So I did a little rearranging in my JD tank, and after moving a few rocks around, I noticed that there are tiny little white worm looking things swimming around in the tank. My male JD actually ate a couple the moment he saw them as he is defensive of his fry right now. I was just wondering if anybody possibly knew what these tiny white worms could be and if they are bad for my fish or not. Just hoping they aren't a type of parasite or anything. Thanks in advance.
strange "worms" in water
- Thread starter braddasteve
- Start date
Sounds like planaria which are harmless but can be caused by overfeeding and/or lack of substrate cleaning issues. Sounds like you need to give your substrate a good cleaning with a gravel vac.
Planaria is a flat worm almost like tiny white leeches in apperance for want of a better discription. If these are tiny white hair like round worms that swim in the water columb then they are of the turbatrix family, related to vinagar worms. They feed on bacteria in fish excrament. Both are harmless non parasitic worms, to get rid of them do several complete gravel celannings and they will go away. While they pose no direct threat they are a sign that somthing isn't right. As over feeding is one of the main causes of these guys having a population explosion I would cut back on feeding, continue with your weekly water changes, clean the subtrate and preform regular filter maintance.
Another quick question, would it be best to take the JD parents and fry out while I do complete substrate cleanings? Or let them stay in the tank while I do it?
The planeria may actually be good food for the fry after they grow a bit. By trying to capture parents and fry, you may stress the parents into eating the fry. If you can do water changes on the opposite side of the tank as the school of fry, you may be better off.
Wrong, leave them they're normal and controlled by clean water. My tanks have had them for over ten years with no problems.
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