some type of parasite in my tank?

[troy]

Hi

I can see very tiny parasite in my tank, They are on everything in the tank, they have the shape of a mite are between a white and very light tan colour. They can move fast for their size along the glass.

I have recently put a post in on simply about tiny white like worms in my tank, these to have increased in number , they also are on everything.
I have been trying to keep my tank clean as possible but this has made no difference in reducing thier numbers ,( they have increased ).

Over the past few months i have been posting here at simply about a hole in the head problem that began after changing water supply and doing daily changes, i still have had no improvement in curing this problem.

I would like to know if anyone would have any idea what these mite like things could be and if the could lead to a HITH problem?
What would be the best way to eliminate the bugs from my tank?
I do have a medication thats been recommended by a fish shop, called Cure Ex, contains 0.01% negavon, 0.2%trichlorphon and 0.01%formaldehyde, it claims to cure many things . Would any of you experts out there recommend using this med?

Troy

[Kevin]

Salt works if you have bare bottom. Use sea salt about a teaspoon for twenty gallons. This will bring your hardness up, and kill plants. They are a scavenging type thing and I have been told they are harmless. But they will mess up the eggs they get on. anyway the salt works, they will be back, and remember to change water and check the perematers before salting again. Or try not to look at them. K.

[Carol_Roberts]

Troy - You have a water quality problem. I don't care how many water changes you're doing. You don't have worms and mites unless there is food for them. There has to be a bunch of mulm somewhere in your system - maybe the filter, I don't know. I'll bet the HITH is also a symptom of the water quality.

You've been fighting this for a while. You have sick fish and various worms/mites/planaria in your tank. I think you need to start over.

If it was me . . . I'd get a new tank and Aqua Clear type filter - no gravel, no decorations, no plants. Do a fishless cycle then dip your discus before adding them to the new tank. Breakdown and sterilize the old tank and filter.

It's late and I can't remember whether you even have gravel or a cannister filter, but something is trapping food /feces and keeping it in the water column.
Carol :heart1:

[fcdiscus]

Troy, I agree 100% with Carol. The only thing that could cause problems like you are describing is bad water quality. I would bet over feeding is a major sorce! Frank

[troy]

Hi

Thanks for your help guys, over feeding it could be possible i make them eat too much as they make a lot of faeces, uneaten food is not left in the tank for long.

I do use an external canister filter and have added foam sponge to the intake 2 weeks ago as you said Carol, removed gravel 2.5 months ago. it is possible to much food particles and faeces were entering the filter, but i did stop the filter during feedings.

Well i think the peat i was given plays a big part in introducing these worms as only my tanks using peat have them, don't know about these parasites.

Going to make a start at a strip clean .
Carol the dip you are talking about , is that formaldehyde ?

Troy :)

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Troy:
Here's the super dupper dip method. Your's may not need this drastic of an approach.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=3887

Carol :heart1:

[Kevin]

Great. I thought they were no big deal. The little worms. I have a bunch of tanks on a system, in the wet dry portion I have put down filter floss, the blue and white stuff, under that are about 4 inches of bio balls and some lava rock in the bottom, all this is in a barrel that holds 45 gallons with a big pump the heaters etc. Will removing the floss help? I thought it was a good idea since it catches the bigger leftovers. The salt kills them pretty good. I had used lifebearer in the past but the fish don't like it. I have a couple of fluid filters. Will that help? I am glad this topic was brought up. I know that ignorance is bliss, so I have been real happy, up till now. What a can of worms. I did print the total kill off page Carol put up. Thanks K.

[EthanCote.com]

Hi Troy,

I believe it is the peat that is doing this. I recalled a fella in Australia had the same problem when he uses peat to soften his water. Since both of you are in Australia, I assume u might be using the peat from the same source.

Try getting rid of the peat and see if the number of these worms increases or decreases.


Cheers,

Chi.

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Kevin:
Don't panic. Planaria are easy to get rid of and won't hurt your discus.

Troy has not been able to get rid of his worms and new problems keep occuring. That's why I suggested he start over with just the bare necessities in the tank.

If I get lax on cleaning and overfeed in the adult tanks I end up with planaria on the walls too. It's a sign to clean the tank and filteres really good plus cut back on food. Everything goes back to normal and all signs of the planaria disappear in a week or so.

Troy has other worms besides planaria and he has discus with signs of HITH (from another thread). Maybe the peat is the problem. I forgot he was using that. Perhaps chucking it and a good clean up will set things right.
Carol :heart1:

[Kevin]

Carol do you think I should toss the floss? I have a bunch more of the bio balls. I could use more of them and feed less. Is there any truth in that feed only what the fish will eat in five miniutes thing?

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Kevin:
It sounds like you're using the floss as a prefilter. I'd throw it out every week and replace with fresh floss. Healthy discus will eat all food in 5 - 10 minutes.
Carol :heart1:

[troy]

Hi all

Chi , i am useing gold coast peat from australia, the more i use the more of these worms i have in the tank. I have been using the peat for a year, but recently with all the new changes to my tank these worms have taken over, the bottom of my tank looks white because of these worms , i syphon them off but the next day they are back again.
As for the parasites , i am not shaw where these have come from but they have taken over the tank too.

I have been told by a breeder that boiling peat for ten mins is the way to go, this kills the bugs and as he said all peat is better used after boiling, but i do not know why. Anyone now why ?

Hopefully after the big tank clean boiling the peat and less fish waste sitting around the tank keeps these bugs away.

Troy

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Troy:

Why don't you try it with just a tank, heater, filter and thermometer. No peat, no decorations, etc. Totally clean (wipe down) your tank, heater and filter and rinse your media (but don't nuke it yet) and see if the worms, etc. clear up.

Carol :heart1:

[EthanCote.com]

Hi Troy,

The guy from Australia I believe is called "BlueTurquoise" who also had problem with the peat. Perhaps he has found a new clean source of peat to use, not sure. You can check around the forum for his nick and then email him. If you can't find his email, try "Pascale", I believe they are friends.

Perhaps he can help you in a new peat source.

Perhaps try boiling the peat as suggested by the local breeder and see what happens. Boiling normally kills most nasty out there anyhow. Its worth a try if you wish to continue using your old peat stock.


Cheers,

Chi.

[sam's]

OK i had exactly the same problems it is one heck of a problem, lets fix the problem now .First make sure the p.h is 6.2-6.5. Second lower the temperature to 32 exact. Third use metronidazole , dovaworm and garlic powder for about 10-15 days. Fourth do 20% water changes everyday then sit back and enjoy our healthy discus

by the way i am Sam and i guarantee u this will work

hope ur discus get well soon!

P.S don't feed them blood worms or tubifex worms during this time as this causes parasites.

[DiscusDrew]

This is an incredibly old thread, impressive you even found it....