worm in my aquarium

Question
Hi Chris
    I've recently found planaria in my fish tank that I have for almost a year. I've never seen the planaria before and I was wondering if it the mealworms that I have recently started feeding them that are causing the planaria. Thank you for your time and hope you can E-mail me the answer, and if a uv light for the aquarium is an solution to the promblem.  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Khahn;

The planaria are not harmful to your fish at all. They just look weird. Planaria thrive on excess waste. The only way to get rid of them is to starve them out by cutting back on food. The UV will only kill the ones that are exposed to it from floating up in the water and being sucked into the UV chamber. But, the ones that are left in the gravel will continue to proliferate so it isn't going to make any real difference. As long as the excess waste is in there they will stay. Even chemicals and medicines don't kill them. They are a hardy critter and your fish will suffer and die before the planaria will. Cutting back on the mealworms will definately help. Having fed mealworms to my fish from time to time, I know it is easy to overfeed with them. Vacuum the gravel in your tank more often too to get the excess crud out that the planaria are feeding on. Do your regular weekly 25% changes and vacuum the gravel at the same time. Usually the gravel is vacuumed every 2 to 4 weeks, but with a waste problem it needs to be done more often for awhile.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins