One thing in this article is wrong: planaria are NOT parasitic. They either scavenge for dead meat or predate on small shrimp or insects. It is possile that they may enter the gills of fish and cause irritation but they won't feed off the living fish. The planaria may be reluctant to leave the gills while there is a strong light source striking the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 One thing in this article is wrong: planaria are NOT parasitic He he... I'm not in a position to dispute this, and will take your word for it. The mention of 'parasite' relates to a question in the article, and the author doesn't actually say that it 'is' a parasite, and I wonder why these guys never picked up on that. Ryedale Reporter, Ryedale Aquarist Society Warning - Research carried out by Tim Henshaw at Bolton Museum (Lancashire, U.K.) indicates that Planaria carry a toxin on their surface. This toxin is particularly potent towards any species of shrimp and glass shrimp. (Seems like this bit might have been sent in by a reader as a query) As Planaria are parasitic, can they harm humans who come into contact with them? As far as my research indicates there are no recorded cases, but always make sure that you wash your hands well following contact and that any cuts etc. are covered prior to work with Planarian problems. Very interesting anyway, as these little guys seem to worry quite a few aquarists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar Sheila Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 One thing in this article is wrong: planaria are NOT parasitic. True. From my research, and as is indicated in my post, Planaria are one of 3 things. Predatory, parasitic or herbivorous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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