Attack of the killer planaria

[morg]

I recently had newts lay eggs in a well established tank which has been running with a filter and weekly partial water changes for over a year now.
This tank contains a good growth of both willow and java moss at one end, which is where the newts layed the eggs.
I removed around half of the eggs, but left the rest in the moss for the time being as the newts in question have never eaten their own eggs in the past.
I knew that the tank would contain other life forms from infusoria to planaria, although I would rarely see any.
I had occasion to turn on the lights in my newt room after dark, which is something I would rarely do, and on looking into the tank was astonished to see around 30-40 planaria, busy eating my newt eggs.
so for any of you out there whos newts are laying, beware the planaria.

MORG

 

[kaysie]

planaria thrive in "mucky" water... you need to filter more, or change water more. planaria eat dead and decaying organic materials. maybe they've thrived on food your newts have dropped but you've not cleaned up. catch the planaria and keep them alive until the eggs hatch, then feed them to your larva.

 

[morg]

Kaysie
Thank you for your post, and advice, but I would like to assure all caudata.org forum users that in this case the water is anything but "mucky"
The planarians will have been introduced with live bloodworm and have hidden away, and fed on any tiny food particles that may have gone unnoticed in the tangles of underwater mosses, growing at the opposite end of the tank to the newts feeding area.
After the egg eating incident I removed all the rocks, plants and other tank ornaments one by one, but still only managed to find and remove a few planaria.
MORG

 

[kaysie]

well, you could always think of it this way: you dont have to house as many larva now...

i didnt mean to imply that your tank was yucky, i was just stating what i know about planaria.

but, if you removed everything from the tank, how could you only find a few planaria?

maybe if you took everything out, washed it well, let it dry for 3 or 4 days, it would dry up the planaria and you wouldnt have to worry about it...

either way, planaria arent really pests of sorts. they're kind of like the garbage men of the aquarium world. they clean up everything thats left out. IE: If you throw something out to the curb, the garbagemen dont know that its not trash.... and the planaria dont know that they're not suppose to eat the eggs.

but try cleaning/drying everything. that will at least dessicate all the planaria that you've got.

 

[morg]

Kaysie
I am sorry if I seemed a bit defensive in my last post, and do appreciate your advice.
I have, since my last post, managed to track down the planarias hiding places.
In the tank are mosses growing on two submerged rocks.
These rocks cannot be seen through the vigorous mossy growth, but if the mosses are carefully parted, the planaria are right there in the small holes in the rocks surfaces.