Worms, Not Good.

[Zeiro]

Hello, I have had a fish tank for about 2 years with my current one and this is about my fifth year to actually be in the fishy business. I started to clean out and siphon my water for a 10% water change and during my gravel cleaning stage i start to notice little white things. Look at my bucket I'm siphoning the water to and its full of white worms, tiny swimming little B4stards. Now i'm wondering when i started the siphon did i get any inside of me but to my fish, i had two angel breeding pair die the other day now i know why. How can i get rid of them and should i go check myself up see if i have any inside of me....Def freaking out now. Thanks for the help in advanced

 

[Piti]

Hitchhikers In Freashwater
If you can identify I'm sure it will help you out a lot!

I had a simmilar problem finding little white worm things in my tank, and I was soooo afraid of them being a parasite. I was relieved to find out its mostly due to overfeeding and the things were harmless. I also read and saw with my own eyes that if stir up the subtrate and one gets loose, that lots of fish will eat them. When my wife saw the little worms, she panniced and said that she would never touch the fish tank again. *gets smacked in the back of the head.

Sorry if this isnt what your looking for, sorry about your angles, but im not sure that's what killed them, and i do not think you are at risk of having parasites in you. no need to pannic

 

[Zeiro]

whew, yup, wormy things on the bottom of list. Thank the Lord. So, they will eventually die off or i gotta start putting something in my water for a little? Thanks for the info. Had to be to over feeding i've been cutting down a lot lately

 

[Piti]

Keep reading down that page, great information, and it explains what to do. Mostly dont worry about it. It says it's mostly benificial.

 

[Katty]

I've had those little white wormy things for at least a year now, ever since I introduced a live plant. I cannot get rid of them entirely and I don't think they can be killed off (they survived several months of dosing malachite green/formalin for ich). Fortunately, they seem harmless and congregate in the substrate where I don't clean as much, like the corners. Also, my betta will eat them but sometimes they will bump into his head and crawl around on there until they swim back off. For yourself, just wash your hands with hot soap and water after you put your hands in the tank. It's a good habit to get into, all sorts of funny stuff grows in fish tanks.

Once I took one into the schools biology lab to look at them under the microscope, and my biology teacher had a look and said with assurance that they were "insect larvae" but she had no idea what kind. They were definitely not planarian worms or nematodes though, however I'm not sure what they specifically are, other than a mild annoyance.

 

[Zeiro]

Ok, Sounds good. Thanks everyone for the help.