Detritus Worms

[guggas]

I have these in my tank with some juvenile discus and they drive me up the wall. I know some people dont bother with them, but Id like to get rid of them if its possible. I also have a hospital tank with just a sponge and heater that also has the worms. I put a dose of Prazipro in the bare tank and it seems to knock them back or kill all of them but a week or so later they are back again. I know, vacuuming and waterchanges and not overfeeding helps, but those methods seem to be just population control and not extermination.

I dont really want to put any meds in with the juveniles.
I'm thinking if I can get them cleaned out of the hospital tank completely, without killing the biofilter, then can transfer the discus to the clean tank, and then sterilize the original tank. Would that work? How do I kill the worms withought killing the biofilter?

[cooper666]

Hmmm. I wonder what sort of worms you have, nematodes or other. Chances are they are your friends.

If I was in your shoes, and they were really bothering me, I'd bomb it with a light dose of formalin (I'll probably get slammed for this suggestion)

If you dose your tank with 25ppm formalin (25ml per 1000L) and walk away it will probably kill the worms without disrupting the biofilter too much. I'd repeat the dose every other day, three doses of formalin in total. Increase the airation during the treatment and watch for ammonia and nitrites.

I've found, many many times, that a light dose of formalin will upset a biofilter less than a light dose of salt.

Personally, I'd leave the worms alone. They are eating stuff that you are not removing and doing you a favour. Probably great feed for your fish too.

Second thought - I bet a few cory's would smash 'em.

[Second Hand Pat]

Ryan, trying rinsing out your filters more often. However like cooper said, they are harmless. If you decide to use meds I would suggest not with your juvies in the tank.
Pat

[slicksta]

I know your frustration as I recently have them in my tanks for the first time in 25 years of keeping fish.
I can't be positive of the cause, but I attribute it to some bad frozen bloodworms I got. Shortly after feeding the bloodworms, I started to see them in both my tanks and 1 tank got snails as well.
Since both tanks hadn't had any additions in a long while, I'm pretty confident it was the bloodworms.
Rinsing out media does help but it's not a cure.
That said, I noticed my tetras hanging out by the filter output and picking them off as they emerge. So at that point I thought as Coop' and realized that they are adding to the bio_environment and giving my Tetras a snack as well.