are planarias harmful?

[Paulcm10]

i have been asking a lot of people on here about planaria being harmful to my RCS. and I've been getting mixed answers.
some say they will paralyze my shrimps and some say you will always have planaria. they are harmless but they aren't really pretty to look at.

so are they really harmful or not?

 

[HUKIT]

They are harmess and extremely easy to get rid of, just cut back on feedings and vaccuum substrate more.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Planaria are a substrate feeder and in nature they are a part of the clean-up crew, provide food to other organisms, and are indicators of good water quality (although it may be nutrient rich). As stated, they will not harm fish or shrimp, many consider them unpleasent to look at, and it fairly easy to eliminate or at least reduce numbers to a much more manageable number.

 

[Paulcm10]

Oh ok. Why do people say they sting and paralyze shrimps?
Or is that a different type?

 

[Punkyfish]

I need to know this too. Anyone ???

 

[jlk]

You made me wonder about this because I have only been told to keep egg/fry tanks free of planaria because of the risk of the planaria snacking on eggs or tiny fry. I dont have 'scientific' proof this may actually happen but its simpler not to risk it. Now, I have seen people mentioning that planaria can 'sting' their prey and paralyze them but its more that they attach to tiny prey, stick a tube in them, release digestive enzymes & suck out liquid contents. Planaria are equal opportunity feeders, eating organic debris (whether its living or dead). I also found a reference to a specific type of planaria that only eats crustaceans-you will need to do more research on what this may be or if its even a fw planaria.

The only specific reference I could find to planaria and shrimp is below- its adapted from an article authored by Ryedale Aquarists Society (Yorkshire, England). I could not find the actual article itself but I may have to do some more specific searching but it may not be on the net. Good luck!!

The Trouble with Planaria Worms? by Majid Ali

 

[Paulcm10]

Oh ok. I'm not sure if they are harmful or they become more harmful the bigger they get but so far non of my baby shrimps are harmed. I try to look for little dead ones but so far I haven't found any.
I do get mixed answers with this topic and I just might put a small tank together and put some planaria in there then add some baby shrimps. Just to see what will happen haha.