Do I have worms?!

[Cichliddude]

There’s quite a bit to this. I have almost two decades of vast experience cycling aquariums/breeding fish. However I’ve never had this one happen before.

I started off with a 5 gallon tank with a built in filter in the back, threw some guppies in and they keep dying. I’ve seen signs of ick (white spots) but not a lot at all. Now I’ve upgraded to a ten gallon thinking a hang on the back filter, and a planted tank, will create better parameters to kill off whatever it is.

Guppies keep dying, I’ve lost 6 now. I’ve seen one white spot out of 10 guppies.

The tank 10gallons, sand substrate, hang on the back filter and sponge filter currently, 10-20 shrimp, 10 guppies one piece of driftwood and a ton of plants.

I’ve begun treating for ick but then I had a guppy die and noticed this that’s in the photo. Looks like a worm maybe?

In the 5 gallon after I took everything out I left it running. THOUSANDS of little white hooks ended up In the gravel, they would also attach to the snails in the tank.

Any idea what this is or how to treat it?

Everything water wise is just right

Soft ph around 6.8

Well cycled tank, water changes weekly, two filters, don’t over feed, and tons of plants

This is my daughter’s tank and she hates seeing them die and I hate her seeing it. I want to fix this asap, any advice is very very appreciated.

Thank you in advance for reading all of this

 

[emeraldking]

Do I have worms?!​

That's not good if you have worms....
But I assume you're talking about your fish...
Yes, those are definately worms from what I can see from the photos. Because you also see them in your gravel, I'd say remove this gravel and get new ones. Whatever treatement you'll be giving, if this has multiplied that much, it needs a total cleaning to start with. For I doubt it that a treatment won't kill all of them off. Also clean the plants or get new ones. They can carry eggs.
Btw, large tailed guppies are better off in harder water. Between the fin rays, the fin can tear and makes the guppy weak.

 

[MaloK]

Many aquarist will simply strongly de-worm any guppy they buy just as a precaution today.

If you want to get it done fast and certain. I would go with food with metronidazole and add Praziquantel to the water.
That way you will cover effectively all the most common internal and external parasites at once.

fenbendazole, levamisole, or praziquantel, imo can be mixed at large and conjugated for maximum results.

Most of the time a good wormer and malachite green is enough. But all these medication are not necessarily chemically compatible and should be administered separately.

But a combo like API general cure is pretty good, if you want to avoid making food and have the right ingredients.

 

[GaryE]

You're in the United States, so you should be able to access an excellent med called Prazi Pro. Just follow the instructions.

That is the worst tapeworm infestation I've ever seen, and I got my first guppy in 1966. Sometimes, it isn't good to be number one. Prazi, if you go with a few doses, should eliminate them, but the fish may be too far gone to be saved. I hope they make it.

If you are a guppy, that's the stuff of horror films. Avoid that store - their supplier is not selling them good fish!