Sick Of Pests In My Tank!

[lrhodes]

So... I found the worms a while back. Still don't know what they are... I was told parasitic worms won't thrive long in substrate without a host. Well... that's the only place they are at, my gravel. They ball up like tubifex.
Anyways... today during gravel vac I scooped some up to see how they acted... and I noticed teeny tiny grey round things moving... know of any tiny tiny bugs that are round and grey?
I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown with all these unknown tiny things in my dang gravel!
I will post links to the pictures. I don't know that you'll be able to see the grey bugs (well distinguishthem from just the waste and gunk...)

http/m.flickr.com/photos/102865796@N07/12374337194/lightbox/

http/m.flickr.com/photos/102865796@N07/12373893385/lightbox/
http/m.flickr.com/photos/102865796@N07/12374360014/lightbox/

 

[BerryAttack]

very strange.
limit the amount of food you are allowing in the tank. when feeding, after the fish have had their fill do a quick sweep with the vacuum and that'll remove the food. you'll have to starve them out (kinda like what you do if you have snails).

 

[ag-au]

Wow that's rough. Do you have live plants? Those might be giving food, too. =[

 

[lrhodes]

I don't have live plants in that tank... and the guppies only get fed once a day, usually. Maybe I'm over feeding my plecos in there? I just like to make sure that I know they are eating enough. Since they get fed at night and all, I don't get to see them eat often. But there isn't normally food left over that I can visibly see......
I'm just stressed not k ow what these things are! Lol.

 

[lrhodes]

And whatever these are.... they aren't killed by malachite green and formalin. (Just thought I'd add that little info..

 

[BerryAttack]

i feed my fish 3 times a week, and by cories/pleco once a week (they get the left over food from what i feed the other fish and i also have over 100 snails so they take care of the night clean up )
feed your fish less, and if you are worried about your bottom feeders not getting enough food you can tell by the plumpness of their belly.

 

[star4]

Do the tiny grey bugs swim around in circles? if so those are seed shrimp (can be called other things too) they are harmless, however you do have rather a lot of tubifix worms. These sorts of little creatures will appear as their eggs can be found in fish foods (mostly flake). If they really bother you, then you could daily gravel vac to get rid of as many as you can, or you can take out all the gravel and change it, but chances are you wont be able to remove all the eggs and you may end up with them again.

 

[coolie]

I second the over feeding thing. If you say you feed at night and don't get to see them eat, well it should only take 2 or 3 minutes max for them to feed.

 

[fluttermoth]

I second the over feeding thing. If you say you feed at night and don't get to see them eat, well it should only take 2 or 3 minutes max for them to feed.

 
The OP has plecs though, coolie. You can't expect grazing fish like plecs to eat all they need in a few minutes.

 

[coolie]

Those bugs are living on something.

 

[lrhodes]

I feed my guppies during the day. And they pretty much wipe out what I pit in there within a minute. If any small flakes fall to the bottom, the fry normally take care of it.
I guess I can feed the plecos less. How much and how often would you suggest?

If they "creatures" are harmless, then I'm not too worried. But they kind of gross me out... especially since I didn't deliberately put them there..