why are there white things swimming in my tank!!!!

[cichlidsman555]

the tank is flooded with these top level creatures!!!
are they parasites? if yes give details on what to do please!!!!!!!!!

thank you !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[charmd2]

Can you describe them a little better?? Hold on and I'll look for a link of planaria pictures. Then you can see if they look like that.

 

[charmd2]

(not actual size)

Pic from a previous post from SirMinion. (and hoping he isnt' upset I'm borrowing bandwidth)

Planaria are essentially harmless, normally caused by overfeeding, lack of thorough gravel cleaning.

so skip a few days feeding, vac the gravel well, a few waterchanges, and in a week or so they probally will be eaten by your fish, and gone.

 

[cichlidsman555]

thank you so much!!!!
and yes i did over feed them by using shrimp pellets and of course they disolve and create a real mess in the aquaium gravel!!!!!!!!!

i hope this is right

again thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[charmd2]

No problem, part of the learning curve. Most of us are here to help.

shrimp pellets are nasty nasty things. can pollute your water terribly. most fish don't consume them, because they are largely filler.

 

[pierre_john]

Sorry, but I have never seen this happen, what caused it, and which one did you have??? Geesh, that is scary...

 

[Sunny.C]

caused by overfeeding and basically dirty gravel. To avoid this happing to you do weekly 20% water changes, 2-3 weeks do gravel clean depending on tank conditions and make sure you feed your fish in small amounts to avoid food droping to the floor between gravel. Adding live bacteria into your tank 1-2week with your water changes will keep your tank healthly B)

 

[Flashfire]

Good filtration does help get rid of them easily, the better water quality drasticaly reduces their numbers and the normaly increased water flow dislodges them from the side of the tanks glass. Next time you have an old fry tank and take out all the fish, leave it with the water on a shelf or something for a week or two and there will be planaria heaven in there.