hi guys and gals...wondering does anyone here know if planaria can survive in salt water or does it only live in fresh?????i have got some in my tank and only ever had it once before many years ago...i know the form about how to clear it but i wondered if upping the salt would destroy it ????? thanks

Planarian can survive in both fresh water and salt water. However, I'm not sure whether you get different species that live in the different waters. Planarian is not harmful to fish at all. We normally advise people to harvest them manually. Eradicating them would normally mean clearing the tank and filtration completely, not a task you really want to do.

yeah most fish just eat them....but your right about removing manually:unsure: thats why i was hoping salt would do the trick.....they came in on some plants i was storing in my pond

fresh water planaria is sensitive to high salt concentration.
however, giving high dosage of salt to kill them might affect
other living things like the plants. there might be a chance that
the damage is greater than the benifit. i did had same problem and
applied salt to erradicate those little red crawling creatures. in a few
minutes after salt application, they float dead in my tank.

No, I wouldn't advise piling salt in, Paul is right, it might have a negative effect on other things living in the tank. Planarian do live off waste food so reduce feeding might help to keep them under control. I think you might just have to remove them when you see them rather than using other chemicals/elements which might cause more harm than good

thanks guys ...thats what i figured ..paul the planaria/flatworm is WHITE not red the red ones were probably mosquito larvae ,and i have vacumed for the last 3 days with 40% waterchanges an have not fed ANYTHING for the last 3 days:) but i thought if they were sensitive to salt i could introduce a mild brine solution for a few days ... just to see off the remaining ones !!!!!!!!!!! but the plan is to continue the vacuming and the waterchanges untill i dont see them anymore...i dont mind loosing the swordplants if saline is effective tho.......

i am not sure if there is no red planaria. but i am
sure they are not mosquito larvae. i will post magnified
pictures later.

please accept my full apologies paul ...YOU ARE RIGHT planaria CAN BE LIGHT RED/PINKISH in colour as well as white:blush:

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY what so ever for any harm caused to your fish or any other pets in your posession ..this is only an informative post for the benefit of users studying disease and parasites in aquaria and NOT TO BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS A FULLY EXPERIENCED AQUARIST


right guys i have earlier this morning treated the planaria ...i am infested ,there appears to be at least 10 planaria per cubic inch of water so after a lot of research i have treated my tank.....i have used a 0.1g per 10 galons soloution of FENBENDAZOLE..commonly known as DOG/CAT WORMER this is reported to be the only effective killer for planaria the particular brand i used was "panacur" this contains 22% flubendazole so in 1g there is 22.2mg of the active ingredient...the best dose i could get to from the web was 0.1g - 10 gallons of water ..so i got a 4.5g pack and divided it equaly into 3 parts each weighing 1.5 g and then removed one part and combined the other 2 and weighed again and they came out at 3 g to confirm i had exactly 1.5g i came to this dose by using the equasion of...0.1g x 10 = 1g....0.1g - 10gals.... 1g = 100gals + 0.5g = 50 gals....1g + 0.5g = 1.5g -150 galons


i found that in high concentrations the planaria actualy irritate fish by living in the gills of them and feeding on the food that gets trapped there causing the fish irritation and to flick and rub on solid objects

i disolved the flubendazole in a soloution of warm water and added it at 1pm on the 11th of feb(today) the dose i used is a "shrimp dose" to err on the side of caution this will take approx 24-36 hours but the dose can be increased to 0.2g - 10 gal that works under 12 hours if the shrimp dose is not effective i will leave for 48 hours and treat again with the 0.2g soloution.........i will report results daily

there is no effects at all on the fish up to now and the planaria seems to have decreased to 2 per cubic inch of water 11pm 11th feb

no problem mate.... this is a healthy forum where every body give
and take inputs!


please check.... i believe it is a DOG/CAT DEWORMER.
just keep an eye to your fishes.... they can lost their
appetite after a day or two..... then you have to do water
change to avoid further damage to the fishes.

damn on those planaria... whne i dont need them,
there are plenty in my substrates and media....
now that i want to take picture on them....

nowhere to be found.... perhaps my angel fish take them all

update.....10am 13th feb...all full grown planaria have gone and only tiny regenerating/babies..are left these are about 1/6th of the size of the adul ones ...no effects to the fish ..i have performed a 60% waterchange and repeated the 0.1g dose.....


11 pm 14 th feb...........ALL SIGNS OF PLANARIA completely removed from the tank with no effects whatsoever to the fish OR FILTER BACTERIA COLONIES...i done a 70% waterchange and the treatment ,problem and cure is fully complete