Common Shrimp Tank Pests and How to Deal With Them - PLANARIA, HYDRA, DETRITUS WORMS AND MORE!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Hello! Did you know I recently released a 97-page book titled The Neocaridina Shrimp Handbook? It covers everything new and experienced hobbyists alike need to know about Neocaridina Shrimp, including Red Cherry Shrimp. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Check it out here 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 fishkeepinganswers.com/neocaridina_shrimp_handbook/

[@bentleytelles7295]

Chili rasboras would help for daphnia the little micro predators are beautiful and they are good at there job

[@NyteFlyer]

I spent a lot of time and money thinking my detritus worms were planaria and planaria eradicators did nothing to remove them. Thanks for the explanation.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Glad it helped 💪🏻

[@joelwang8429]

Same haha

[@tomblomfield6973]

I came here thinking they were planaria but now it looks like they are just detritus worms too!

[@filiplaskovski9993]

Same !!!

[@stashmarten9740]

I wouldn't worry about daphnia. Totally harmless, probably helpful as they filter the water. It's a sign of a healthy tank if you can get them to live.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

@@stashmarten9740 that is true, in a fish tank, but in a shrimp tank the numbers quickly explode to the point the colony crashes and the ammonia from all the dead daphnia kill your shrimp 😕

[@dawnt6791]

Fix I've used - when the detritus worms gather on a food item, suck them up with a turkey baster and feed them to a fish tank. Free food for your fish. LOL I'd do the same thing - turkey baster - with daphnia, if I ever got them. Haven't seen them so far, even in my shrimp-only setup. I've used a turkey baster for mosquito larvae that popped up in a jar of water for houseplant cuttings. The fish I fed them to were thrilled!

[@johnmackay996]

Thank you for this informative video. You set me straight on some misinformation I was getting about planaria vs. other pests.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

You’re welcome. Glad you found the information helpful 👍🏻

[@caliber7634]

I'll be honest, I didn't watch this video because i have had any issues with my neocaridina shrimp, i came to learn more about what i might have to deal with in the future, as it's always best to be prepared for as many situations as possible when shrimp keeping. Thanks Richard, for explaining this stuff very educationally, and in depth!

[@bletz5732]

It's been my experience that every time I see a new potential issue to read up on and don't, I very quickly encounter that exact thing and regret not doing the reading. I read it all now.

[@maryfinnegan9179]

I love hydra 🥰🥰 I have 2 little bitty glass tube "tanks* for all the hydra I find. They really are so fascinating 👏 😍

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

😳

[@sandidsaman7723]

Dang bro

[@DeepAn-w1c]

You know, right at 7:03 when you said take a moment and hit the subscribe button. I did. You make some high quality videos and I have been watch in g them for a while. It’s time I subscribed. Thank you

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@CalebMinnear-oi3bv]

Me too.

[@carmenzylstra440]

This was an incredibly helpful video, thank you. I had 1 week old mollies to add to my shrimp tank and just a few made a huge difference within minutes. They loved picking all the water fleas off the glass.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@its4amB4sunrise]

Thanks for this video Richard. I just discovered excess Daphnia (from fry feeding) in one of my tanks and was trying to eliminate it. You just confirmed that my thought of it being a waste of time to remove it all by sharing your experience. Thank you.

[@douggiles7647]

Found your channel recently and have already subscribed, videos are great and very informative. Another product that I have heard people having good success using is called No Planaria, I've heard it works on hydra as well. It also seems to be totally natural as the ingredients say it is 100% betel nut extract. I don't have personal experience with it but the only negative that I heard was that it burns if you get it in your eye, but I assume that most products like that could do a lot worse than just be painful.

[@rahelsue838]

I found all the solutions and answers of my queries in your informative video thank you

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@JunG-sk5pr]

I subscribed because I am learning from your videos. Thanks and have fun ;-)

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks for subscribing. Welcome aboard 💪🏻

[@metasymphony]

I love daphnia and breed them in a jar even though I don’t have anything that eats them

[@VaDirtfishing]

Thsnk you for a great video. Myself and about 15 of my aquarium friends have subscribed to you recently!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@InfuriousCoffee]

Quite recently i had a bit of a planaria and hydra outbreak. I wound up using no-planaria and it killed both the planaria and the hydra. Only issue is no-planaria is known to kill snails so unless you have a outbreak of snails that you dont want you'll have to get the snails out of the tank before dosing the tank

[@kasonf2176]

I never knew it killed daphnia. I've never had an issue and I used to actually breed them to sell in my shop. I wonder if I was losing some, without noticing!

[@treewitch666]

This is a great idea, my calico platys have just had babies…I’ll plop a couple in my nano shrimp tank (got some blue dreams in there) thanks for more accurate advice. You helped me also to decide to put some red cherries in my fancy goldfish tank and they are thriving, they live in the hornwort that floats at the top and eat the fishy flakes trapped there lol

[@nahiyansattar3717]

All my cherry shrimps died today. (38$) Since ur contents are enjoyable and quite credible, you should make video of green fungus and how to treat them?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Sorry to hear you lost your shrimp. I will add this video to my list 👍

[@nahiyansattar3717]

@@FishKeepingAnswers W mans. My next allowance money will go toward a batch of 10 from your website. Just dont send me fungus lol

[@XDproductionsXD]

I love ur big brain. Please share more of it bro.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks 🫶🏻

[@alexs4446]

I have two identical well established tanks, side by side, same feeding regime, same care, both tanks have had water and plants exchanged between them so both have certainly had detritus worms added that way since one tank is absolutely infested. The infested tank has a carpet of Java moss at the bottom directly above the substrate. The tank (both are 1gallon nano tanks) with no java moss has snails and 11 neocaridina shrimp, and the tank with the Java moss carpet has snails, only 4 neocaridina shrimp, two juvenile platies and a juvenile guppy. The tank with fish that has less shrimp is infested with worms, but the tank with twice as many shrimp and no substrate coverage has no detritus worms visible at all. I have seen my large female shrimp eat the smaller worms in the infested tank but in the Java moss tank I've learned the worms can hide in places inaccessible to the fish and shrimp. There is nothing else that would predate on the worms in the tank, I have put several in on purpose to test my theory and there is frequent water and plant exchange between the tanks that can easily transfer them. They are white detritus worms round at both ends but they climb glass and plants searching for food. I cultured them from a local pond so not sure if they'd be the same you have, I'm in Canada. Even though there is a constant source of them being added in the tank where the shrimp can always access them they have been completely unable to infest the tank.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Really interesting about the shrimp potentially predating on detritus worms. I haven’t witnessed it myself, but it could easily go on unnoticed 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@alexs4446]

@@FishKeepingAnswers I cannot find any other explanation for the tank to seemingly have no worms at all (I'm positive there are some in there somewhere, but the other tank is coated in them).

[@ayoq2daily]

@@alexs4446 detritus worms should be and are in every tank they are part of the ecosystem in the aquarium

[@alexs4446]

@@ayoq2daily I stated in my comment that they were sourced deliberately and cultured from a local pond. They were introduced to my systems intentionally by me. Water from my well and sterilized gravel in an acrylic container won't just magically have detritus worms already? 😆 I cultured my detritus worms in this tank well before I added any plants or livestock, I'm positive I'm the one who put them in there. Unless I'm misunderstanding your comment?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

You are absolutely right. The problem comes when they are in a shrimp only tank. When there are no predators to keep the detritus worms in check, their numbers can spiral out of control.

[@Mateiisback]

Thank you I have been looking for a video like this! This helps me a lot because I didn’t know if these are dangerous to shrimp or fish and this helps thank you!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

You’re welcome 🤜🏻

[@mr.octopus6972]

Merci!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🙏🏻

[@777Nosrac]

Hi just wanted to comment that the med you recommended for planaria did not work for me (expel P). The box does not mention planaria. They did seem unhappy after the first dose, but after that they seemed to recover. I used no planaria next. It appears to have killed my bladder snails, but the planaria are no more!

[@tiffanycollins30tc]

Omg, thank you so much for this video! Literally exactly what I was looking for😊

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

There's also Genchem No planaria, that gets rid of planaria and hydra without harming shrimp.

[@matthewray5954]

I Love this channel. Always a good time here learning new thing. Thanks mate❤

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@mrWonderphilly]

Funny, I've never had a shrimp only tank before... Just started one recently and I am seeing all these tiny critters everywhere. Had been wondering what they were since they are not visible in my fish tanks. Thanks for some detail!!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Yeah, problem being in a fish tank, your fish probably keep them under control 😞

[@eyalinar1432]

hey hey! just wanted to share that i have a 6 L bowl, with nothing inside except hydras, plants and algae. No food for 6 months now, hydras are living their best life!

[@francisnguyen5700]

What about seed shrimp? I got ton of them inside my shrimp tanks, and I am not sure whether or not they are harmless to shrimps.

[@Cleeon]

They're harmless, but they do also compete your shrimps for resources

[@universe1879]

could there be leeches in aquarium and if so could they harm shrimp?

[@9catlover]

i've got wriggly red worms. don't know what they are but will try and take them out

[@ChadasaurusFlex]

Can anyone identify the type of snail seen in the background at the @05:44 mark? Have found one like that in my tank and am wondering if it'll be a problem

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

That’s a Ramshorn Snail. They are great clean up crew although they reproduce rapidly 👍🏻

[@notNajimi]

IMO snails are only a problem if they throw off the balance of your tank by producing too much waste and/or overpopulating it. Unless they’re absolutely taking over your tank I say embrace them. That said it’s understandable to not like uninvited guests, I noticed bladder snails in one of my tanks a week or so ago and it was kinda distressing so I get it

[@zax1972]

You remind me of Oliver Reed, great video, very informative, thanks.

[@LMat_MX]

Do you know how to remove planeria in axolotl tank

[@BGN_Aquariums]

Great information there buddy. Thankyou. Keep up the good work

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you my friend 🫶🏻

[@lizzyanthus1]

Thank you for the videos. I love shrimp, but don't have any tanks going right now. I do like learning about keeping them though! Maybe some day! Oh, and I've subscribed! Don't want to miss any videos! So informative!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you for your kind feedback and for subscribing. Welcome aboard 🫶🏻

[@tracymcinnis6985]

Thank you for the info. I don’t know how the worms get in there but I had a momma shrimp die and got her eggs put them in a net and when they hatched I released them into the breeder tank and added more water. At this point I saw the worms swirling around. How! I had no idea they were in that tank. It’s frustrating! I’m also about to have a snail problem. I put food in a dish for my shrimp and they eat when they’re ready, they don’t rush to the food as others say. Every plant seems to come with snails even when treated with plant dip😬

[@XoloOrayo]

Subbed! Starting my first colony and learning a ton from you. Thanks for the videos buddeh!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you for subscribing and for your kind comment. I hope my videos help you build a strong shrimp colony 💪🏻

[@PotooBurd]

This is so informative!!! Fantastic reporting!🌻🌼🐝

[@Lauraxxx29]

Hi thanks I did not even know anything about hydra then seeing someone mention them on a group I am in as only just set up a shrimp only bowl about 3 months ago. This is how I found your vid by researching. Glad I did I think I have all sorts in my eco bowl, water fleas and thought oh good I let them grow chuck in my main tank. Then noticed the hydra and detritus worm things. Not sure about planaria but probably have. lots of tiny snails which I take out and put in my pond. Thanks

[@IanMcgregor-f7v]

cant get expe-p in the uk ????

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Try No Planaria from Amazon 👍🏻

[@jorgen.zamora]

I loved the info on this video. thank you! I have this situation: my nano tank just received babies. I just saw them today... they ar here and there ...swiming and eating on the algae on the glass... but I found a few tiny hydra 😨😨😨😨 also.. the plarnobis I had in the tank, left a bunch of babies in there...I just left one ramshorn in there. I carefully removed the hydra I saw with a magnetic glass cleaner... but how can I get them, hydra out, so my baby shrimp can grow happy? will the ramshorn eventually eat it? I just read that online.

[@RWAquariumPages]

this is such a great video. How does hydra and planeria get into the tank? I have one semi empty shrimp tank and found out there's hydra in there, going to follow your advice and put in a few tiger endlers to hope to get rid of them before my next new shrimp arrive. can't wait for your next video!

[@Dobromir_Chodkowski]

Hydra and planaria usually get to the aquarium on the plants

[@RWAquariumPages]

@@Dobromir_Chodkowski ah great to know

[@dawnt6791]

My guppies wiped out the hydra in one tank in very short order. 🙂

[@RWAquariumPages]

@@dawnt6791 awesome, that's great to know, let me scoop some of my tiger endlers into. This empty tank

[@dawnt6791]

@@RWAquariumPages I learned about that from Cory at Aquarium Co-op. He had a video about the hydra issue. When I set up my 11g riparium as a shrimp tank, hydra rose quickly and in large numbers. I added a half dozen young guppies, and those hydra were gone in no time flat. Veracious little buggers.

[@JLeka]

Do you know if ‘no Planaria’ treatment works againsts Planaria?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I believe it does 👍🏻

[@mikedrop8865]

Many thanks!

[@LogacysAquaticLove]

Another great info filled vid💯

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you 🫶🏻

[@splattered63]

Great information. Thanks.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🤜🏻

[@norcalshrimpfarmnorcalshrimpfa]

Great video. Very informative thank you

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🫶🏻

[@gina2190]

hi mate listen this will sound crazy but i have morgellons all over me, sick real bad..since covid test.. i been looking at what comes out my leisons looks like hydra ?? maybe some sythetic version.. do u think fenben is the answer ?? or summit stronger ? thanks

[@markfranklin8831]

Great video thanks for sharing 💗👍✌️💯

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks for watching 👍🏻

[@bornsniper9531]

Hello I does no planeria remove hydra and is it safe for cherry shrimps

[@randirenfroe7771]

What aquarium parasite spits out spores? I have video of something in my shrimp tank and it spits out spores. 2 spores I witnessed

[@VaDirtfishing]

Can you please make a video on types of shrimp food you use. Also do you make any of your own??

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I will definitely make that video at some point. I don't make my own food (at the moment).

[@koushikraj9815]

The introduce the blood worm or tubiflex worm. They will no give any food the the planeria.

[@MassaCreto]

just wanted to say you are amazing and I love your wonderful politeness! ❤

[@mahangunanayakkara1639]

Very helpful bro … keep it up… 👍🏾🥰

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you for the kind comment 👍🏻

[@3abdangry]

My shrimp tank has just crashed after 1 year multiple deaths every day. I found these tiny eggs transparent under microscope on the shrimps. I managed to save about 10 shrimps in hospital tank now. Have to restart from scratch. It all started when I stopped doing weekly water changes

[@gunter5534]

What type of plants do u have tho?

[@tamimkhan9093]

Thanks

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

🤜🏻

[@sdchargers1071]

such a good video

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@heldersanches]

Great video, again. I have to tell you that as far as I'm concerned, planaria don't live up to their fame, fortunately. I have shrimp in all of my aquariums and planaria in some of them, and I am yet to see a planaria attack a shrimp. I'm not saying it doesn't happen if they find a sick shrimp unable to run away from them, but I've never seen it happen and, according to my wife, I spend too much time looking into glass boxes of water. 😁 Are they unsightly? They surely are, eventually. Especially if there are too many. But it will also make a big difference on what kind of ecosystem you want to keep. If it's a hi tech, sterile kind of aquarium, they will probably have a bigger impact. However, if you have a natural kind of ecosystem, dirtied with deep substrate, low tech, full of plants and even mulm (why not 😜), they might eventually contribute positively to the overall balance. Cheers!

[@ruidadgmailcanada8508]

Helder, 🇨🇦 planarians are slow but sneaky, they sneak up to an unsuspecting shrimp (likely sleeping) and sting/stun them then they eat them. Not devastating like the dragonfly larvae but somewhat harmful but more unsightly. I’ve had them a few times in my neo-only tanks: reduced feeding and No-Planaria worked but also hurts assassin and trumpet snails. But not those evil pond and bladder snails they’ve got me stumped. Maybe a pea puffer tank to complete the circle of life. 😂

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Great feedback mate. Thank you for taking the time 👍🏻

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Rent a Pea Puffer for the week 🤔

[@glassboxes]

ive got the thin squiggly worms and its gotten quit bad, i use noplaneria but they come back stronger

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Are they detritus worms that live in the substrate?

[@glassboxes]

@@FishKeepingAnswers they are slightly thinner but much longer and they are suspended in the waterflow. they squiggle to a degree that you could call it cartoonish

[@forg0tten]

I have several Walstad tanks - and I think my pests come from the soil I use as a base layer. Then I transfer moss and plants from those tanks and spread pests to all of my 12 tanks. My orange shrimp colony just suddenly got healthy and I have tons of babies. I wish I knew what fixed it.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

That little story made me chuckle. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@forg0tten]

@@FishKeepingAnswers not sure if youre being sarcastic or not - but I really enjoy your videos and experience and it won't be long before you get too big to respond to everyone - so you get my stories. :)

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Nope, no sarcasm here. I genuinely love reading and responding to comments. Truth be told, even as I approach 2,000 subs, replying to everyone is becoming time consuming. It made me chuckle because I too can sometimes spend a huge amount of effort trying to fix something, unsuccessfully, then for some unknown reasons, the problem disappeared 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@jamriver]

Thank u Richard❤️❤️❤️

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Pleasure 💪🏻

[@pmnarendhar8407]

Hi Richard thanks for your advice regarding detritus because I am currently dealing with it and worried how to remove them now you advice its shrimp safe any how thank you friend love from chennai India

[@chrisp3193]

My worms are red! I think they’re calimitis worms. I know that’s not how to spell it how do i rid them. Will planaria work?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

If you have Camallanus Red Worms you need a treatment with Lavamisole in it. Where in the world are you based?

[@WilliamMyersmantisoutdoors]

I 100% have planaria in my tank is expel p safe for plants fish snails ect

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I believe it is 👍🏻

[@Adam-dv8ph]

Hi Richard, I have been struggling with the parasite Scutariella Japonica for a long time. I don't know if you have ever encountered this kind of parasite. I tried many ways to cure it (remove it from the aquarium), but nothing was 100% successful. I recently found an article where a breeder uses "No planaria" preparations for this parasite. Do you think it could work even if this preparation is intended for another type of parasite? Thanks for advice. Nice evening 😊

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Hi. I am firm believer in not offering advice about something you don’t know about. I have never had to deal with Scutariella Japonica, and as such I can’t offer you any insights. Sorry. 😞

[@VolCanixWorx]

Do planaria hurt fish?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Not in my experience 👍🏻

[@angiebear8727]

I actually buy daphnia to feed my African dwarf frogs and betta. They love it and they don’t last long.

[@mr.octopus6972]

I had a very bad planaria problem in my old shrimp tank, it was a dirthed tank with sand to cap. Also, as soon as there where no fish in there, cyclops would also show up in great numbers. I kept it with guppy fry inside for months. It was the only way no pests would show their noses. Unfortunately I've never seen a single baby shrimp even if females where constantly pregnant so I have to assume that babies where also eaten by fish (or meticulously killed by one of the pests in there). I have no proof that cyclops are shrimp killers but I know for sure that they totally genocided my daphnia tank holding thousand of individuals in only 3 days. Do you know if cyclops (copepods) also attack and kill shrimps ? I was so sick of trying this and that to solve all problems without harming shrimps. For those reasons I moved my shrimps in a bare bottom tank. Still have plants inside but they have to grow out of water only now. And no more fish around (even fry). If this doesn't work then I will be totally out of non-chemical options.

[@myZer0]

Surprised to not hear NoPlanaria mentioned. Just used this to remove hydra from my tanks. 3 day treatment, all my hydra died on day 1. And it does not harm shrimp. But it might kill snails. All my snails survived though.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Glad to hear you had success 👍🏻

[@robynenns2139]

Did your Ramshorn snails survive?

[@Julesorjulz]

I currently have a 20 gallon tank with six blue shrimp. I only fed them two pellets of sinking food over a two week period. No powder food. Hydra has been popping up like crazy. All over my plants, wood, substrate and the walls. I presume I got them from the aquarium shop 😐. I have a guppy breeding tank and I think I'm at the point where I'm just going to add a guppy that is large enough to eat hydra, but not want to eat my shrimp. The shrimp do have lots of places to hide I just worry about them getting picked at by the guppy if they're slow. My goal was to eventually add some fish when my shrimp colony got bigger. But it's a tough one with all this hydra wanting to harm your shrimp! I don't feel i should wait too long. 😅 I do not want to add chemicals at all I want my tanks to be very natural. The guppy addition seems to be the most logical way to get rid of hydra w/out chemicals .. if you don't feed the guppy for a while, it will consume hydra. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼 lol

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks for taking the time to get in touch. Having read through your comment, I suspect adding a guppy or two is the next logical step for you. Would love to hear how you get on 🤞🏻

[@LMat_MX]

What fish eat planaria but doesn’t eat shrimp fry?

[@thehelpfulhobbyist5355]

Hi. I need help. I have a bare tank (36×15×15) housing Axolotls. PH is 7.0. Ammonia + Nitrite + Nitrate is zero. I don't overfeed so how can I get rid of tiny planaria worms???

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I’m going to be honest, I know nothing about Axolotls, so I can’t really offer any advice. Sorry 😞

[@thehelpfulhobbyist5355]

@@FishKeepingAnswers the Axolotls are fine, and have been placed in a hospital tank. My concern is how to get rid of the detritus worms? This morning I drained the aquarium and scrubbed aquarium salt all over the inside of the glass. Then filled tank again with slightly warm water? Can I add any anti parasite medicine?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

My best advice (not knowing what medications are Axolotl safe) would be to add fresh substrate or cover your existing substrate in boing water, and don't reuse any of the old plants and the detritus worms will almost certainly be living in the plant roots.

[@az_street_walker4181]

Hey my man I’m trying to finally try my hand in breeding dream blue shrimp I was thankfully successful in getting one of my two female dream blues to have her shrimp babies great news! With that being said I’ve done quite a bit of sitting in front of my tank as soon as I noticed there were babies well today I KNOW I just saw two planaria they have very prominent triangular heads. As far as I know none of my other tanks have it. But the one Intend to breed and sell them they are prominent my baby shrimp are EXTREMELY small. It’s a 20 gallon with roughly 15 gallons in it (haven’t wanted to water change since the babies have popped up due to the worry of sucking babies up) now my main question will the baby shrimp get stuck inside a planarian trap? If so about how big do the babies need to be to be able to not get stuck in a planaria trap. If you don’t think this is the best way to deal with them do you recommend prazipro? I’d prefer to do a non chemical treatment due to being ignorant on these creatures beyond don’t squish them and that they’re dangerous to shrimp. Again it’s about 15 gallons of water with fluval aqua soil and live plants I got 6 full grown dream blue shrimp and maybe 5-7 day old baby shrimp from a single mother the second female is also pregnant. I have a slight boom in bladder snails and I have freshly hatched Ramshorn that I’ve desperately been trying to keep for years as well. Red&blue 5 adults of each. I REALLY do not want to hurt my tank via chemicals and I’m extremely worried about this planaria please please any help will be greatly appreciated I plan to go buy traps for the planaria and prazipro cause my 30 minutes of research seem to tell me it’s safe but I don’t want to lose anything after all this is supposed to be my breeding project to hopefully sustain my hobby thank you for taking the time to read this and if you reply I seriously thank you in advance

[@caddytan]

My shrimp tank is infested with scuds! I can only keep them under control by siphoning them when I spotted them.

[@lucasszymanski114]

Thanks for sharing! Dealing with Ellobiopsidae currently in my established tank. Not really sure if there is a way to completely remove it. Keep up the great work!

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Fortunately it’s not one I have had to battle, yet! Best of luck 🤞🏻

[@greenmuseum3764]

Can we use excel p in planted tank?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Yes, I believe you can 👍🏻

[@metametameta69]

Ran here when i found a detritus worm in my shrimp tank, i feel a lot better now 😅

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

They won’t hurt your shrimp, but their number can spiral without fish or something in the tank to eat them ☹️

[@metametameta69]

@@FishKeepingAnswers i see that now! i took my guppy fry out because the shrimp had gave birth and only one hour later they are all over the glass! i’m making a hideout for the shrimp and going to add some guppy back i think 😱

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

The guppies will eat the detritus worms 💪🏻

[@metametameta69]

@@FishKeepingAnswers you’re the best 😁👍

[@billlansdell7225]

Damselfly larvae - eggs must have got into my tank in the autumn on a plant. I have now pulled about 20 out of a single tank, and found 4 adults flying around my house or sitting on top of the water lettuce over the winter. Apparently, a Damselfly can inject up to 300 eggs into the stem of a plant. There are a lot of small empty bladder snail shells in the tank, so it looks like that is what they are feeding on, thankfully. I am overfeeding to encourage a pest snail infestation, so they can feed on them, then hopefully grow up and bugger off when the spring arrives. Then maybe i can think about introducing some shrimp to the tank.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Damselfly’s in the fish tank is a new one on me 🤔

[@scotmcpherson]

@@FishKeepingAnswers They're like dragon flies and have the same underwater nymph stage. In fact you might not be able to tell the different between them as nymphs.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

In that case, maybe I have. The biggest mistake I made was transferring duck weed from an outdoor pond to feed me fancy goldfish 😞

[@Daledsch]

Have you run across anything that looks like a little 6 leged spider before?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Could they be dragonfly nymphs?

[@Cassandersgirl1]

I done that with the Hydra they were driving me mad. Fortunately i didn't have fry in the tank yet.

[@user-bh9yk2wv4w]

Flourish excel will kill hydra spot treat

[@laurabustos6560]

I was letting some guppy and platy fry grow out in my shrimp tank ( babies from my son's community tank) and when they went back to their home tank, all the sudden I have hydra! I'm sure they came from moss for the shrimp as that's the only thing I added without dip/ quarantine. I'm sure the fry were eating the hydra and now I'm seeing the lack of fish/ explosion of hydra!!😮‍💨😱 I have Bamboo/Wood shrimp, as they're filter feeders I'm not able to starve the tank. They're fed powdered food at least once a day! So I don't know what to do to get rid of the hydra?? Should I just move everyone to a fresh tank and disassemble this tank? Would hand picking the hydra w a turkey baster work? I have $$ invested in controsoil and plants, so even if I move the shrimp, I'd like to save this tank somehow...

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I have a horrible feeling that feeding powdered food is perfect for hydra 😩. As you say, the filter feeders need it 🤔

[@laurabustos6560]

@@FishKeepingAnswers from what I've read, that's prob why I have such an explosion. I put the Bamboo shrimp with snails and shrimp specifically so they'd have a clean up crew to help but I seen to have created a nightmare! I guess it's only tissue culture for me until I figure a safe way to treat plants for shrimp tanks. The interesting thing is I have mystery and pond snails in the tank and some blogs say they'll both eat little hydra as they're going along cleaning the glass, I don't think that's what they're doing. I think they're making the outbreak worse. They may eat the part of hydra that's anchored to glass, rock etc but then the bits they don't get break off and float around and become new hydra. I really think that's what's happening as I don't have big hydra at all. Just a bunch of barely visible to the naked eye, but a bunch!

[@Pimpiiiiii]

What about scuds?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Scuds aren’t really something I have suffered from too much 😳

[@alvinlee1816]

i kept scarlet badis to eat every pest i have in my tanks, since daphnia is free live food which reproduce fast its nice that i don't have to hatch bbs or buy daphnia just to feed scarlet badis, of course they would eat baby shrimps but its not a problem as long as they eat all worms including planaria, for hydra scarlet badis might eat them too, but i'd tried the snail method and it actually works but not as effective as cutting off live food

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Using a Scarlet Badis is a great shout. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@paulm0573]

What about scuds? I have lots of them in all my shrimp tanks. Are they harmful to shrimp?

[@bigpatom4341]

Hi, great video as usual, will Expel P also kill the snails? And why is it better than no planaria ?

[@laurabustos6560]

Ok, so is there a safe way to get rid of hydra in my shrimp tank without using chemicals that will also kill the detritus worms and limpets, of which I have plenty? I'm afraid if I use chemicals it'll spike ammonia etc if it kills the worms and limpets. Those guys I don't mind because they stay deep in the substrate. I am trying to keep things natural with a really deep substrate.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I think there are some fish that will eat hydra, but they don’t always fit the community set up. Sparkling Gouramis are one example 👍🏻

[@laurabustos6560]

@@FishKeepingAnswers yes, I was growing out some fry for my son's community tank and didn't see any hydra. Once they grew big enough to eat shrimplets I gave them back and now have an explosion of hydra so I'm sure they were eating most. I am afraid I may have to disassemble the tank and treat the hydra with something chemical because it's gotten so bad, so quick. 😱 I'm having a hard time finding info on if I'll have to move them out to treat, and what meds are really shrimp safe.

[@Boxers6466]

I have leeches in my shrimp take, have you had these and if so what did you do for the problem?

[@Boxers6466]

Tank

[@thedarkninja_]

What would you say to be the best fish for a small tank? I believe my planned tanks are probably too small no matter what, but I do have a bigger tank (10 gal) (won't be adding shrimp for certain reasons) that stays 17-19°c and could store the fish, then I could move it into the smaller tank for a few days and bring it back.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

I would try Japanese Rice Fish 😍

[@thedarkninja_]

@@FishKeepingAnswers I googled them and they seem perfect! Just a matter of finding out where to buy them in Ireland.

[@simonbatek]

Good video. How about Vorticella?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Thanks. I cover Vorticella in my new book, The Neocaridina Shrimp Handbook 👍🏻

[@gaming_with_harshyt2783]

I got some worms crawling through substrate and glass

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Sounds like detritus worms to me 🤔

[@gaming_with_harshyt2783]

@@FishKeepingAnswers well I cut one worm in 2 both pieces became 2 seprate worm

[@danajackson504]

I have a couple different types of cory's in our tank and they have been amazing to clean the substrate since I don't feel confident in cleaning the substrate with babies in there. What about Vorticella or Scutariella Japonica? I can't really tell which one my shrimp have gotten, but they've gotten it twice nice. I notice it almost immediately and use aquarium salt and ich-x which helps a lot. I try to remove all the molts I see, but I am sure I don't get to them as fast as possible but how do I keep them from coming back? Also, what about moth larvae?

[@LindaGodfrey-or5jo]

Pistol shrimp are a very good food source.

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

👍🏻

[@Ashjiohmm]

Do shrimp parasites affect fish or snail?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Planaria will eat snails and they have been observed attacking fish larvae (the stage between the egg hatching and the fish being free swimming).

[@Ashjiohmm]

@@FishKeepingAnswers thank you so much 🙏

[@mrkshply]

Actually I'm looking to get some daphnia. They're a link in the food web and creating an eco system 🤩

[@KizerCreative]

@fishkeepinganswers - if you really want to get rid of your daphnea, guppies are amazingly good at demolishing their population. You could even have a guppy tank as a quarantine tank for getting rid of daphnea before moving stuff around. I actually was trying to keep daphnea in my guppy tank as a way of having some food supply for the smaller guppies and any attempt to add daphnea to the tank has failed because the guppies eat all of them so quickly. In fact, my guppies are really good at keeping any insects from establishing as well. Just thought I'd share since it sounded like you were frustrated with them in your intro.

[@k68anilmuhtesemosmanli25]

Mate do you need a breeders license to breed and ship shrimp in the uk?

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

Nope!

[@k68anilmuhtesemosmanli25]

@@FishKeepingAnswers perfect this is great to know🙏 Iam planning on setting up a rack system with about 12 tanks. Can we have a look at what shrimp you’ve got for sale? Maybe you have a website or something ? You’ve inspired me a lot mate, I was doing it on a small scale but after watching you and marks shrimp tanks I kind of got a lot of inspiration

[@FishKeepingAnswers]

We sell our shrimp through eBay. We don’t have any listed at the moment. All being well we will relist them at the end of March when the weather warms a little 🤞🏻