Help- Small white worms

[jdellman]

I did not know if I should post this in Water works, in food or in emergency. I have been feeding the Discus frozen Gamma Krill and frozen Gamma Worms, along with flakes and Tetra bits. I noticed today, after changing the water, that there are many, very small worms swimming around. I think that they are in the thin layer of gravel I have on the bottom, since I noticed them while I was siphoning.

Are these the frozen worms that are now "coming to life"? Is that possible? Are they a major concern? If so, how do I get rid of them? Should I change foods?

Any input would be appreciated.

[jdellman]

I have been searching and think they might be planaria worms. I probably have been overfeeding, but I would still like to know where they come from, if anyone knows. Also, shouldn't a UV sterilizer kill these?

[Carol_Roberts]

Do they look like little snips of thread? If yes, not planaria (and not frozen worms coming back to life) ;) They are a symptom of over feeding - high bioload. It's very hard to keep a tank with gravel clean . . . . . Also they are most likely hiding in the filter too. Do you have a prefilter on the water intake?

[jdellman]

Hey Carol- I do have a pre-filter sponge on both HOB filters, but installed one two weeks ago and the other a few days ago. I have probably been overfeeding, since the Discus do not seem to be eating much. I think the bioload is low, since I have 4 small Discuss and few other fish (Corys and tetras) in a 75 gallon. I have been doing the water changes pretty much every other day as well.

After looking further into it, I saw a mention of Nematode worms. The description of those fits better. I am not as worried about them after reading some of the articles, but even assuming I have been over-feeding, I would still like to know where do they come from. I understand the over-feeding can lead to more worms, but where do the initial worms come from?

Also, if you do not mind me asking another question about feeding, what is recommended? I have seen reccommendation to feed until they stop eating, or do not feed so much that the food hits the bottom. Everytime I feed them, it seems like the current takes the food directly to the bottom. (I am using an Emporer 400 and Aquaclear 300). Any suggestions on feeding?

As always, I appreciate the help.

[Carol_Roberts]

With a bare bottom tank it's OK for the food to hit the bottom. The discus will find and eat it. With gravel the food gets lost and disolves in many cases. I'm not sure where the worms came from - maybe they hitchhiked in on plants or decorations added from another source . . . .

[Multiclone]

Is this what you have?

[Multiclone]

2

[Multiclone]

If so a number of months ago I had a plague of them. Because all my tanks are on a recirculating system they were living in the pipes eating the gunk which builds up in them. At the time I was very concerned that it was something bad. I was more concerned when I saw young discus eating some. I tried everything to wipe them out of the system. Prazi, PP (at a massive dose) without any luck until I used Trichlorfon at 1 mg per ltr. I use the one from the garden supply shop. Here in Oz it is called Lawn Grub Killer 500. It is very concentrated 500 grams per litre. Take 1 mil of the concentrate add water to 500ml this is = 1mg per ml. Add it to the tank and leave for 3 days if water changes are done replace the trichlorfon you take out. I only have bb tanks so you may need a repeat or 2. If you do I would do it 4 days apart. This way not only do you rid yourself of your worms (sorry not your worms, your tanks worms :D ) you do a fluke treatment at the same time.
HTH.

Geoff
PS. The worms didn't hurt the fish.

[Multiclone]

The above calculations were from a bottle containing 100 ml. - 50 grams trichlorfon.

Geoff

[Carol_Roberts]

I think Fluke tabs contain trichlorfon

[hexed]

Hi,
I posted about this in a few other threads. The on ly way to get rid of them is to keep up with WCs. You will never get rid of them because I still see them from time to time. I got them from putting Stress Coat in my tanks. I was cycling my 30 gallon BB breeder and dropped the bottle of stress coat into the tank. I watched the worms come from the bottle. They do not harm the discus at all. You get get the numbers down with water changes. I also had some in my graveled tanks before I went BB, again I used stress coat. I got the numbers down by doing WCs. Nothing kills them! Nothing! I asked my LFS about it and they said they get them too, they also used stress coat to cycle tanks.
I set up my 50 gallon BB tank that divided and put sponges in it that I cycled in my other tanks and now I see the worms in there from time to time. They seem to like algea as well. When I get the algea growth from sun reflection and wipe it off the glass, I see lots of "little" ones swimming around.
HTH Frank

[hexed]

SORRY!
I said Stress Coat but it is Stress Zyme oops ;)

[jdellman]

Thank you all for the replies. I have already noticed a decrease in the number through the water changes. I was just a little anxious seeing them and not knowing what they were.

Hexed- You actually saw the worms coming out of the bottle? I bet you haven't used that brand since then.

[discusboy777]

If its planaria you can use quick cure 2 drops per gallon and than do a water change the next day and should get rid of them.

hth