****hangs her head in shame***

I have a barebottomed 15 gallon tank with one large (4 inch) rock full of green algae, and 2 plastic plants. It contains one calico bubbleeye (Ms. Weebles) about 7 inches in length.

Today I changed her tank and there were planaria on the glass. Ewwwh ugggggh. That tank is usually squeaky clean. There is little debris, little mulm in the filter. THere is no gravel to catch detrius.

So......ewhhh ....where did those nasty little buggers come from? The frozen bloodworms in my gel food?

Will salt help kill them off? I do not see extra waste to vacumn up to prevent them! There were only about 4 of them, but still......

I feel like I am admitting to having fleas or lice or something.

whats planaria? u know i have a few real plants and i saw some tiny tiny clear egg looking things on one leaf but i vaccummed them up would that be what ure saying?

Carol, I haven't had any experience with planeria. Hopefully you get it under control soon. Goodness knows you don't need to contaminate the other tanks with it. YUCK!!!

The only time I ever had them was in a bare bottom tank too, it was a 10 gal guppy tank. Since it was so small I just tore it down and cleaned the plants and the fake rock thingy, I kept the filter the way it was though and it got rid of them

they are little white worms

oh

They live harmlessly in nearly all aquariums and if you see lots of them then you need to up gravel vacs and cut back feeding. Usually they are on the front glass of the tank or you see them floating in the water.
Did you know as well that some of these worms look the same as hexamita aka HITH, but thats really rare though.
I had a bad outbreak a few months ago of planaria and did lots of water changing with gravel vacs to cut the numbers back. Though many people havent seen them you can bet your tank has them.

Ewww! If my tanks have them I don't think I want to know.

Ahhhh, Good info Sands!! Oh lordy I hope you get it taken care of Carol, What a bummer!!! They sound icky but I guess it's norm huh....I wonder if they are the same thing our friend had in some of his coral he was drying, He went to take some off the shelf to put in the tank, and saw a wormy staring back at him?!! ICK!!

Is there anyway you can see them other than having a bare bottom tank? Like with a microscope or something? I am kinda intrested in seeing one now....Even though they do sound icky icky poo!!!!!

You can see them with the naked eye, just take a real close look at the inside glass of your tank or try and see through the water. You might see some.Usually they are white and hairlike but only a few mm long maybe as much as half an inch, and they swim in an s bend shape.

Aaawwww gross, just when you think you had heard it all. I have been looking & looking...I don;t see them. Did ya'll say ALL tanks have them? Do tht cpme in on plants? Why are barebottoms more suspeptable?

Eeeuuuuu, what do I do to NOT GET THAT???

Theres no need to panic lol. They are completely harmless and shows your tank is in good health if you have just a few, and if you cant see them then thats even better.
My fish eat them

My Mam use to say silverfish (the insects) were the only insects good homekeepers ever had in their house, p'raps these planeria are the same for tank keepers?!

Eww! I have quite a few in my tank. They seem to dissapear as soon as they touch anything in the tank.

Eeeuuw Daryl...I will never let my fish play with your fish...your fish are UNCLEAN!

Oh my, I am totally kidding, I could pick up on the tone of your post even before you said it was like you had fleas or lice...sorry you have the little white worms. It sounds like they are nothing to worry about but I think I wouldn't like it either. i hope they disappear as quickly as they showed up. :-)

If they're harmless and the fish actually EAT them, why all the fuss?

I think just the obvious things,that they're just unsightly...My African Clawed Frog tank used to get it on occasion because he ate like a pig.I never quite understood the Planeria though,because Bubba didn't leave much in the way of food around....Sandy's right though. Unsightly they may be,but like anything in the right amounts,they're pretty much harmless.I wouldn't want them to get out of hand though because that would be kind of gross to see. A couple water changes,a gravel vac or two and they're gone!

Hehe ic
I would think a little extra natural nutrition won't go astray yum!

Ive seen two types of worm in my tanks, this was ages ago and havent seen them since, but one was a long about --- long thin one that swam, and theres another which is very small like - and moves about on the glass like a caterpiller.. which one is planaria? or are they both, just babies and adults?

Thanks Jen626 for directing me back to this post. I now have these worm like things stuck on the front of my 55 gal. glass tank. Glad to know that they are harmless. I only feed twice a day though. I use to have 7 goldfish in there but bought a 20 gal long and put 2 of the fish in it so now there are only 5 fish in there. Will be doing gravel vac today, Should I wipe the inside glass clean also?

It never hurts to wipe the glass during a clean. I always do. But the majority of the planera live in the gravel and filter and the crooks and crannies of a tank.

I know they are harmless, but I find them disturbingly unsightly. The most disturbing part is that I like to feel that I am in control of what is in my tanks. Having these little opportunistic waste eaters in there means that I am not in control - that somehow I have failed to control the waste in the fashion I wanted to.....

I hate not being in control.....

****control freak!!!!****

Wow Daryl, nice step in the right direction. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery

I love the black kind of planaria. I think they're fascinating creatures I think I'd get excited if I saw some in my tank, in fact way back in 7th grade I had a pair as pets for a while...till my mom discovered them and made me flush them . I got them from an experiment we did in science class invloving them.

Did you know that they have no blood and their mouth is in the middle of their bodies? Although they appear to have eyes they don't, they just have light receptors that tell them whether its light or dark. Also they reproduce by dividing, much like our cells do. There are many other unique things about them but I don't want to weird you guys out too much

I know, I'm crazy...I've always been fascinated by weird little critters

Heck, I love weird stuff...tell me away. My internet hobby is looking up skin diseases and birth defects...I can handle anything...

Okay, heres a couple more

Planaria are carnivores

Every cell in their body had an active part in digesting their food.

When eating they extend their esophagus from their body to whatever they may be eating...kind of like an apple snail's siphon for air.

Like a starfish, they can regenerate lost body parts

HAHAHA. Sorry Carol, that struck me as hilarious. Does your whole body itch when you look at 'em??!!

I think salt kills them off, correct me if I'm wrong guys. I've had them in my African Clawed tank like Devs, and they were pretty easy to get rid of. I just did some real thorough vacs, and held back on the food, and they were gone. I think I got them in a betta tank once too, and he pretty much ate them all.

Thanks for your reply Daryl.
Errrika1979, I am itching right now I bought these long aquatic gloves from Dr.Foster&Smith but don't always use them but will definately have them on today!

I have some black small worms in a couple of my tanks but they are the larvae for this small fly that hangs out around the tank water surface, kinda small fruit fly looking things. The larvae hang out in the top of the filter area, they particularly like the top of the carbon filter unit as the water level drops and there is some dirty build-up there. They seem harmless, and have been there for over a year now! The adults are more of a pain, but don't sdeem to live for more than a day or so flying around with the ocassional dive bomb in a glass of nice red wine!

Ok, I'm just going to ask a little more. Planarians are flat worms. Most that I have seen are not white, but actually dark brown. We did an experiment with them when I was in 8th grade, and cut one in half to watch both halves produce two new, healthy worms. The best pic of a planarian was the one I found here: http://www.luc.edu/faculty/jreymon/biolab/planaria.jpg You can see, they don't quite look white. I have the little white worms in all 4 of my aquariums, but most noticeably in my oscar tank. I don't seem to see them all that often.

So, are the little white worms in fact planarians, or are they a totally different type of creature all together?

Rai

OMG! I have such an aversion to worms - they are the most disgusting thing on earth! I will die if I see one in my tank! *skivvies* To think I stick my hands in there!!!! Except for worms, I am not at all squeamish but they just make me sick!

So, I went nuts research these buggers when I first heard of them a few months ago because it really freaked me out - and I understood them to be an ineveitable and benign part of a well-established tank - even a good sign - in moderation.

That made feel better but not less grossed out! I think salt will kill them -
Will my UV fry them to beyond death?!?!?! I have it at a very low gph!


Daryl - good riddance to them - salt them to heck - I know how you feel! But, prolly just means you needed a filter change or had a biosurge, right?
YUCK!

NJ - If I ever find any in my tank, you can have them! I promise!

I have had them in my tank before. I am sure they came with the duck weed I put in the tank from my pond.
I love to get my geology hand lense and look at them on the edge of the glass. I remember them from biology class way back.
But I am a Tom Boy and love all sorts of creapy things.
I consider it good tank health.

I like green water in my tank too. I just think the fish like it more.

Oh I would looove them

Planaria can be various colours, black, brown, white, grey. I believe tropical ones can be bright colours.

Also, I understand they will be killed by prazi.

I don't think so. For I used Prazi on Jan 1, and still have them in the tank.....



Pretty - I wish mine were bright colors!

I have never seen them in my tanks, but I think it was toothless that said prazi killed planaria.

OK. I did a 50% change of water and graveled vac yesterday. I scrubbed the tank walls clean and ornaments in tank. I also took another posters advice and salted the tank ( 1tbs per 5 gals.). Woke up this morning looked on inside tank glass and they were still there but looked as if they were fading. Looked in tank tonight around 11p.m. and all was clear and gone but noticed a few hanging around the heater in back of tank. Will check again in the morning and will do another gravel vac if needed. Will keep everyone posted.

I wonder, 2befree, can you get a picture of how they look in the tank? Or are they too small to come out in the photo (so you have a camera with a macro function)?

I hope you are free of them soon!

Well, salt is supposed to kill snails too, and one of my tanks was at .8% for over a week and I still have pest snails in there. So go figure!

Well, I guess I don't have to worry about salt and snails

Graham--Hubby went away for the weekend and took the digi cam with him. Don't know if they will show up in the pics though, they are so small. If there are some still in the tank when he returns (hope not) I'll try take some pics and see if they show up.

Daryl-- I still see a bunch hanging behind and around heater (like as if they are trying to hide or something ) Oh well, i guess I will have to do another water change and up the salt today or tomorrow.

I have a bare bottom tank. Two plastic plants and a solid, algae covered rock, one heater and a filter input and outflow in my tank. That is all. They still manage to secret themselves in the plastic plant bases, under the rock, in the cracks of the heater and the intake and in the sealant on the tank's edges. I even found a large population living on the underside of a black plastic hood lid once - it was wet and warm and good there, I guess.

If you have gravel, I am sure you can never get them all.

They are sneaky little critters!

Yes I do have gravel. Wow, they sure do know where to hide. I will be checking under the hood (didn't think of that one). Well as long as I can keep them off the front glass so I am not seeing them when trying to enjoy the beauty of my fish
I also reduced there feeding to once a day. Hopefully that will help keep those little buggers from populating so much.