White worms on glass???

[Cookie_discus]

I just noticed that the glass have a lot of white worms on it. Any way to get rid of them?

[DJW]

They are bristleworms, planaria, or nematodes. They will eventually go away if you keep uneaten food cleaned from the tank and filter. If this is a new tank setup, the filter sponge or foam is a breeding ground, and the sponge or foam should be rinsed frequently with dechlorinated water. If you have a canister filter, use a pre-filter and clean it daily.

Do you have substrate? Daily vacuuming of the bottom is important. If you kept the filter from your prior tank, they were probably there in the filter but in small numbers. If you turn a filter off for a while, they come out of the filter. New plants can bring them in also.

[Akili]

I just noticed that the glass have a lot of white worms on it. Any way to get rid of them?Hikari prazipro 1 teaspoon for 20 gallons shake the bottle very well.Will not affect your biological filtration one treatment is enough after that watch your feeding amount.

[DJW]

One time I had a quarantine tank running, and after the fish were moved out I wanted to keep the tank running and keep the filter bacteria going, thinking I might get some more fish. I was too lazy to dose the tank with ammonia every day so I threw a bunch of flake food in to decompose and feed the filter. A few days later there was an explosion of worms. They had hatched out of the sponge filter, two different kinds that I identified under the microscope.

I decided to experiment, so I gave the tank a dose of PraziPro, which after a day had no effect on the worms. Then I put a double dose of PraziPro, and that seemed to make them sluggish but didn't kill anything.

A couple days later I put a 1.5x dose of Levamisole. The worms were fine.

Then I added a handful of medicated flakes containing Fenbendazole. Several days later, still had worms.

Finally I dosed with chlorine at 10ppm and they were dead in a matter of minutes.

I decided then that the way to control these worms is to clean up uneaten food and to keep the filter cleaner. All you really want in your filter is the nitrifying bacteria and the biolfilm they live in... and that cloud of brown stuff that comes out of filter foam or sponge when you rinse it is just rotting habitat for unwanted bacteria and sometimes worms. I don't rinse the filter vigorously or thoroughly, I just run enough water over it to get the majority of the sludge out.

[Kyla]

One time I had a quarantine tank running, and after the fish were moved out I wanted to keep the tank running and keep the filter bacteria going, thinking I might get some more fish. I was too lazy to dose the tank with ammonia every day so I threw a bunch of flake food in to decompose and feed the filter. A few days later there was an explosion of worms. They had hatched out of the sponge filter, two different kinds that I identified under the microscope.

I decided to experiment, so I gave the tank a dose of PraziPro, which after a day had no effect on the worms. Then I put a double dose of PraziPro, and that seemed to make them sluggish but didn't kill anything.

A couple days later I put a 1.5x dose of Levamisole. The worms were fine.

Then I added a handful of medicated flakes containing Fenbendazole. Several days later, still had worms.

Finally I dosed with chlorine at 10ppm and they were dead in a matter of minutes.

I decided then that the way to control these worms is to clean up uneaten food and to keep the filter cleaner. All you really want in your filter is the nitrifying bacteria and the biolfilm they live in... and that cloud of brown stuff that comes out of filter foam or sponge when you rinse it is just rotting habitat for unwanted bacteria and sometimes worms. I don't rinse the filter vigorously or thoroughly, I just run enough water over it to get the majority of the sludge out.

yah, there r all kinds of cool little critters living hidden in our tanks! here r some pics: http://www.planetinverts.com/what_is_that_bug_in_my_aquarium.html

i think most established tanks have some of these present, but ppl often dont notice them because they r so small. they live in substrate, and hide from fish during the day. as a kid i used to use a flashlight at night to spy on the bugs in my tanks while the fish were sleeping.

ive seen little population explosions in new tanks, which die off with regular maintenance as the tanks become established. if u take all the fish out of a tank their numbers can increase too, either because they come out of hiding or because the fish arent there to eat them (cyclops r delicious)

although i never tried experiments to see what was effective at eradicating them, what DJE says sounds right. i have seen planaria get "sliggish" with the use of clout, but they werent killed, and neither were the cyclops. i have watched nematodes die under a microscope from the addition of a dab of chlorinated water. i have a friend who uses Potassium permanganate on her tanks to clear out the bugs for breeding, incl hydra, but ive never tried it.

if u keep ur tanks clean
of uneaten food and debris it can keep their populations in check. i personally dont mind bugs in my tanks but it has been explained to me that they may be hazardous to eggs/fry, so u def want to control them if u r breeding

[dprais1]

Potassium permanganate will kill worms, it does not poison them it oxidizes them.

[Akili]

Potassium permanganate will kill worms, it does not poison them it oxidizes them.How much Potassium permanganate per gallon without harming the Discus?

[Cookie_discus]

I dont have substrate. It this why they dont have a place to hide? So rinse the sponge with dechlorinated water? What about the bio media, do I have to rinse it with my tank water more often?

[Akili]

I dont have substrate. It this why they dont have a place to hide? So rinse the sponge with dechlorinated water? What about the bio media, do I have to rinse it with my tank water?It is good idea to rinse the bio media with tank water so that the beneficial bacteria do not die off.

[Cookie_discus]

Ok i will do that once a week and see if there any improve. Should I cut down the feeding to once a day? Right now i feed them twise a day

[Cookie_discus]

And yes my tank is a new and is only 2 months old.

[Akili]

Ok i will do that once a week and see if there any improve. Should I cut down the feeding to once a day? Right now i feed them twise a dayFeed them like always just cut down the amount of the feed.

[Kyla]

my homemade food is a bit messy so if there is any left over i use one of these to suck out debris. still need to do regular water changes but this works well in between water changes to remove uneaten food

http://www.amazon.ca/Automatic-Gravel-Cleaner-Sludge-Extractor/dp/B003C5U2SU

[dprais1]

How much Potassium permanganate per gallon without harming the Discus?

2ppm (+/-) stressed, but did not harm the fish. I kept my filters running when I treated my fish and after an hour, if I remember, I had thousands of tiny hair like worms floating dead all over my tank. This was a barebottom tank with nothing but fish and water.

[Kyla]

2ppm (+/-) stressed, but did not harm the fish. I kept my filters running when I treated my fish and after an hour, if I remember, I had thousands of tiny hair like worms floating dead all over my tank. This was a barebottom tank with nothing but fish and water.

wow that sure sounds effective! ive read about how killing the detritus worms in a tank with substrate can lead to large ammonia spikes, and with so many dead after PP treatment that makes a lot of sense. i am guessing they were living in the filter media of ur BB tank?

[dprais1]

wow that sure sounds effective! ive read about how killing the detritus worms in a tank with substrate can lead to large ammonia spikes, and with so many dead after PP treatment that makes a lot of sense. i am guessing they were living in the filter media of ur BB tank?

yep just in the sponge, Just rinse out the filters, treat with pp, wait for the worms to die then wait for the filters to collect them all. do a water change and gently rinse out the filters and the water should be clean and the filters clean of dead and live worms. with no substrate and clean filters there should be no ammonia spike.