Nematode Infestation

[mctavish132]

Topic explains the majority of my issue.

Water parameters are perfect: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10

Fish Symptoms: None whatsoever fish all healthy and happy. fishkeeper not so happy.

I posted a topic a month or 2 ago about worms in my filter, these worms were identified as nematodes(everything that was happening in this post is still happening). So i was told by members of the forum to try not feeding the tank for a week, which in my frustration i actually decided to do although I only went 5 days with absolutely no food, along with 40% water changes daily. no luck, even after cleaning all the filters on the tank, they were back in mass numbers a couple days later. I began feeding again although a lot less then I usually would, throwing in a fasting day here and there and paying extreme attention to cleanliness, I had the gravel absolutely spotless. I did 40% water changes every other day.after about 3 weeks of feeding pretty much nothing, keeping the tank spotless, and completely ruining my back from water changes, the filters were still exploding with little nematode worms.

I went to my LFS and talked to the guy about my worm problem, he seems to be quite knowledgeable, he ended up talking me into buying APPLUS ANTI-FLUKE medications promising me that this should do it. Im now on day 3 of treating my tank with this med. and I have seen absolutely no improvements. I'm going to continue treating for atleast a week as all of my fish dont seem to be bothered by the med what so ever.

I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one to ever have had a worm breakout in my filter, how do I get rid of them! I'm going crazy! what med would affectively kill these ugly things for good not just reduce their number from not feeding for a week.
Anyone with some experience with this please help me out! ...before I tear all my hair out.

 

[lloyd]

Topic explains the majority of my issue.

Water parameters are perfect: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10

Fish Symptoms: None whatsoever fish all healthy and happy. fishkeeper not so happy.

I posted a topic a month or 2 ago about worms in my filter, these worms were identified as nematodes(everything that was happening in this post is still happening). So i was told by members of the forum to try not feeding the tank for a week, which in my frustration i actually decided to do although I only went 5 days with absolutely no food, along with 40% water changes daily. no luck, even after cleaning all the filters on the tank, they were back in mass numbers a couple days later. I began feeding again although a lot less then I usually would, throwing in a fasting day here and there and paying extreme attention to cleanliness, I had the gravel absolutely spotless. I did 40% water changes every other day.after about 3 weeks of feeding pretty much nothing, keeping the tank spotless, and completely ruining my back from water changes, the filters were still exploding with little nematode worms.

I went to my LFS and talked to the guy about my worm problem, he seems to be quite knowledgeable, he ended up talking me into buying APPLUS ANTI-FLUKE medications promising me that this should do it. Im now on day 3 of treating my tank with this med. and I have seen absolutely no improvements. I'm going to continue treating for atleast a week as all of my fish dont seem to be bothered by the med what so ever.

I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one to ever have had a worm breakout in my filter, how do I get rid of them! I'm going crazy! what med would affectively kill these ugly things for good not just reduce their number from not feeding for a week.
Anyone with some experience with this please help me out! ...before I tear all my hair out.
[/quote/]

i think you will really struggle to get rid of them. as far as im aware there are thousands of different types of nemotodes and all of the ones we can find in our aquarium are completly harmless.
i may be wrong but all nemotodes seen in a filter are juvinile ones as they cant swim and as they mature they become free swimming which basically means free live food for your fish.

the only way i can think may work is to cycle i new filter in a different tank or bucket and straight swap the 2. but any nemotodes still in the tank may colonise the new filter. to ensure there arent any left in the tank i would starve your fish so they are hungry and looking for food and just be careful when removing the old filter. maybe bag it in the tank or something.

have you ever seen any free swimming?

your fish will appreciate it if you dislodged a few from your filter from time to time for them to eat.

micro worms are a type of nemotode

 

[mctavish132]

thanks for the reply, yes I see them free swimming all the time, mostly after water changes or topping off the tank though. Good idea about dislodging them, I don't know why iv never done this to feed the fish. My next plan of action is to again stop feeding the tank extra food for another week or 2 and only dislodge worms a few times a day as the fishes only food source, while continuing the applus anti-fluke treatment.

Does anyone have any experience with APPlus Anti-Fluke? because I've really never even heard of it before. and the active ingredients are nothing familiar to me: dimethyl, hydroxy, and trichloromethyl phosphate.

Does anyone know if my filters are full of these little worms , like crawling all over the biomax and bio fibre, will my beneficial bacteria be negatively affected?


Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated