Is it planaria?

[Err]

Ok, I am quite diligant about doing a 5g quick vack every evening and a 50-60% wc every 3 days. Well I just got done slowly vacing my sand, moved everything around and got it really good and clean with a 60% w/c. Well it stirred a bunch of stuff up, and now there are dozens of itty little white worms corkscrewing/wiggeling thru the water, they are about 1/8-1/4 inch long and about the thickness of a hair. I dont over feed but Oscars are messy so i just try to stay on top of it. Will copper kill these lil worms? b/c Im going to the LFS tommarow and if it will kill them I will def pick some up, I will do another WC tommarow as well.

 

[Pomatomus]

It's doubtful it's planaria. Most of the planaria I have seen in tanks have been brown planaria and they are about 1/3 of an inch long and maybe a little wider than a millimeter. They are one of many types of flatworm. Planaria also have triangle-shaped heads with a small pair of eyes.

And yes no matter what kind of invertebrate you have, copper will most definitely do the trick.

 

[justonemoretank]

Planaria is usually a clearish-whitish color, in my experience. It squiggles around in the water. It's probably planaria. The upside is that it's harmless, so you don't actually have to do anything about it. I agree with your feeling that you really *shouldn't* have any planaria, because I have this problem in several tanks, and maintain water quality, vaccuuming, water changes, as should be done. I think they just show up, and they're part of it, and aren't necessarily due to any one problem.

 

[TheFishJunky]

Its planaria.Do another water change and cut back on feeding.And no need for copper it could do more harm than good and its totally not necessary.The fish are in no danger .

 

[Err]

what would be the downside to useing copper? would it kill off my BB or harm the fish?

 

[Lupin]

Itsbadlands and Justonemoretank are right. Don't bother with copper treatments. There is no reason for you to dose copper when we are simply dealing with harmless pests. You may not be overfeeding but you have to remember most food come out of the body system undigested which serves as their food source. In this case, you may have to cut back further on your feeding schedule or do more vacuuming.

 

[knifegill]

Most advice given is good, except that aquarists refuse to crack open a biology book and realize planaria do not squirm in water, they crawl on surfaces. Pomatomus knows what a planarian is, but the majority of fishkeepers are still convinced that any nematode, regardless of its traits, is a planarian. It's pretty sad, actually. Advice is the same for any volunteered guests, cut back on feedings to control the population and they will all but vanish.