Someone tell me what the worms are!!!

B

billdobaggins

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Apr 20, 2006
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I have been running two tanks, a 20 with barbs and rainbow sharks, and a 55 with an oscar and 2 little convicts for about six months. I have already posted this question on yahoo answers and asked everyone I know, no one has been any help yet. To start, don't tell me they are planaria, planaria don't turn into bugs...

My 20 gallon stays crystal clear and bug free at all times, but in the 55 I keep developing these tiny worms that you can see on the decorations and on the glass at the bottom of the tank. Irregularly, when opening the lids, there will be little green bugs with wings on the surface of the water, mostly dead. I have researched and found two other people with the same insect problem, but they didn't know what they were either. I need to know how to eliminate these vermin. I have cleaned extensively and regularly, I even removed the stone from the tank, thinking it may promote the larvae in some way, but it was to no avail.

I did read that bloodworms are mosquito larvae. I have never fed live bloodworms, but I have fed dried bloodworms, and the little green bugs do resemble a mosquito. We never have mosquitos in the house, and it seems the bugs never make it out of the tank, so how does this cycle continue?
I've considered covering all the small gaps in the lid with screen, but it will make it a huge pain when cleaning.

I'm at a loss here, please help, kill the bugs, kill the bugs

amatakir@yahoo.com
 
Is it possible the bugs are flying into the tank trying to go for the light? Or is it in the same room as the 20 gallon? I've never heard of worms in the aquarium turning into insects. Do you have a picture of the worms or insects? That might help ID them.
 
In Aquatic Plants we recently had someone with larvae (some kind of grub or caterpillar) popping out of stems in their plants. I think they eventually metamorphosed into a flying insect when it was an adult. So it's not unheard of, but definitely alarming!

I can't give you a positive ID, but will tell you that frozen and freeze-dried worms will not come back to life to become mosquitoes. Maybe they are flying in from the air. Just be careful when covering the gaps in your lid. Your tank still needs to exchange gases or else your fish will suffocate.

As for how to get rid of them, I guess you could try a commercial parasite med that is added directly to the water. It's risky, though, because it's still a chemical that could harm your fish. Be sure not to use one with copper, as it will bind chemically to the material of your tank and never come out.

I don't really know, though, since I've never run into this. Maybe someone who has experience with this can suggest a safer solution?
 
If you live near a college with an entomology department you might be able to ask someone their for their opinion. That is to say if you take in some of the green bugs someone their may recognize them up close. It's nothing I can think of right off, but there has to be hundreds if not thousands of insects that deposit eggs in water around the country. I would guess its probably something local to your area unless maybe you had some plants shipped to you recently. As someone mentioned above you can try a parasite medication and see if that works or maybe even try using salts and high temps to see if that works. However it would be best if you could identify what your dealing with before acting though.
 
Pictures would be nice if possible.

Could it really be two seperate issues?
 
<and the little green bugs do resemble a mosquito>

Midges and crane flies can resemble a mosquito.

Sorry to say but you’re going to have to remove them manually as you spot them. A brine shrimp net is helpful for snagging the larvae.

Aquatic insecticides are just to harsh to use in an aquarium.


Tom
 
Hmmm... I wouldn't think they are two separate issues, but I suppose it's possible. Yes, the tanks are in the same room, not six feet from each other.

And I didn't think dead worms would come back to life, I thought that maybe a few live ones had slipped through the factory and survived in the jar they come in... unlikely, but feasible I think.

I may travel down to IU and see if their entomology dept. can help. Good suggestion, I was trying to think of someone I could go to.

I'm working on the pics, but they are so very small... It's hard to get a shot where they are even visible, let alone recognizable.
 
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I would suggest the worms are planaria. As far as mosquito's breeding in the tank, I would have to say this is an unusual experience as typically, home aquaria has far too much water movement for the mosquito's to be successful.
 
ive had flies breed in my tank, not that type, but a similar experience, the flies are harmless, but i got rid of mine by smooshing the flies as a saw them, but if anything, the larvae are free food for the fish!
 
Hmm... maybe you could try one of those bacterium-laced rings sold in Hardware stores and even at my LFS. They are supposed to at least disrupt mosquito larvae, and they might work on other bugs. I dont THINK the bacterium is harmful to fish. (If they sell it a a fish store, wouldn't THINK they are a deadly strain.)

SirWired
 
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