Fresh water aquarium question. (not THAT kind of question!)

Long story short I moved my fish tank about 150 yards. Everybody died in the ensuing water change. This never happens to me (or rather, my fish) but this time I guess their luck ran out. Think I’ll go with a colder water tank this time around just for a change.

Earlier this summer I was playing in a creek with the kiddies. This is in Denver, by the way. We were doing the nature thing–picking up river rocks and seeing who lived there apart from Mr. Trout and the mosquitoes. We found a couple critters thet I was not expecting to find in a cold stream. A bunch of planaria (you know, those cross-eyed flatworms from biology class?) which I had thought were solely swamp creatures and ulp a 5 inch long LEECH!

I’m not interested in having a leech around, despite all the health benefits. But I’m wondering about the planaria. Would they become a nuissance? Or if I had some goldfish would they keep the little worms in check? They wouldn’t hurt my little fishes, would they?

I got planaria (little white hairlike critters) without even trying when I introduced a live plant into our aquarium. My guess is that they might be a problem. They reproduce asexually and I really had a swarm for a few days. They aren’t parasites, apparently, but the little ones might irritate the fishes’ gills if there are too many. I suppose the goldfish might eat some of them, though.