Unidentified inhabitants in Yellow Shrimp tank! (Video warning)

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oO.Crim.Oo

I ♥ my fishies!
Jan 10, 2008
207
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Randallstown, MD
Real Name
Natosha
Yesterday after feeding my Yellow Shrimp some sinking vegetable pellets and brine shrimp pellets, I noticed some creatures that I had never seen before. I do believe there are at least 10 of these things in this tank. The tank is 10 gallons--pH 7.6, Nitrate 5ish, Nitrite 0, and Ammonia 0. There are Yellow (neocaridina) shrimp and Brig snails as well as a sole MTS snail. My best explanation of these critters is as follows. The largest one (that I've seen) is about 1 inch long. They are gray and flat and kinda look like a slug. They move kinda like a snail and remind me of a snail without a shell. The antennae are short and stubby, hardly noticeable. I have not seen them swim nor crawl up the glass, but they do go down in the substrate once the food has been eaten. I had a heck of a time snapping a good picture, so I went ahead and took a video.
[yt]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LHa9AQA2Frs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LHa9AQA2Frs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/yt] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHa9AQA2Frs just in case it didn't work)

Any ideas what they could be? I'm tired of creepy crawly things in my shrimp tanks! :wall:
 
Last edited:

Alan R

AC Members
Jul 9, 2008
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Northeast Georgia
The vids not working.

Is it just me?
 

oO.Crim.Oo

I ♥ my fishies!
Jan 10, 2008
207
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40
Randallstown, MD
Real Name
Natosha
Hmm. Maybe it is Planaria. I guess that if it is, what I originally thought was planaria, wasn't planaria after all.

I thought planaria were white wiggly worms? These are not very "worm-like."
 

fresh_fish

AC Members
Jul 11, 2008
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planaria and detritus worms are often confused, i would guess you had detritus before and planaria now.
 

oO.Crim.Oo

I ♥ my fishies!
Jan 10, 2008
207
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16
40
Randallstown, MD
Real Name
Natosha
Thanks. I've heard that heartguard works well too. Actually the person I got the yellow shrimp from told me that he doses his tanks with it to get rid of planaria. Only thing is.... I'm not sure these are planaria. Tomorrow, I'm going to use my baster and "suck" one out for a close up picture and look. Ew. I'm getting creeped out just thinking of having to get close to one.
 

oO.Crim.Oo

I ♥ my fishies!
Jan 10, 2008
207
0
16
40
Randallstown, MD
Real Name
Natosha
planaria and detritus worms are often confused, i would guess you had detritus before and planaria now.
I'd definitely have to count out detritus worms. This tank has only been set up for a few months and has a very low bio load. There are some live tubifex worms in the tank as they hitch hiked on some plants that I took from my red cherry shrimp tank. Who knows though--I certainly don't! :headshake2:
 

Alan R

AC Members
Jul 9, 2008
594
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Northeast Georgia
It's crazy looking whatever it is! Any ideas how they got in there? It's kinda creeping me out just watching the vid.
 

zzyzx85

the casual hobbyist
Dec 3, 2007
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OC, CA
wow...looks like something I'd find in the inside cover of a junior science book. My wild guess would be a very big aquatic flatworm. I googled "aquatic flatworm" and got results related to planaria so who knows. That thing slithered across the top of the gravel. That's just a little creepy.
 
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