slugs and fast movers - how to kill them.

[asquirrel]

Got these things in my tank.  Fast movers.  They move super fast in spurts.  Tiny.  About the ¼ of the size of a BB. 

Slugs.  Two types.  Black slugs  and white slugs. 

Here’s videos.

In a cup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P07TpUiPLw

In my 5 gallon  bucket.  1st 15 seconds you can see it.  Black slugs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xROoZs3THDo

White slug on side of tan glass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p9y3rBFIbk&feature=youtu.be

Used Prazipro.  Dosed then waited 7 days and dosed again.  Thought they were all dead.  Didn’t see any the following week but now they are back.

 

I have one mystery snail, one black racer snail and one striped nerite snail.

One emerald corycat.

 

Three amano shrimp and 12 red cherry shrimp.  Water temp is about 70f. 

PH – 7.2 – 7.5.  Ammonia – 0.  Nitrites – 0.  Nitrates – 0-5.  GH – 6.  KH – 2-3. Phosphates. 0.5 – 1.0 ppm.

 

Feed them 1x a night. One shrimp pellet (wardley).  Two hikari crab cuisine pellets.  One quarter of omega one veggie rounds.  A few wardley fish flakes.  ¼ of Tums generic calcium tablet.  Have couple of eggshells.  Oak leaves.  Cinnamon sticks.  Cassia and Ceylon.  

 

Plants – amazon sword (2).  Wisteria and Java moss.

 

Was losing 2-3 shrimps a week from a group of about 50-70 (started with 2).   Temp was in high 70’s – low 80’s.  Had algae problem even with scrubber (either algae or cyanobacteria.  It was non-hair type).  Lowered temp to 70f.  Added leaves, egg shells cinnamon sticks. Generic tums.  Changed out about 8 gallons from my 20 gallon tank 1x per 7 days.  No further shrimp deaths.

 

After water change I add seachem safe, equilibrium, flourish and excel.   Also scrape some mineral stone in there. 

Have had this 20 gallon running for three years.  Have had this funky worm / fast mover thing for at least 3 months now.  Probably longer. 

 

Question – what the heck are these things?  Detritus worms?  The fast movers can’t be detritus worms – they’re too small and fast.  They aren’t hydra.  No spikey things.  Flatworms?  Emerald corycat is okay. 

 

I find these things on the side of tank glass in the morning when I turn the light on.  The worms / slugs don’t seem to like light.  I won’t see them that much during the day.  I see them but not many.  When I turn the light on they usually go down into the substrate.    The fast movers don’t care whether there is light on or not.  They’re easily as fast as the shrimp when the shrimp do their leap thing to get away from danger.

 

What else can I do to get rid of these things?  More prazipro?  I heard if I use febendazole it will kill my shrimp and snails.   Thanks for whatever info you can provide. 

[jayc]

Hey @asquirrel,

welcome to SKFA.

 

Firstly, my eyes aren't as good as they used to be. And those pictures and videos were not the best. So I might not be 100% correct with my analysis below...

 

I think you have two creatures in your tank. 

The fast moving bugs might be Seed Shrimp, harmless to shrimp. Any meds that would kill them would also kill the shrimp unfortunately.

Seed shrimp is a good indication that your water parameters are ideal. It can also mean that you feed too much, too often. As these guys enjoy the leftovers. 

Safest way of removing them is to keep vacuuming them out. Use a gravel vac hose to skim over the top of the gravel very lightly.

 

The worm like creature looks like planaria or detritus worm. The difference is that Planaria have a triangular pointed head. Whereas, Detritus worms have a rounded head. Your camera didn't focus long enough for me to ID it. So you will have to do that yourself. Go grab a magnifying glass.

If they are detritus worms, you can leave them, as they are safe. But if it's planaria, then get rid of them. They hid in the gravel during the day, so make sure you stir the gravel when dosing any meds.

 

[asquirrel]

Hi JayC,

Just wanted to give you a quick update.  I used the Prazi pro a couple of days ago and those worms and fast movers were nowhere to be found when I turned the lights on this morning.  Going to dose again next week and see if these things stay dead.  Thanks for your help! :)

[jayc]

8 hours ago, asquirrel said:

those worms and fast movers were nowhere to be found

Good news.

Remove any ornaments you have as well. Boil them if possible. Otherwise, leave them out in the sun to dry.

Don't forget to shift the gravel/substrate around a bit. That's where these critters are hiding. So if you can get the water + Prazi circulating under the gravel, you will be sure to get most of them. Especially with all the ornaments out of the tank.

Unfortunately, disturbing the gravel will uproot any plants. 

[asquirrel]

Hi JayC,

I don't really have any ornaments per se. I have an egg shell, a couple pieces of cinnamon stick, some decomposing oak leaves,  a clay feeding dish, and lots of live plants in there. When I clean the tank I take everything out, including the live plants.  I replant everything when I'm done. I've heard of tanks that have the filter under the sand but mine is just a regular hang on back filter.  I suppose I could do the prazi every two days and vaccum, but the cleaning takes a couple of hours and it's a lot of work.  It would be the best way though to make sure the prazi reaches into the substrate.

[jayc]

You need to stir up the sand if you  want to get better result with Prazi. 

[asquirrel]

Well, I dosed the tank with Prazipro and didn't see the things for a couple of days but now they are back.  I used a magnifying glass to look at them.  They are still super small. The fast mover definitely has a tail.  I can't tell if the slug thing has an arrowhead, it's still too small.

Edited February 1, 2019 by asquirrel
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