Planaria

What is the best way of ridding a tank of planaria. The tank is currentl
housing an amazon sword plant covered in angelfish eggs and I cant tear it
down until they hatch, if the planaria dont get them first.

Thanks

"John Allen" wrote in message
...
What is the best way of ridding a tank of planaria. The tank is
currentl housing an amazon sword plant covered in angelfish eggs and I
cant tear it down until they hatch, if the planaria dont get them
first.

Thanks


The bad news is that eggs and the fry will fall to the bottom anyways,
but the good news is that I don't think that the planaria would bother
the fry (not like hydra, but if anyone knows different please post).
There are indirect reasons why a tank with planaria might not be a very
suitable tank for fry (associated organic laden water is a recipe for
fungal infections), but no direct reasons that I was ever aware of.

You could snip the leaves and move them and some water into another
container. Add an airstone & some meth.blue.

Alternately you might gravel vac much of the gravel out of the tank (I
wouldn't).

Getting rid of planaria using natural methods takes more time than I
think you're interested in taking, and using less natural methods (salt,
temperature, treatments etc) would be harmful (I think) to the eggs, and
certainly stressful to the fry.
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I have never done this but apparantly you can bair them with a chuck of meat.

Put a cube of cooked beef or seomthing, not big, and in the morning it's
supposed to be covered by them.

I've seen them from time to time. They go away by themselves. Gouramis eat them.


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"John Allen" wrote in
:

What is the best way of ridding a tank of planaria.

Planaria themselves are harmless. They are a kind of flatworm. They won't
directly hurt your baby angelfish, but they are a sign of a dirty tank
bottom. Your angelfish will eventually transfer their sticky fry off of
the leaf and place them in the substrate where they will soon become free-
swimmers. If your substrate is truly filthy, the fry will not fair well
there.

Observe how much food is floating to the bottom of your tank, and
reconsider how much you are feeding your fish. Good gravel vacuuming with
a typical aquarium siphon will remove much of the food source for these
worms and they will naturally dye back as a result. You will have to do
this while the angelfish eggs are still on the leaf or you will end up
sucking up your angelfish babies as well.

Try not to spook the parents while cleaning your tank or they may feel
inclined to eat their eggs to recycle the protein.

Blue three spot or opaline grouramis will eat planaria, but they may also
irritate a breeding pair of angels.

Using catfish to clean the bottom of this tank is not a good idea, as they
will most likely ignore the planaria, but will happily eat your angelfish
babies.