Dealing with Planaria. Please help

[FishSupreme]

I've spotted some planaria. I had a tank crash (luckily had no deaths), but this lead to an influx in planaria. During the crash nothing would eat my offerings. I may have a dead fish since I haven't seen it in a while, but I have an almost perfect view, so the only other thing would be being buried under the substrate. I've searched but no dead fish has showed up yet and the water quality is still good. Before then though the planaria seemed to have manifested. I've only seen one so far, but if there is one there is usually one hundred in the substrate or elsewhere. I don't see any baby shrimp around. They most likely either died during the crash or got eaten by planaria. Either way, it's not good. Should I just go for the chemical nuke, or is there still a less risky and expensive way out. Please help! I don't if I need the emergency thing template. richiep I know you know about shrimp, so if I could have any advice that would be great. I saw on a forum you recommended planaria zero.


Ps. Took a long look at the tank and couldn't find any more. Still worried however. Also if anyone knows any other great shrimpers on here then pls tell me. I'd like to get as many opinion as possible. Also spotted some baby shrimp and have egg bearers. still need help though .
Been feeding the same amount for months and usually it's been fine. I'm gonna keep feeding the amount since it's vegetables. The repashy gel food contains black soldier fly larvae. Still looking for the root cause however.
Details for the crash are listed here. Shrimp not feeding | Freshwater Invertebrate Disease Forum | 491035 (fishlore.com)
Ammonia spikes followed after this due to a clogged spong filter. Also fixed.

 

[richiep]

A mini cycle can always be a problem to shrimp but it seems you're getting past that now seeing babies
Seeing planaria is also problem for shrimp and the only way out is planaria zero which is expensive in certain parts of the world or the cheaper option and just as effective is Fenbendazole which is a dog de wormer, this will sort them out and your shrimp won't be affected by the treatment

 

[Catappa]

Deleting post (meaning, I deleted my first attempt)
I'm very experienced with keeping dwarf shrimp and once eliminated a plague of planaria, which appeared overnight (!) I successfully used a method advised by a shrimp expert here in the Netherlands. It took nearly two weeks of isolating my fish and shrimp, dipping plants, emptying the tank and then disinfecting it with an alum solution. This was over years ago. If there are now easier products such as richiep recommended in the above post, that sounds like good advice.

 

[richiep]

Reading your first post I like you don't like adding any chemicals to a shrimp tank but the fact that planaria & hydra have a phenomenal way of reproducing there is no safer way to eradicate these guys and keep your shrimp safe.
Removing shrimp is not an option especially if like me you have anything upward of 500 shrimp in a tank, you also risk cross contamination especially if one shrimp as planaria under its carapace
By the way welcome to the forum Catappa nice to have another shrimper about

 

[Catappa]

Reading your first post I like you don't like adding any chemicals to a shrimp tank but the fact that planaria & hydra have a phenomenal way of reproducing there is no safer way to eradicate these guys and keep your shrimp safe.
Removing shrimp is not an option especially if like me you have anything upward of 500 shrimp in a tank, you also risk cross contamination especially if one shrimp as planaria under its carapace
By the way welcome to the forum Catappa nice to have another shrimper about

Thank you, Richiep. I'm just getting actively back into the hobby. I haven't been without aquaria and inhabitants, but really let things lapse the last years due to serious health issues. I hope within a month or so to get a new little colony of shrimp and some new fish. My small tank (55 liters) is currently being recycled and aquascaped and then I plan to move my 5 1/2 year-old Green Neon Tetra from his 110 liter tank upstairs into this tank and he'll be getting some new family members (along with shrimp). Then the upstairs tank will get a total renovation. I have many small tanks stored in my attic. A few years ago, I was involved with the Parosphromenus Project and planned to seriously get involved with breeding rare and endangered Parosphromenus, so I prepared many tanks with special shelving. But it was too ambitious, considering my health situation, so I quit before acquiring the fish. I have been planning to get a very large aquarium for my living room, but the floor needs professional work first and... due to the pandemic, it is currently impossible. So while that is all on hold, I can ease myself back into the hobby, refresh my skills and acquaint myself with new technology and products.

 

[FishSupreme]

Definitely got it. Do you have an exact dosage and water change amount per day. Could you also give me the names of some shrimpers on this site. The more opinions the merrier. Catappa I'm glad your feeling better. Green Neon Tetra's have always been a dream fish, but the very acidic water they need always scared me.

 

[richiep]

Remove your chemical filtration Your carbon filter or purigen can remove the Fenbendazole from the water before it has a chance to work its magic – remove it and replace it after treatment is finished.
Oh, and be sure to remove any snails you want to keep. Fenbendazole can be lethal to those too! Malaysian trumpets and Nerite snails, in particular, seem to be affected.
3. Measure out your Panacur The dosage is 0.1 gram for every 10 gallons. So a 60 gallon tank would need 0.6 grams of Panacur C. A gram scale will make measuring incredibly easy –
If you don’t have a gram scale on hand, here is an alternate method: Dilute the whole 1 gram packed in 500 ml of RO/DI water. You then dose 50 ml for every 10 gallons of water your tank holds. So a 60 gallon aquarium would be dosed with 300 ml.
4. Redose Wait 48 hours (2 days) and reapply the same dose.
And just like that, your planaria problem is cured.
Once you are confident that all the planaria are dead, there is just one final thing to do. Grab a good gravel vac and remove as many of the dead bodies as possible. Follow up with a water change.
Next, you want to use your trusty aquarium test kit and closely monitor your ammonia levels over the coming week.
This is particularly important if your aquarium was overrun with planaria. You see, those bodies are going to break down and as they do, they release ammonia into the water. So, you want to catch it fast if your ammonia levels spike.

 

[FishSupreme]

Got it. I'll probably have everything ready, by the latest, tomorrow. Just praying that things don't go south before then. I've got a nerite I want to save. Will this affect fish? I closely monitor the ammonia levels. Should I have more then one test a day? I've got a water change today, so probably tomorrow or late today. Finally, can I still feed zuchinni because it's a vegetable and planaria are carnivorous.

 

[richiep]

It will not affect fish or baby shrimp just stick to the dosing, its not going to kill everything in the next 24hrs so don't worry there
I've never heard of a tank being completely cleared out

 

[FishSupreme]

g, its not going to kill everything in the next 24hrs so don't worry there

Got it thanks so much! I hope your day is phenomenal!

 

[FishSupreme]

Thank you so much richiep I've gotten it done. The treatment is just starting, but I'll monitor for 48 hours. In your post it says to redose. I'm a bit confused about when to redose. Anyways I'll monitor for the 48 hours. If you reply then with even more dumbed down instructions I'll try to correct any mistakes. Have a great day!

 

[richiep]

Just give it 2 days they should be dead by then but if not you can redose with the same amount but don't do it unless necessary

 

[FishSupreme]

I hate to bother you for one last time. Hope you're not too unhappy, but the tank also contains Otocinclus who are notorious for not tolerating medicines. Will this have any side effects for them?

 

[richiep]

Its no problem asking questions thats whats the forums for,
I'm afraid that's one fish I can't comment on maybe someone else can

 

[FishSupreme]

MacZ you've had trouble with Otos in the past. Do you think they could withstand Febendazole.

 

[MacZ]

MacZ you've had trouble with Otos in the past. Do you think they could withstand Febendazole.

Pass. Haven't used it on them.

 

[FishSupreme]

YES, Finally. I found the febendazole thing in the unlikeliest of places. A site was selling febendazole for fish when their product picture had an Oto on the glass. I searched the web for the image only to find a guy saying he just nuked his tank. He said he had done it before and a lot of his shrimp died, but everything else was ok. richiep MacZ Catappa thank you for all your help. To tell the truth I wrote the post about dosing before I dosed. I got paranoid about otocinclus death and decided to wait. I feel so much better now. I hope all of you have a great day! If you click on the image and search the web for it the original link is from a reddit post.

 

[Foxxway]

Remove your chemical filtration Your carbon filter or purigen can remove the Fenbendazole from the water before it has a chance to work its magic – remove it and replace it after treatment is finished.
Oh, and be sure to remove any snails you want to keep. Fenbendazole can be lethal to those too! Malaysian trumpets and Nerite snails, in particular, seem to be affected.
3. Measure out your Panacur The dosage is 0.1 gram for every 10 gallons. So a 60 gallon tank would need 0.6 grams of Panacur C. A gram scale will make measuring incredibly easy –
If you don’t have a gram scale on hand, here is an alternate method: Dilute the whole 1 gram packed in 500 ml of RO/DI water. You then dose 50 ml for every 10 gallons of water your tank holds. So a 60 gallon aquarium would be dosed with 300 ml.
4. Redose Wait 48 hours (2 days) and reapply the same dose.
And just like that, your planaria problem is cured.
Once you are confident that all the planaria are dead, there is just one final thing to do. Grab a good gravel vac and remove as many of the dead bodies as possible. Follow up with a water change.
Next, you want to use your trusty aquarium test kit and closely monitor your ammonia levels over the coming week.
This is particularly important if your aquarium was overrun with planaria. You see, those bodies are going to break down and as they do, they release ammonia into the water. So, you want to catch it fast if your ammonia levels spike.

Hi,

This is what I've been needing to get rid of these awful pests. I have a question, though. On step 4, you say to "redose" but it's confusing.
Do you dose 2 times the first day, or once every day for 3 days?

Thanks

 

[richiep]

You dose once on day one
you then dose again 2 days later
You only put in two lots in total

 

[Foxxway]

Thanks so much for the clarification! I'll try this.