what are these worm like things?????? help

[MFdiscus]

they look like tiny little worms... string like.... move like an inch worm on the glass, from about a 1/4" some may be longer about
1/2". can also see them floating in the water.. they seem to be mostly on the glass, . they are hard to see if you don't know what you are looking for... are these a good thing or a bad thing??????? they are white. could some pls help.... can reply here
there isn't a lot of them but seem to notice them mainly after a water change....

there are also very small white pinhead looking things floating around and on the glass (are these babies?) or something diffderent??????

Matt & Frances:confused:

[pcsb23]

From your description they sound like planaria or stylaria. Neither are harmful as such but indicate that maintenance may need to be increased. This a new tank?

btw I've removed your email addy to avoid spammers bombarding you :)

[MFdiscus]

no this is not a new tank i have seen these before but dont know what they are i do 50% water changes everyday plus 80% every otnher day or so they dont seem to be on the fish either and dont seem to bother the fish i thought they might be gill flukes so tryied prazi to kill off but it seemed like it did nothing fish are fine though

[David Rose]

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=34834

Planaria:
Symptoms: White dots on the glass walls of the tank and inside the filter. Planaria love smooth surfaces.
Treat by cleaning your tank, rinsing the filter, wiping down the inside of your tank and increasing water changes. Decrease amount fed and use a prefilter if food and feces are being sucked into the filter. You can also dose with formalin at 1 cc per 10 gallons, but would need to watch for ammonia spike if heavy die off. --by Carol Roberts

[MFdiscus]

are they harmfull?

[David Rose]

Not at all, but given it is a sign of over feeding or insufficient water changes/tank maintenance that could lead to water quality issues or worse.

[kush]

I would have said planaria in a heartbeat, too, but with 50%-80% daily water changes... you've got to wonder. What kind of substrate do you have and are you getting right down in to it and cleaning it? Is it likely that food, feces and sundry detritus is sifting down into the substrate and staying there? If not, you may have something more exotic than planaria, although I can't think what off-hand - can you snap a pic?

[David Rose]

A good cleaning maintenance routine is needed on all discus tanks. Some may do more, but at a minimum I would recommend:

1) twice a month rinse filter media in non-chlorinated water and wipe out filter chambers with paper towel to remove any debris and slime, use a bristle cleaning brush (bottle washer) to clean intake and recessed areas.

2) perform 50% water changes three times a week thoroughly vacuuming substrate. If using a bare bottom tank, you can use a slimmer 1/4" drain tube to remove debris without a lot of water daily after last feeding into a 5G bucket.

3) when performing water changes above, wipe down the inside glass walls of your tank with paper towel to remove slime build-up.

4) use a pre-filter sponge on all filter intake tubes to act as a mechanical filter to prevent debris from accumulating in your filter chambers/floss/media. Squeeze and rinse sponges in non-chlorinated water weekly.

[Disgirl]

Just an idea here, David, could these be Hydra, like Coralife has? I still don't know how to put a link here for help. But I bet you can though :). It is post 173 in "Is this a good setup for my 1st discus tank" in Planted tanks. Thanks for the help in helping!
Barb:)

[David Rose]

Post #173
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=72179&highlight=Hydra&page=12 (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=72179&highlight=Hydra&page=12)

You Tube video of Fresh Water Hydra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=disPgqIdC_U (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=disPgqIdC_U)

If this is what you have use Trichlorfon or a product that contains Trichlorfon as one of its active ingredients such as “CLOUT”. Trichlorfon is useful for treatment of: Hydra, Lernia (Anchor Worms), Parasitic Copepods, Monodigenetic and Digenetic Flukes, Fish Lice (Argulus), Leeches.

Follow the dosage instructions on the manufacturer's packaging.