Little White Worms [Archive]

sharkybubba

5th June 2007, 07:36 PM

hi guys,

was wondering if anyone knew anything about this problem i have in my tank. its a freshwater tank which i have recently noticed has small (almost microscopic) white worms in it ranging from 1 cm down to just a millimeter. i first notcied them on the walls of my tank however i have recently seen them whilst vacuuming my tank- they kind of swim around?!

i have been researching it a little and have had no real luck but did find somewhere that they were supposedly harmless and to just consistently vaccum my tank and frequent water change should fix the problem. im also unconvinced that they are harmless, my tank which has been running now for 9 months has consistenly lost fish, and unfortunately they have died in nasty ways...im convinced it is because of these little guys....can anyone help me? (please!!!)

wombat1100

5th June 2007, 10:17 PM

I had them in my tanks years ago.I took a sample to my LFS and they said the same thing, don't worry they are harmless and keep changing water, if i was really worried they could give me a chemical to fix it but it was safer to just leave it alone, they eventually went away somehow!
Daz

sharkybubba

6th June 2007, 09:12 AM

joz

6th June 2007, 09:51 AM

They are nothing to worry about,not sure how they are introduced.Someone mentioned to me years ago that they were from something that came with frozen bloodworms??

Sloory

6th June 2007, 09:24 PM

Hi Kat,

check your fish and see if they have any hanging outta their butt! (gross i know :wink: ).
If so they are round worm (Camallanus nematode) and you should get a treatment for it from your LFS.
This could be what has killed your fish.

More Info (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FA/FA09100.pdf)

Scroll down for the roundworm.

sharkybubba

7th June 2007, 07:59 AM

thanks for the suggestions guys! i think i'll give it a month of cleaning and water changes and see how it goes before i delve into chemicals! thanks again for all the advice! :biggrin: -i'll let you know how i go!

sharkybubba

15th June 2007, 09:52 AM

hey guys, thought i might let you know that my seem to be clearing up heaps! still there but not as bad as they were! just obsessively cleaned it and lot of water changes-and it worked! thanks for the advice guys!

Sloory

15th June 2007, 10:12 AM

That great to hear Kat, you've gotten rid of the worms AND the goldfish :p ......... sorry :unsure: .

sharkybubba

15th June 2007, 12:12 PM

That great to hear Kat, you've gotten rid of the worms AND the goldfish :p ......... sorry :unsure: .[/b]

hahha yea going all out hey! nah miss my big fella but i just couldnt accomodate him anymore! :( little fish are loving it though, have the full run of the tank now!

wombat1100

15th June 2007, 04:12 PM

hahha yea going all out hey! nah miss my big fella but i just couldnt accomodate him anymore! :( little fish are loving it though, have the full run of the tank now![/b]

Hi Kat,

Just a suggestion and others may disagree, but if i was to start a new setup and there was the possibility of the white worms still being active I think i would possibly strip the tank and boil the substrate and thoroughly clean everything in the tank.

I remember you saying you had 2 tanks, so if there wasn't any problems with the other tank you could use some water out of that tank to help cycle the new setup .

Just a suggestion,any opinions guys? i would like to know if this would be the right thing to do !
Dazz

Sloory

15th June 2007, 05:36 PM

Hmm yes but the blue gravel would probably go anyway wouldn't it?

sharkybubba

17th June 2007, 04:31 PM

Hi Kat,

Just a suggestion and others may disagree, but if i was to start a new setup and there was the possibility of the white worms still being active I think i would possibly strip the tank and boil the substrate and thoroughly clean everything in the tank.

I remember you saying you had 2 tanks, so if there wasn't any problems with the other tank you could use some water out of that tank to help cycle the new setup .

Just a suggestion,any opinions guys? i would like to know if this would be the right thing to do !
Dazz[/b]

hi dazz

did all that when i got rid of my goldy. thanks for the suggestion!

PeteFromTassie

20th June 2007, 11:08 AM

Hey,
this is generally a sign of overfeeding and not enough waterchanging. Something to do with too much protein in the water fro memory. Decrease the feeding and increast the waterchanging and they'll go away apparently! :-)

Good luck!
Pete.

Fullboar

5th July 2007, 08:36 PM

They are called Planarian worms. Hard to get rid of if you dont cut back on feeds. They live in sand and gravels most of the time as this is where they get the most food from. Over feeding brings them out as the food is everywhere. They are in most tanks, but only seen as a problem once they come out and cover the glass and other surfaces. They are related to fluke worms somewhere along the line. I have a small problem in one of my new tanks. I used a filter from a mates tank that had them and now I do as well. But you can get them from anywhere. Plants, rocks, water.... A big cause is frozen foods. Clean you gravel as much as you can. From what I know they dont hurt the fish.

Scott