PLANARIA . . . I think!?!?

J

joanne

Guest
I am quite certain after reading a few different threads and GOOGLE research that Lotle and Falkor have PLANARIA in thier house. Itty Bitty white wormy things that are moving on the inside of the tank glass.

Should I panic? I am kinda worried. They just seemed to appear overnight but there are LOTS of them.

How do I evict these uninvited guests???

PLEEEZE HELP
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I am gonna try to get a pic of them now . . .
 
This is the best pic I could get. A little unclear I know but hopefully it helps someone out there to help me???

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Yes planaria but they are fine a possible firm diet for your Axies (if they can catch these little wriggling B********) they only appear when there is spoilt food or non broken down axie poo YUMMY they love.
Just leace them in there they pose no threat to your Axies health.
 
Thankyou for your prompt reply. Stress level has dropped significantly!

No wonder Falkor seemed to be stalking the thermometer . . . Really he was just chasing a takeaway snack!
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HAPPY NEW YEAR
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Joanne, this is usually a sign that you need to up the cleaning schedule. Try a good vacuuming and algae scrub more often than what you're doing now, and they should go away.
 
I have had those things.. after 3 weeks of cleaning constanly and then buying a new filter we got them away!! i was stressed about them too... i didn't like the look of them
 
yuk i'd never heard of planaria until now. i have much to learn. your axolotls must be interested lol.
 
Planaria in their own right are pretty cool. You can teach one to navigate a maze, then cut it in half, and both new planaria that grow from the halves can navigate the maze. Or you can chop it into a paste, and feed it to other planaria, and THEY can navigate the maze. Very cool.
 
I read up on PLANARIA a little more and yep, they certainly are intelligent little blighters! A bit like "Sea Monkeys" too I have heard, as you can also train Sea Monkeys. But, axolotls like to eat "Sea Monkeys" just like planaria!
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Sea.M are types of little shrimpy things so I guess it makes sense. LOL

I have stepped up the cleaning schedule and also have the tank light on more often as planaria don't go much on bright light - nor do Falkor and Lotle, but I like them much more than PLANARIA! The planaria population is now in decline. YAY!

Thankyou all for the advice and support.
 
I too have heard rumors that worms can be taught and pass down information and knowledge in "food" form. Have not tried it myself but it is a very intreging phenomenom. The transmission of brain remains through the ingestive system into the brain is truly a very strange thing. Whats even more strange is how they just "show up" from nothing but poop and rotten stuff.
 
arent brine shrimp sea monkeys?
woah i want some planaria now! i wana teach em tricks!!
 
You are more than welcome to some of mine! Or maybe put your "axie poop" and other rotten stuff into a tank of its own and have a Planaria Farm . . .
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And yes, Sea-Monkeys are a type of Brine Shrimp (ARTEMIA SALINA to be exact). I did some "googling". You can find out more, if interested, at http://www.sea-monkeys.com

Also correct is the worm theory. Chop one in half and both halves retain the same information. I forget the term given to creatures with this amazing ability but there are several species it applies to.
 
Also, some Japanese medical companies are crazy about planaria lol. They just love them! They put cute drawings up of them on the net, I am sure if you do a yahoo or a google search, you will see what I mean. I came across one that was with two little chibi anime doctors and the Planaria looked cute. The things on type of its head look like eyes, it is so funny
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Jeff, planaria don't have 'brains', just a centralized group of ganglia. The 'eyes' are light-sensitive spots. You can order planaria from the biological supply companies. White or brown. The white ones are kind of creepy. Feed them hamburger.

(Message edited by joan on January 03, 2006)
 
Planaria are kind of gross, although I did learn about them from this thread! That thing about learning from their food is just creepy. Might it apply to other animals too? Could you feed maze-smart planaria to a non-planaria animal and it will learn the maze?

I got them in my snail tank after I came back from vacation, and I put my Cory (aka Corydoras catfish) in there and he ate them all right up! Which apparently nobody has done before, so there's a little tip for you.
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I think we can over "clean" and filter our tanks. When we have certain micro organisms that are harmless, it does not mean our tanks are "dirty". The thought of these organism in our tanks my be distasteful to us, but we need to be careful not to create more harm. On the Axolotl site it states:

"However there is evidence of the phenomenon I will call "over-filtration", and this can be stressful to axolotls. By over-filtration, I mean too high a turnover and/or too much biological filtration. I will discuss this further on. This is more frequently encountered in the use of external filters, because they are intended only for large aquaria, yet novice keepers may utilise them with smaller accommodation. Over-filtration leads to water that is, aside from dissolved salts, like spring water - a rather hostile environment for axolotls."

I think regular (20%) water changes and keeping an eye on water quality (by testing) determines if your tank is dirty or a modification of filtration/water change schedule is warranted.
my two cents...
 
Joan, I actually like this part of the hobby and think seeing some of these "weird bugs" is almost as enjoyable!
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Who doesn't like looking at their tank water under the microscope and seeing what's swimming around?

I've got a thriving population of copepods that won't go away for anything. But watching them swim is almost as cool as watching caudates.
 
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