# ID a bug please



## Ghettofarmulous (3 May 2020)

Got a good few of these in my newly planted tank. Plenty of leaf melt and litter on the tank but I’m religiously cleaning and water changing every few days. Thanks!

And it’s Tropica soil powder for size comparison.


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## zozo (3 May 2020)

Best guess!? Planaria  aka Flatworm


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## Ghettofarmulous (3 May 2020)

zozo said:


> Best guess!? Planaria  aka Flatworm



Nooooooo. I hope your guess is incorrect. There are a fair amount.


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## Sarpijk (3 May 2020)

Hi, my guess is planaria as well based on the way they move.


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## Ghettofarmulous (3 May 2020)

There are many in the tank. My next question is, are they found in all planted tanks and should I be worried. I’ll need to do some serious reading up. From the brief research it’s all bad news


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## MWood (4 May 2020)

Not a big issue, though a little unsightly. Plenty of useful threads on here about control. If your maintenance is good, their numbers will be limited I suspect. From there it just depends how annoying you find them before you go in for a control.


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## Ghettofarmulous (4 May 2020)

MWood said:


> Not a big issue, though a little unsightly. Plenty of useful threads on here about control. If your maintenance is good, their numbers will be limited I suspect.



My tank is becoming cleaner every day. Much less melting and more growth. I have 10 Neo reds and 3 Amano shrimp on the tank for about 10 days. I only feed using a fish and remove uneaten food. I will continue with maintenance and investigate forum threads. I would prefer to control numbers and not resort to chemical treatments.  Will fish eat them? I am due to receive a Betta next week.

If they fit in as part of the natural cleaning crew I don’t mind them but I think they are natural parasites which does slightly concern me


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## Barbara Turner (4 May 2020)

There easy enough to get rid of with dog wormer.. I was always scared of a nitrite boost afterwards so did daily water changes with double prime doses. 
Have a close look at the head if it's planaria there triangular shaped. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gRJ6WdPx8aYf7sPg9


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## Ghettofarmulous (4 May 2020)

Barbara Turner said:


> There easy enough to get rid of with dog wormer.. I was always scared of a nitrite boost afterwards so did daily water changes with double prime doses.
> Have a close look at the head if it's planaria there triangular shaped. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gRJ6WdPx8aYf7sPg9





Thanks for the picture. They are so small it’s difficult to see any distinguishing features. I’ll get a good look tomorrow.


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## Majsa (4 May 2020)

Check rhabdocoela worms too just in case, those don’t have the pointed head and are harmless.


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## sparkyweasel (4 May 2020)

Ghettofarmulous said:


> but I think they are natural parasites


There are parasitic flatworms, but they live inside the bodies of their hosts, very unikely to be seen crawling around.
The population will decrease when you have got past the leaf melt and they have less food available, provided you don't overfeed your fish and shrimps.
You can remove lots of them by tying a piece of meat to a thread and leaving it in the tank overnight. Then pull it out covered in flatworms the next morning. Repeat as required and you can greatly reduce the population, but probably not wipe it out. But if you do that before using chemical methods you will minimise the number of dead ones that decompose in your tank when you do treat it.
hth


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## Andy Thurston (4 May 2020)

I've had these and never really worried about them because I've seen my fish eat them. Is this a bad idea?


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## Ray (4 May 2020)

I’ve had them too in the first month or so after startup.  I added some spare guppies who hunted them down ruthlessly.  Never saw them again...


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## jaypeecee (4 May 2020)

Hi @Ghettofarmulous 

Planaria have a distinctively-shaped 'head'. I wasn't able to see this from your videos but, if you take a closer look, you should be able to tell. Here's an article that may be useful:

https://fishlab.com/planaria/

JPC


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## Ghettofarmulous (9 May 2020)

Listen, thanks to everyone above. I don’t believe they are planaria after inspecting them under a magnifying glass. Their number seems to have reduced naturally as there is less melting hence less waste available. I don’t mind them being their as long as they don’t do damage to current fauna, which looks to be one Betta after he destroyed my shrimp population


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## Ghettofarmulous (9 May 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Here's an article that may be useful:
> 
> https://fishlab.com/planaria/


 Very useful thank you


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