Planaria help!!

NewObsession

NewObsession

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Aug 27, 2007
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My g/f's 16 gallon snail tank has an outbreak of Planaria. Wondering what to do to fix it. I have heard of heat treatments, but have also read that you can simply keep doing water changes to solve the problem. To make things trickier, she also has a ton of babies in the tank that she wants to keep. Help? Suggestions?
 
I would up the water changes and do the best you can to do lots of frequent gravel vacs. I put a net over my siphon to keep out babies. Increasing the gravel vacs and cutting back on feeding should help resolve the issue.
 
Planaria is usually a result of water quality issues. I would increase the water changes. It is probably the only thing that will help with this right now.

Marinemom
 
ya, had read that it was a water quality issue. Had also read that it wasn't actually harmful, just unsightly.
 
its not so much that the planaria are bad, its that the water conditions that lead to planaria can be bad. What are the tank parameters?
 
no clue other than..needs cleaing. I know the latest algae wafers she bought are brutal for disintegrating and clouding the water. I realize that they are a sign of needing tank maintenence and can deal with that, just wanted to know the best way of dealing with them and saving the snails. thought of perhaps a couple small fish that would feed on them but obviously need something that wouldn't snak on the snails as well, especially the babies ( needless to say loaches are not an option)
 
its likely the baby snails will die off if the water quality is not good. I don't think there is any better thing to do than gravel vacs. You can put a net of the end of the siphon to keep out the baby snails.
 
msjinkzd said:
its likely the baby snails will die off if the water quality is not good. I don't think there is any better thing to do than gravel vacs. You can put a net of the end of the siphon to keep out the baby snails.
Click to expand...

I know that snails are susceptible to bad water quality, but I had a 1 gallon tank with a few snails and a huge clump of java moss, I would take a cup of water out and replace it with a cup of water every few weeks... I fed them algae wafers and they multiplied like MAD... it was so gross but I kept them for a few months before I just needed to dispose of them. (pond snails)
 
good question. to be honest I don't know. She is the snail keeper, I can only say they are every size shape and colour of the rainbow....
 
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