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Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 14 Feb 2016, 04:32
by shrimpkeeper222
Hi guys. I have a problem in my 14.6 gallon tank. It has PLANARIAS! I know they can be harmless, but they are known to attack molting shrimps, so im kinda worried :-S , since it is a shrimp breeding colony tank. The Ancistrus was rehomed because of high bioload and robust feeding. I need a fish that does that not predatate on shrimplets but will predatate (or at least make them hide) on planarias. I've been thinking:
Pygmy Cories?
Pencilfish?
Kulhi Loaches?
Any replies will be awesome.

Re: Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 09 Mar 2016, 14:29
by Jobro
Pygmy cories seem to be not too much interested in planarias.

You talking about the very very small white worms on the glas of a tank, right? there are some planarias that do get bigger than 1cm. You probably not talking about those, right?

Re: Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 09 Mar 2016, 21:44
by gulogulo
I have heard that scarlet badis will (in fact, are natural predators of) flatworms and will leave shrimp alone. I have been meaning to try it in my shrimp tank but haven't yet. If I do I will post the outcome.

Re: Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 10 Mar 2016, 07:46
by shrimpkeeper222
Jobra, yes i am talking about those-and since pygmy cories where introduced, planaria numbers have gone down. this is due to:
1. Predatation
2. Pygmy cories scaring them into hiding by foraging
3. Lack of leftovers thanks to the foraging cories.
And gulgulo, im sorry to say scarlet badis will hunt shrimplets.

Re: Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 10 Mar 2016, 09:00
by Jobro
Those very very small planarias seem to be present in most aquariums and tend to only show up if there is excess food and organic waste in the tank. Usually something is not right inside the tank, when they show up. You might go with less feeding for a while and look out for any spots in the tank, where organic waste piles up or gets stuck, maybe some dead shrimps buried somewhere or the like. If you have woods in the tank, check out if it may be rotting away slowly or something like that. It's usually better to search for the cause of the problem rather than only fighting the symptoms.

Re: Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 10 Mar 2016, 09:13
by shrimpkeeper222
Jobro, these planarias are about 0.6cm, and they seem to have disappeared when i increased feeding and stock-maybe due the the aquarium being more established and ready to handle organic waste, or maybe because I added more moss(thought here was a ton already-I <3 moss)?

Re: Planaria eating, but shrimp friendly fish?

Posted: 10 Mar 2016, 14:39
by Jobro
Ok, then we are talking about a different kind of planaria. the ones I was talking about usually are at most 1mm. You can only see them when your really close to the glass. I think those would not harm any shrimps. But with 0,6cm they can be a threat I guess.

Planaria traps are easy to build and could help minimizing their numbers even further. Try googling "planaria trap".

Maybe the planaria just went hiding in the moss? :D