white worms

R

richy

AC Members
Oct 12, 2004
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i have a small infestation of white worms, which i have determined to be planaria, based on some of the accounts of other hobbyists. i've already run a search on how to get rid of them, but most of the advice seems to be aimed at reducing the population than eradicating them. how do you get rid of them without having to tear down the tank and doing a complete cleaning of all equipment, etc.? i've already reduced feedings to 1/day and doing 2 water changes per week at 20% to curb the population. thanks.

-r
 
I've noticed these in one of my tanks also. The tanks been up for about 8 months and still has all the inhabitants it originally started with minus one that died a day after it was added. Never had any other problems though, with illness or anything else.

After reading your post I became concerned however. Most of the infomation I can find on planarians says that they are harmless however. I'm hoping the information is reliable.

A search for Aquarium Pests found this about them.

Fish Health - MSN Group
 
Richy - try AquariSol - it will get rid of them. You use it in a theraputic dose every day to kill stuff, and then can use it once or twice a week as a preventative treatment. I killed them off in my tank and they have never come back using this product. Since I started using it weekly - my fish have also been much healthier overall - no sickness in years.

One word of caution - remove any invertebrates from the tank cuz it will kill them as well. I lost a couple of 3 year old apple snails that way.

HTH - Mary
 
They are most likely nematodes which are harmless, but unsightly. They will thrive in overfed and undercleaned tanks. Keep up your water changes, vacuum your gravel often, and reduce your feeding to only what your fish can eat in a few minutes. Unless all of your food continuously floats, it's best to feed them a bit at a time during each feeding so that less will sink past your upperwater and midwater fish and become logged in the gravel.

I had a breakout of these shortly after my hex tank became established. Cutting back on food and vacuuming did wonders. It is not likely that you will ever truly be rid of nematodes...they exist in everthing. But they are not usually noticable unless they have a good amount to feed on.
 
MamaBarb said:
Richy - try AquariSol - it will get rid of them. You use it in a theraputic dose every day to kill stuff, and then can use it once or twice a week as a preventative treatment. I killed them off in my tank and they have never come back using this product. Since I started using it weekly - my fish have also been much healthier overall - no sickness in years.

One word of caution - remove any invertebrates from the tank cuz it will kill them as well. I lost a couple of 3 year old apple snails that way.

HTH - Mary
Click to expand...

unfortunately, i do have inverts in the tank... some amano shrimp and snails, as it is a planted tank. it doesn't look like i will be able to use this option. thanks for the advice tho. :sad
 
i've been thinking....

in one of the articles that stephen pointed to, it mentions the possibility of the planaria worms getting stuck in the gills of the fish and causing irritation. if this is the case, then it can be concluded that the planaria ARE NOT as harmless as tho't, correct? i have noticed that my fish do "jump" suddenly without provocation or reason, and i am wondering if this may be the reason. i have not noticed too many instances of the planaria hangin around, but if the planaria are indeed in the gills, the stress of irritation will cause problems, will it not? so the question becomes how i should treat. any suggestions?
 
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