Worms!!!

[revengeishere]

Ok, I was looking thru the sides of my tank when my eyes went to the substrate, i noticed some root like thing. But when i looked closer, it moved!! They are about a 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. On one end, some of them seems to be letting something sort of a thinner worm, moving. Some of them are covered with brown and green algae. some of the uncovered part are somewhat red. the are all over my substrate(not to a point where they are taking over, but somewhat sparsely ditributed.) What are they?? Flukes?

How to get rid of them?

Thanx.

 

[Great Lakes]

Your fish are all healthy? If so, and you have a prevailing population of these "worms", then they are probably non-parasitic. Most likely flatworms or nematodes. A little checking around will probably uncover a crab of some sort that loves them. We will see what others have to say. I have never had them in my tropical tanks.

GL

 

[revengeishere]

So far, they are all healthy. I do have some BGA fgrowing and in the process of learning and controlling them.

But on the upside, im starting to see green algaes replacing the brown ones(the tank is runnig for about a month or so now.

I did have a bad case of ich where nearly all my bala sharks and one syno died,it was my own fault, i didnt know about ich then, and didnt know what to do. But all in all, most of the fish survived. Im just really concerned that they might be fluke or something. Will malachite green kill them?

Thanx.

 

[Mogo]

Probably oligochaete's if they are a redish/orange rust colour, would have to put them under a microscope to know for sure. I had this problem back in December/January. They are not parasitic, but if they over run your substrate, they will start to deplete the oxygen in your tank. That is what happened to one of my tanks, which induced a proliferation of Flexibacter bacteria (thrives in low oxygen environments). Just keep a close eye on things, and maybe take out a little bit of your substrate at a time and give it a good washing, maybe soak it in a strong hot salt solution overnight. Then put some kind of plastic barrier (without holes) between the clean section of gravel, and the "dirty" gravel, this will help prevent the worms from travelling into the clean gravel/sand. Only do a little a time, to avoid killing off all your beneficial bacteria.

 

[revengeishere]

yes, they are reddish/brown. They seem to be living in these tubes(fish poop?). I dunno if the tubes are part of the worms, or just food. The tube like things doesnt seem to move at all, but the lil red ones do. And oh, the tubes are kinda tansparent to translucent, and you can see the "worm" wiggling...

I still dunno what it is, and does the "wormicides" work? Thanx.

edit: I read on this site http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/f...winvertfaqs.htm that it might be overfeeding and too much fish waste or overstocking. I do gravel siphoning once every 3 days or so and 20% water changes at the same time.

my water parameters are:

nitrites:0
ammonia:0
pH: 7.8(local water and lfs is around 7.9)
kh: 6
GH: 14 (local water and lfs are the same, and i got my fish locally, and called 5 lfs and said the fishes are used to the ph, ang Gh here)
Fauna:
1 red tailed black shark
1 flying fox
1 syno eupterus
2 bala sharks
10 tiger barbs
20 zebar danios

75 gallon tank. 2 aquaclear filters (200 and 300)
fauna: 4 anubias, a bunch of ancahris 2 baby tears and one sword grass(dunno what it is).

Im just gonna stop feeding them as much as i used to as i think i might be overfeeding them(esp the pellets at night).

 

[Mogo]

I've never really considered using "wormicides" in these scenerios, as the worms are not parasitic, and putting fish under unneccessary chemical stress is never a good idea. The best remedy is to improve the aquarium conditions by reducing the organic load (cleaning the gravel) as this will reduce the population as they tend to thrive in systems carrying a high organic load. A good idea is to reduce feedings for now until the situation is taken care of. As with most harmless aquarium pests (copepods, hydra, planarians, nematodes..etc.) populations are kept under check and at "normal" levels with proper aquarium maintenance. They also make a valuable warning sign as abnormally high populations signify that the aquarium conditions need improvement.

 

[revengeishere]

I've never really considered using "wormicides" in these scenerios, as the worms are not parasitic, and putting fish under unneccessary chemical stress is never a good idea. The best remedy is to improve the aquarium conditions by reducing the organic load (cleaning the gravel) as this will reduce the population as they tend to thrive in systems carrying a high organic load. A good idea is to reduce feedings for now until the situation is taken care of. As with most harmless aquarium pests (copepods, hydra, planarians, nematodes..etc.) populations are kept under check and at "normal" levels with proper aquarium maintenance. They also make a valuable warning sign as abnormally high populations signify that the aquarium conditions need improvement.

I agree with you with the warning sign thing. Right now, they arent really over running the tank, just a worm here and there. I will try not to feed them at least 2 days starting right now.

 

[Great Lakes]

Revenge, I didn't see any bottom feeders in your list. Acouple of plcos and a carfish or two might help.

 

[revengeishere]

Revenge, I didn't see any bottom feeders in your list. Acouple of plcos and a carfish or two might help.

yes, im thinking of doing that, i m still researching.

 

[CFC]

If your thinking of adding catfish to your tank then may i suggest 3 or 4 Hoplosternum thoracatum,they are a medium sized peaceful catfish that will constantly scour the substrate for food.The will get to about 7" but will not pose any threat to your danios or any small fish you may add at a later date,they are also a diurnal catfish so you will see pleanty of them unlike their nocturnal cousins.
They are great little clean up fish,i have a pair in my 75 which clean up after my big predators and when i upgrade to a 170 later this year i will be adding a few more (after growing them out a bit first).