Internal parasite clear not working

[Shelly_shells]

So I have these white worms on the glass of my 23 litre shrimp tank, and they are swimming through the water as well. I've treated once with internal parasite clear but nothing, they haven't gone. I have been dosing with one spoonful as per instructions. Spoonful being the one supplied. They are tiny, some larger than others, looking to me like pics of planaria that I've seen. I'm trying a stronger dose of the treatment in the hope this will get rid of them. Using my measuring spoon 1/2 teaspoon. The treatment hasn't affected the shrimplets or the berried females which is good, I'm hoping the continued dosing and stronger dose won't do harm.

Is there anything else I could try?

I've been told that planaria does not harm the shrimp or shrimplets at all, is this true?

I just hate seeing them in there and worry they will do harm.

[ineke]

The internal parasite clear usually works well at the prescribed dose but you will need to dose again after 3 days and do that three times with a water change between treatments. It took three treatments for 4 of my tanks and 2 treatments for the other 2

[Squiggle]

Also make sure you take out any carbon, Purigen or Macropore as this will take the treatment out straight away. :encouragement:

[matblack]

The spoon that comes in the bottle- 1 level spoon full =approximately 1gram (5grams to 100 litres) =5 level spoons

[Shelly_shells]

Thanks for the replies.

Is the planaria harmful to shrimp as I've been told they arnt?

Is there a fish that will eat them but not my shrimplets?

[blindfisherman]

Are you sure they are planaria?

Planaria have a distinctive arrow shape head and I was under the assumption they crawl along more like slugs rather than swimming as such.

There are little white worms which do swim through the water though and these im pretty certain are harmless.

Do you have any pics of the offenders?

[ineke]

I have little white worms in my tanks that internal parasite clear didn't kill too but they are definitely not planaria. Planaria are thicker and I haven't seen them free swimming - not to say planaria don't just I have only seen them on the glass

[neosin]

1. Free swimming worms are not planaria. Planaria stick to glass and wood etc

2. Adult Planaria do harm shrimplets (FACT)

3. Meds don't work overnight! I dose no planaria before and it took about a week before they all went away

[Shelly_shells]

So to update what's been happening since doing the last treatment....when I say treatment I'm meaning the course of three days. So I've lost about 7 of my juvis, blue gene red rillis and cbs, not sure why. My water is cloudy even after doing a 50% water change. It went cloudy when I put the first dose in and has remained that way since. I've cleaned the glass and put new carbon in. It's smelly too...thought it was from the almond leaf I had in there for a few weeks, it's out now, not sure what's made it stinky as It hadn't been this way before. I don't know why it's smelly and cloudy . I've tried to siphon the substrate the best I can with shrimplets all over the place but seem to have a white residue over everything even after doing a siphon. I haven't lost any shrimplets or the adults.

As for what I think is planaria, they seem to be gone and laying around the bottom edge of tank in some areas but did see a long thin pink worm hanging off a plant leaf today and tried to get it out but floated away on the current.

When I said in previous post about them swimming through the water, I meant that I'd see them floating through the water current. Sorry wording is everything and I'm trying to use the right terms for everything but I'm new to this and am just trying to do the best with knowing little but eager to learn and appreciate everyone's help.

My test kit is just ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate . I tested today and my ph is 7, ammonia looked between 0 & 0.25, nitrite is 0 and nitrate is 0.

Shoud I take my plants out and chuck them.....I've taken the wood out that I had in there since starting the tank which had moss covering it and only got a ball of moss I made hanging down from top and two plants which I don't know what there names are and have had them from the start also, don't know with whatever's been going on in there if its making them go funky.

I just don't know what to do, I'm disappointed that its this way as I've tried to look after them. It's sad.

Thanks again to everyone , it's hard to diagnose these probs without being here physically and appreciate all the advice.

[ineke]

Im very sorry for your loss . We have had several reported incidents where people have had trouble after using this product yet after Dean did the test on his TB tank most of us who used it have not had any problems. How did you measure what you used? How did you put it into your tank. Could there have been so many worms in the substrate- where they spend the day- that it caused an ammonia spike that dissipated before you tested? The other people that had problems worked back and found it was something they did. There has also been disputes about the weight of the powder in the spoon that was given with the product so checking it ourselves is the safest thing to do. I have used this product safely twice with three treatments on most of my tanks including young TB and TBM. Shrimplets with no problems. I just hope there is not a bad batch around.

[Shelly_shells]

I used my own measuring spoon being 1/2 a teaspoon. Just under two of the scoops using the spoons provided. My tank is 23 litres.

I'm sure it has been something I've done, just don't know what or how to fix this. My adult cherry is looking abit crazy tonight, he might of been the one that has just molted but hes looking abit wonky when standing.

How do I clear the tank?

I mixed the product with tank water and added. I took out the carbon before adding.

I also have the filter inlet covered with a mesh type bag to stop the shrimplets being sucked up but obviously it's not taking all the muck that has settled on everything .

Thanks for you help

[Shelly_shells]

All my shrimplets seem to be fine, if anything I thought they would be the first to go being only a few weeks old if I was going to lose any.

I'm not feeding everyday now either.

[ineke]

If it was me and I had a cycled tank I would put my shrimp in that after acclimatising them over several hours . It would need to be done slowly because they are already stressed but it would be less stressing than lots of water changes to clear their current tank.

It's a damn shame that you are having problems and it may be totally unrelated. I squirted my mixture straight onto the substrate with a syringe so it settled quickly and minimal amounts were taken in by the filter.

Don't know what else to tell you, maybe someone else has some ideas.

[Shelly_shells]

Thank you so much for your advice.

I don't have any other tank but i could buy one for the time being if i have to. The tank I have is a fluval edge 23 litre and its so hard to get into, very small opening. do you have any suggestions as to how to catch the shrimplets without stressing them too much? I've looked at some home made traps but would probably take awhile to get them all. The adults will be fine to catch its the shrimplets that will be hard. I'm probably considering after all this to get a tank with the whole top open and that would make it easier to maintain. Probably after the same size, is there any particular ones to look out for?

[ineke]

It will take too long to cycle a new tank so best just leave them and do small water changes trying to keep the water as close to what you have in there with regards to ph, TDS etc. if you do a big change and you don't have aged water or RO water you can drip it in over a few hours or just do another small change tonight use any carbon or purigen in your filter and add as much aeration as you can via an airstone . It is a waiting game unfortunately. It would be good to find out what happened though incase it wasn't the internal parasite. Anyone spray ANYTHING in the house , fly spray, cleaning sprays, did you have any soap or oils, perfumes on your skin? Perfume , hairspray , just done the dishes before you played with your tank? Peppy used bath oils and worked it back to having a bath , using bath oil and then working on her tank. Just try and think what happened before you had any problems. Just so it doesn't happen again.

as to size of tank the bigger you can house the better because they are more stable. Small tanks need to be looked after more carefully than larger tanks due to water temp fluctuations, ammonia spikes due to over feeding etc. the edge tanks are lovely so are the aqua one nano cubes but harder to look after. Check that you can easily get nets into filter areas. I had heaps of problems with my nano cube because the shrimp kept climbing into the little sump at the back and the net didn't fit in without taking all the filter media out. So have a good look at what you are buying first.

[Shelly_shells]

Did a small water change and is looking less cloudy, but unfortunately lost my beautiful adult cherry overnight.

Thank you again

[Wraithie]

Could it be an overdose? (i havent used it before im just trying to pull together information from the thread)

Mat: 1 level spoon full =approximately 1gram (5grams to 100 litres) =5 level spoons

From this i would say your tank should need 1 level spoon for approx 20L

Shelly:I used my own measuring spoon being 1/2 a teaspoon. Just under two of the scoops using the spoons provided. My tank is 23 litres.

At just under 2 of the scoops that is enough to treat more like 40L of water.

Apologies if i have this wrong.

I would be doing a large water change but with drip method of returning into the tank, and adding fresh carbon or macropore to help clear the tank.

[ineke]

I agree Wraithie that's why I asked. I was meticulous with how I measured- I used a proper measuring spoon then worked out I needed slightly less than 1 third for my 30 litre tank and cut the powder into small measurements until I had what I needed. I mixed thoroughly with water and used a syringe with an extended piece of airline and squirted the mixture on the gravel. I think it extremely important for people to measure for themselves. Take other people's measurements as a guideline only . I think the company that makes the product is very remiss in not stating what that spoon with the product holds.

[Squiggle]

I don't think you can overdose with this stuff, I did one level supplied spoon for my 10L Fluval spec & they all survived. I did have a couple of deaths on the third dose but I suspect this was a result of the ammonia spike as there was heaps of planaria in the tank, just did a WC & haven't had any more deaths since :victorious:

[Shelly_shells]

I would never of known to of squirted the product onto the substrate. The carbon had already been changed. It's still smelly, what could be causing the smell?

The shrimplets are still ok. None lost.

[ineke]

I don't know if squirting it on the substrate is the recommended way but I was worried about my efficient filtration gobbling it up before it reached the bottom and if you watch the planaria they spend most of the day in the substrate and mainly come out at night. A really good way to see if you have them is to turn off all the lights and come back 10 minutes later with a torch. You may be surprised at what you see in your tank at night and not just shrimp hanky panky

[Squiggle]

The smell is most probably from some organic decay, usually the most common source of foul smells in aquariums. :encouragement:

[Shelly_shells]

Overnight over half of my shrimplets have died and an adult crs, and cherry. I don't have a back up tank to put the remaining shrimplets and adult crs in, one is berried, and if I buy one it wouldn't be cycled quick enough. My water this morning is saying ph 7, ammonia 0, nitrite and nitrate both 0. Cloudiness has gone. The 3 adults left are staying in one corner, not moving out of it. Don't know what to do. I can buy a little unit today but will the stress of new tank be too much for them....but I don't see them all surviving as they are gradually all dying in tank atm.

[Squiggle]

Oh no!! What water are you using, tapwater or RO? the PH is a little high for the CRS but the cherries should be fine. How old are your test kits? Do you have a TDS pen & have you checked your KH & GH? :confused:

[Shelly_shells]

Using tap water with stress coat. Test kit just has ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Api. Lost two cherry's. my berried female is looking like she's on the way out too. So disappointed with myself, has obviously been something I've done to make it this way. If I knew how to fix it I would. I just don't know what to do.