Nematodes Or Planaria(tiny White Worms)

[Just_Another_One]

well ive noticed these tiny white worms in my 65G tank for a week now and its only gotton worse even though im doing 40 percent water changes/gravel vacs every 2 days......

i have not put any food in there at all for almost a week since my golden gourami is eating them like crazy and my bn pleco isnt eating anyways, im putting a cuke in there tonight to see if he wants to eat now though...(my 20 other fish died from columinaris last week)

anyways there is SOOOOO many and there starting to cloud my water and it is really grossing me out.... i just want them gone and everything back to normal, the vacs and water changes arent working as there is too many....

is ther any medication for parasites or something i can use to rid my tank of this

please help as im getting ready to just get rid of this tank as its caused me to much trouble lately but i really do like it and dont want to see it go....

 

[Colin_T]

Quite often the worms come out of the gravel after you use medication. The gravel cleans and water changes should help to clear them up but it might take another week or so.
You could try using copper in the tank to kill them but it might affect the catfish. Alternatively a wormer for fish could be tried. Normally tho you just keep the tank clean and allow it to settle back down, then the worms should go back into the gravel.

 

[Just_Another_One]

Quite often the worms come out of the gravel after you use medication. The gravel cleans and water changes should help to clear them up but it might take another week or so.
You could try using copper in the tank to kill them but it might affect the catfish. Alternatively a wormer for fish could be tried. Normally tho you just keep the tank clean and allow it to settle back down, then the worms should go back into the gravel.

thanks colin....thats what ive been reading that with gravel vacs and water changes that they should go away on there own... but im not sure that will work if there is millions of them floating around.... i dont see to many on the sides of the glass anymore though.

i didnt use any medication in the main tank though, i treated them in a spare 10 gallon tank. the only thing i put in the main tank is stress coat dechlor(of course) and flourish excel. id like to know where theyve come from... ive never seen them before at all... i did leave 2 pleco wafers in the tank 2 different days as mr pleco decided he wasnt hungry and wouldnt touch them. the gourami was eating at it so i just left it in there so maybe thats where they came from... who knows.

ill keep up with the gravel vacs and water changes for another week and see how it goes... i probably should be doing them everyday rather than every 2nd day but its alot of work hauling a 4 gallon bucket back and forth to the bathroom 16 times(8 to empty 8 to fill)


if after another one or 2 weeks there still there ill try some parasite worm tabs and hopefully that will help or else i dont know what to do.

 

[Colin_T]

The worms come in on plants and normally live in the gravel. If the tank conditions change suddenly (medication, sudden change in PH, etc) then the worms come out and look for a new home. In the wild they would emerge from the substrate and float downstream in the current. In a fish tank they can't go anywhere else so end up covering the glass and ornaments. When conditions settle back down the go back into the substrate.
Their numbers can be kept in check by minimising the food in the tank and keeping the gravel and filter clean. Water changes and gravel cleans help clean up the tank and reduce the food that is available to them, and this helps control their numbers.

It might have been the Flourish excel that caused them to come out of the gravel.

Plecos are messy fish that create a lot of waste. If this isn't remove regularly (via gravel cleans) then it can encourage the worms.

 

[Just_Another_One]

Happy to report most of the tiny white worms have gone away... i can only see one or two on the sides of the tank as opossed to 1000s that were on the walls just a couple days ago... i also dont see any floating around the tank any more.

When i do my gravel vacs i still do see some come up through the tube but nothing like it was before..

i havent put any food in the tank cept for a peice of cuke for my plec so maybe they are dying from lack of food.

im so glad i didnt have to go to any drastic measures with medication trials.