Weirdest Thing- mini worms in tank

jac8724

jac8724

AC Members
Dec 1, 2006
218
0
16
Chicago
I just moved my betta in a small acrylic 5 gallon tank from my parents house to my apartment. At home, the tank and water was fine. I put him in the little cup he came in, emptied the tank, set the cup and his bottle of food down in the tank and strapped him in the front seat.

Got here, and just filled up the tank. There are tiny womrs all in the water and he is eating them! I checked the water from the sink, and it didnt come from there (thank god). The only thing i can think of is that i feed him Hikari dried blood worms...and they almost look like baby blood worms- but alive! They are about 1/2 cm long, and super thin. Almost a beige color. What the heck are these???!!!???!!!
 
To be more descript, they are free floating, round, as thin as a hair, and off white. They free float for 5 seconds, in almost a C shape, and then wiggle, from both ends, but not in the middle, for about 2 seconds and go back to a free float, for another few seconds. My betta seems to think they are tasty. His tank has been incredibly clean, as i just bought the betta about a month ago and have been doing alot of water changes for his fishy cycle. But i also noticed a slightly whitish spot on his flank a few days ago, dont know if this has anything to do with it. any help would be appreciated.
 
bump... I'm anxious to see the answer to this, too. I am having trouble getting rid of internal parasites in my tank. I have seen white stringy poop for months now. I saw little wormy things like what you described when I used Jungle Anti-parasite tabs. I am wondering if those wormy things were parasites that got passed out of the fish. If so, it did little good for them to be passed, because the fish were eating them right up.
 
kimmisc said:
bump... I'm anxious to see the answer to this, too. I am having trouble getting rid of internal parasites in my tank. I have seen white stringy poop for months now. I saw little wormy things like what you described when I used Jungle Anti-parasite tabs. I am wondering if those wormy things were parasites that got passed out of the fish. If so, it did little good for them to be passed, because the fish were eating them right up.
Click to expand...
try a dfferent med

if you have been dosing the parasite med..the parasites themselves become more tolerant of the meds.
flubenzadole or fenbenzadole are other anti parasite meds you can try,

now in terms of the little worms the fish is eating..can you get a picture.

possible you have midge pupae or an aquatic insect.

when we see 'blood worms' we either get red mosquito larvae or midge larvae.
the pupal stage of the midge is different than the larval stage. midges larvae are commonly considered blood worms.
 
jac8724 said:
\and they almost look like baby blood worms- but alive! They are about 1/2 cm long, and super thin. Almost a beige color. What the heck are these???!!!???!!!
Click to expand...


These sound like (TO ME) they are planaria and are not harmful to the fish per se/, but what CAN be harmful to the fish is using medication to get rid of the planaria.

The medicine burns the skin, eyes and gills of the fish and can wreck havoc on the biological system. The planaria are feeding on excess waste in your aquarium gravel. Feed less food, vacuum the gravel at least once a week while removing (AT LEAST) 25% of the water and they will disappear without stress to the fish or harming the system. They will disappear slowly, but they will disappear. They can't make it in a clean tank.

You are most likely over-feeding.


LJx
 
from what I've read and experienced in my tank, if you don't see worms hanging out of your fish's bum, you don't have a bad worm problem. my fish love eating planaria and other worms and bugs that make their way into the tank, it's a big part of their diet. I agree that it sounds like you're overfeeding.
 
the free floating worms that wiggle are nematodes. Planaria tend to crawl around attached to something. I actually used to breed nematodes in a jar to feed my dwarf puffers a couple years ago. In reality though the best way to treat them is feed less. They are a sign of over feeding. As far as I know most species you see swimming in the water are more in danger of becoming a snack than harming your fish.
 
wthout pictures and only a description..you probably won't get a positive ID.

there are a lot of bugs that wiggle about in the water..many are not harmful and may be consumed as food.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom