Planaria

Are these the little white worms that are on my glass? They're about 1-2mm long. They aren't on the front pane as much as the sides and back, so I don't really care that they're in there. Will newborn sunfish eat them? I'm hoping my longears will breed soon, and these little worms and cyclops are all on the gravel and glass.

Get a hand lens
and
and easy search on Google Images on "planaria"
and you will know.

The size seems right. Planaria can be much bigger. Planaria are also known to lasso daphnia with a strand of mucas.

I would think the planaria would be competition for the sunfish fry for food.

These are definitely planaria. I also have cyclops swarming all in the gravel. I guess it's kind of good, since it will give my little sunnies something to eat. I don't really care that they're in there, I just wanted to know what they are. The only time they're bothersome is when I'm trying to take a picture and the camera focuses on the planaria instead of the fish. Sometimes they end up on the fish and they "scratch" them off on the filter and gravel.

Be aware that heavy planaria infestations are often due to over feeding or lack of regular water changes. While there is nothing "wrong" with having them in your tank, it may be indicative of poor water quality.

Be aware that heavy planaria infestations are often due to over feeding or lack of regular water changes. While there is nothing "wrong" with having them in your tank, it may be indicative of poor water quality.

I've been doing 50% water changes a week. I guess it's from heavy feeding. I'm trying to get my female longear fattened up, so I've been feeding a lot lately.

I just went and took a look at the tank. They're starting to decline in number. Maybe it's the water changes?

Probably.

I like planaria, personally, and have a lot of fun with them. Weird critters indeed, you can do some pretty amazing things with them.

They can even be taught tricks, and how to run a maze. Really! That's not the really cool part, though.

If you chop a learned planarian into bits, and then feed those bits to other planarians, the worms will suddenly know what the first one did!!

You can also of course take advantage of their extreme regenerative ability to make yourself some serious mutants. Split them lengthwise, but not completely, and you'll soon have a two-headed or two-tailed worm. Repeat as desired.. Try both ends. I've gotten as many as 16 heads and tails on a single specimen.

Most high school biology classrooms would LOVE to get ahold of some live planarians. If you should find yourself with a surplus, try donating a few to local schools.

There are terrestrial versions, too. These can get absolutely huge, and are fascinating. One Malaysian species gets about 3 inches wide, 2.5 feet long, and has insanely bright colors reminiscent of an arrow poison frog. The ones in my neighborhood are yellow and brown, about 8 inches long, and have shovel-shaped heads. They're also the slimiest/stickiest things imaginable.

There are terrestrial versions, too. These can get absolutely huge, and are fascinating. One Malaysian species gets about 3 inches wide, 2.5 feet long, and has insanely bright colors reminiscent of an arrow poison frog. The ones in my neighborhood are yellow and brown, about 8 inches long, and have shovel-shaped heads. They're also the slimiest/stickiest things imaginable.

Whoa...that's wild! Do you have some good links or pictures of the giant terrestrial ones?

Whoa...that's wild! Do you have some good links or pictures of the giant terrestrial ones?

http://www.visualsun.../315/315271.jpg

After it rains there are brown ones with black stripes uner bricks, rocks, etc. I thought they were cool so I tried to keep one once and it literally fell to pieces.

Most of the land flatworms in the US, or at least the common species, are predatory. They probably eat mostly other worms. Some countries had this species introduced and they're eating up all the worms. Which is bad for their countries... earthworms aren't native in the US (at least the big ones) so it might be good for us. There's my interesting worm story.

I like slimy things... earthworms, slugs, snails, amphibians, fish(slime coat), flatworms, etc, etc. I bred garden slugs and snails when I was 6 or 7. I had a nice little colony of each, but then I fed them all to my DeKay's snakes. I had a large female that had babies, so I had to feed the babies my baby slugs and snails, and fed the adults my larger ones.