a bloom of miniscule white worms

C

cawaltons

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Jan 8, 2005
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Tonight, when we turned on our filter after doing a water change, we saw what looked like a bunch of white fuzz come out of the filter (like dust in the sunlight). Only, it wasn't dust, it was alive. The fish started eating them up, but they couldn't have eaten them all.

What on earth?!?! In early January, we fed some live tubifex. Could these be baby tubifex?

I am so grossed out!

BTW - we are using an Aquarium Systems Millennium Mechanichem Cartridge without the activated charcoal this week since we are treating with medicine.
 
they wriggled

They wriggled around in the water, generally falling.

We've been vacuuming the substrate during our weekly water changed. We changed the filter cartridge once in two months. I think they came from the BioGrid plate in my filter which is totally separate from the mechanical and chemical filtration and is supposed to preserve the biological filter even when the mechanical/chemical filtration cartridge is replaced.

But maybe we are overfeeding. We feed a sugar-cube-sized portion of frozen blood worms every other day for the benefit of our two African Dwarf frogs. I've noticed the neon tetras and betta gorge themselves on the blood worms. Maybe I should skip the flakes for the next feeding after the blood worms?
 
Try looking up planaria. Planaria are harmless, often the result of overfeeding. I'd ease up a bit on the food, maybe increase the frequency of water changes, and they should go away on their own.
 
planaria

Blinky said:
I'd ease up a bit on the food, maybe increase the frequency of water changes, and they should go away on their own.
Click to expand...

Hmm. That sounds like them. One site (http://www.****************/information/having_trouble_p2.htm) recommended the following:
1. Clean Your Aquarium. Click here to read about Cleaning Your Warm Water Aquarium. In particular you should clean your gravel with a Gravel Washer. Click here for more about a Gravel Washer.

2. Add Aquarium Salt to your aquarium up to a maximum of 1 Tablespoon for each 5 gallons of water in your aquarium. I seem to remember you have a so-called 29-gallon aquarium, which probably has about 25 gallons of water. If so, you should add a maximum of 5 Tablespoons of Aquarium Salt. If, for example, you already have 2 Tablespoons in your water, add 3 more Tablespoons.

3. Don't Over React. Clean your gravel every day with the Gravel Washer. When you've removed 20% of the water, stop and top your aquarium back up with tap water from the faucet. In your case 20% of 25 gallons = 0.20 x 25 = 5 gallons. Repeat this procedure every day.

4. It may take several days of gravel washing to get your gravel really clean. When it is finally really clean, begin removing gravel, until it is at most 1/4" deep. If you have an under gravel filter, email me back, because you'll need some more advice, or click here to go to another website with information about how to remove an under gravel filter.

5. Add Quick Cure. Each day after you clean your aquarium and wash the gravel, treat the water with 1 drop of Quick Cure for each gallon of water in your aquarium. In your case this will be 25 drops once a day each day. Click here for more about Quick Cure. You can also replace the Aquarium Salt that you removed, which would be 1 Tablespoon in the 5 gallons of water.

6. Small fish such as baby mollies might eat the planaria. I would try adding a few small fish to see if they will eat the planaria.​
Sound like overkill?
 
Sounds like overkill to me. Fish will eat them, and keeping the tank very clean (frequent water changes and gravel vacs) along with reducing feeding should take care of things without major disruption or stressful meds and salt.
 
I usually shave off 1/4th of a blood worm cube, if that, and feed my frogs with a baster until I am sure they have each had a worm or two. Then put the rest above their head. The fish usually scarf them. I have 4 frogs and 7 fish. I used to do this every other day and it was still a lot of food/waste/ammonia. Now I do less feedings, everyone is still alive, and I also use freeze dried tubifex, which everyone eats and they float longer so everyone gets a chance.

Sorry no help for the worms.

lisa
 
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