I've had an emersed setup for growing dwarf hairgrass in my 10 gallon tank. It has been running for around 5 weeks now. Today I noticed some white worm like creatures on the front wall of the tank (1/2-1 inch long). It seems like they are planaria although I could be wrong.

Does anyone know why I have them growing in my tank and what I can do to get rid of them? I have been spraying the plants with lightly fertilized water (30 ppm NO3, 2 ppm PO4 ) and a tad bit of Excel. Would it help to switch to spraying just tap water? Most of the guidelines for getting rid of planaria are for non planted (submerged) tanks.

The worms look creepy and while it seems like they shouldn't hurt the tank, I wouldn't want my newly setup tank to have worms all over the place. I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me what I could do to try and get rid of them. I plan to keep female bettas in this tank. Do you think that they would help get rid of them when I submerse the tank?

I had planarias in my tank at one point.

They either:

1) Were eaten by my cardinal tetras or
2) died off.

I'm leaning toward the former, but do not know for sure. I think your bettas would enjoy them, actually.

They are really nothing to worry about. As was said, they will either die off or be eaten, and will cause no harm while they are in your tank.

Bill

Thanks for the "most excellent!" advice Bill and Ted....sorry, I just couldn't resist that . It's good to hear that it is nothing to worry about. I'm not sure why exactly they popped up. Maybe the fert levels are too high? Eitherways hopefully they should disappear once I submerse it and get some fish in there. I'll make sure not to feed them too much so they go ahead and munch on the planaria

I know a lot of fish will eat them, gouramis esp.

I always thought they tend to gather in a heavily fed tank. I have had them every now and then, and it was usually a good tank cleaning that eliminated them.

Are your filters up to snuff, not clogged?

Are you a heavy feeder?

As all stated, they are just unsightly, but not an issue, but since most tanks don't have them as a rule (unless they are hidden), I would look for the root cause and address that.

Hope this helps.

Well the thing is that this is an emersed setup. So no water (Except in substrate and for spraying) and no feeding/filters. I don't know what is making them thrive...it might be the ferts in the water? I think I might try spraying just plain tap water.

Any ideas?

Isn't this the tank that has Diamond Black as a first layer in the substrate? I have some questions about the suitability of that for aquariums. Mine leaks substances into the water, leading to brown water - extreme brown water if I don't take care of it.

Nooo, Hoppy, you're supposed to say nice things about your Diamond black filled 10g tank and make me feel confident about this first attempt!

It could very well be the Diamond Black. Oh well, hopefully the bettas will enjoy the planaria as a tasty snack.