worms in the snail breeding tank

[Brian]

Well after keeping a nice snail food source (ramshorn) for my clown loaches
for two months I have finally run into a complication. Im looking in my
snail tank and there are hundreds of 'worms' floating around and sticking to
the glass. These guys are approx 1/2 inch long, any information on what
these guys are and conversely how to get rid of them would be greatly
appreciated.Oh and of coarse Ive stopped taking out snails for loach food
until I can figure this one out. Cheers, Brian





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[Dinky]

"Brian" > wrote in message
...
> Well after keeping a nice snail food source (ramshorn) for my clown
loaches
> for two months I have finally run into a complication. Im looking in my
> snail tank and there are hundreds of 'worms' floating around and sticking
to
> the glass. These guys are approx 1/2 inch long, any information on what
> these guys are and conversely how to get rid of them would be greatly
> appreciated.Oh and of coarse Ive stopped taking out snails for loach food
> until I can figure this one out. Cheers, Brian
>


Are you sure they're half an inch? If they're smaller than that, they may be
planaria, which are mostly harmless.

[Robert Flory]

"Dinky" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Brian" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Well after keeping a nice snail food source (ramshorn) for my clown
> loaches
> > for two months I have finally run into a complication. Im looking in my
> > snail tank and there are hundreds of 'worms' floating around and
sticking
> to
> > the glass. These guys are approx 1/2 inch long, any information on what
> > these guys are and conversely how to get rid of them would be greatly
> > appreciated.Oh and of coarse Ive stopped taking out snails for loach
food
> > until I can figure this one out. Cheers, Brian
> >
>
>
> Are you sure they're half an inch? If they're smaller than that, they may
be
> planaria, which are mostly harmless.
>
>
I've grown planaria that got nearly 1 inch long when I was in Idaho ... the
native species there was dark colored too.

Bob

[Brian]

"Robert Flory" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dinky" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Brian" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Well after keeping a nice snail food source (ramshorn) for my clown
> > loaches
> > > for two months I have finally run into a complication. Im looking in
my
> > > snail tank and there are hundreds of 'worms' floating around and
> sticking
> > to
> > > the glass. These guys are approx 1/2 inch long, any information on
what
> > > these guys are and conversely how to get rid of them would be greatly
> > > appreciated.Oh and of coarse Ive stopped taking out snails for loach
> food
> > > until I can figure this one out. Cheers, Brian
> > >
> >
> >
> > Are you sure they're half an inch? If they're smaller than that, they
may
> be
> > planaria, which are mostly harmless.
> >
> >
> I've grown planaria that got nearly 1 inch long when I was in Idaho ...
the
> native species there was dark colored too.
>
> Bob
>
Well I'm in Idaho right now (Coeur D'Alene) but my planaria (which is what
Im guessing they are now) are not dark colored but light. Is there any way
I can tell as the casual observer if they are in fact this? Their numbers
seem to be declining by the way..Cheers, Brian
>




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[Geezer From The Freezer]

Brian,

I've been hit with Planaria in my tank recently. They can be as
little as a couple of millimeters and as long as a centimeter
or more. They typically look like white hair floating in the tank
but when they swim, the wiggle.

They are caused by overfeeding fish, high ammonia, or brought in
from plants.

A couple of ways to "attempt to kill" them (found this on another news
group)

1) Stop feeding the fish for a few days
2) Remove all fish and raise temperature to 110 degress farenheit
3) Add Apple Snails (or similar)

So far I've tackled my problem by "fasting" my fish for 4 days
adding some salt (1 teaspoon per gallon) and doing a 50% water change
and doing a very thorough gravel vac (and stirring the tank and
vacumming any debris from the water)

I still have a few, but nowhere near as many as I had before.
They tend to hide quite well. I initially thought I only had a few
but when stirring the water I found I have quite a few indeed.

[Mean_Chlorine]

Geezer From The Freezer > wrote in message >...
> Brian,
>
> I've been hit with Planaria in my tank recently. They can be as
> little as a couple of millimeters and as long as a centimeter
> or more. They typically look like white hair floating in the tank
> but when they swim, the wiggle.

Almost certainly not planaria (triclad platyhelminths); most likely
either free-living nematodes (roundworms) or oligochaetes (relatives
of the earthworm and Tubifex).

The typical planaria are flat, broad, somewhat slug-like creatures,
totally without segmentation, normally ranging from 0.5 - 3 cm,
although there are species reaching 60 cm. Color varies wildly, but
usually brownish or whitish. Typically they look like something like
this: http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~gen-yu/pl7s.jpg
These move with a gliding motion; may "swim" if dislodged from the
substrate. And, as I said, they're flattened, hence the name flatworm.
They are scavengers and small predators. They do appear in aquaria,
but IME fairly rarely.

The best known nematodes (roundworms) are parasitic, but most species
are free-living, feeding off plants or bacteria. Nematodes range from
0.1 mm to 8 meters in length, but nearly all of them look like this:
http://reflex.at/~biolab/Fotos/Evertebraten/Fotos400px/nematode.jpg
Move with a snakelike, thrashing, motion. Probably the most common
animals on Earth; nematodes of some species or other are basically
guaranteed to be present in any aquarium. Familiar nematodes are e.g.
microworms and vinegar eels.

Oligochaete annelids, to which earthworms and Tubifex belong, look a
bit like nematodes, but can be separated from them by virtue of being
segmented (difficult to see on very small species, of course). They
range in size from 0.2mm or so to 2.5 meters. Typical example:
http://fuv.hivolda.no/prosjekt/josteinovestad/250fabor.jpg
These are detritus eaters. Move like, well, earthworms. IMO
oligochaete annelids are the most common worms in aquaria.

[Robert Flory]

"Brian" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Robert Flory" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
SNIP> > >
> > >
> > I've grown planaria that got nearly 1 inch long when I was in Idaho ...
> the
> > native species there was dark colored too.
> >
> > Bob
> >
> Well I'm in Idaho right now (Coeur D'Alene) but my planaria (which is what
> Im guessing they are now) are not dark colored but light. Is there any
way
> I can tell as the casual observer if they are in fact this? Their numbers
> seem to be declining by the way..Cheers, Brian
> >
>
http://www.ebiomedia.com/gall/classics/Plan/planaria.html
http://www.kent.wednet.edu/staff/rlynch/sci_class/chap13/platy.html

Everyhting grew bigger in the Magic Valley (Twin Falls) ;-)

Bob