worm/ bug help

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slowpony306

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 26, 2009
26
0
0
winthrop harbor IL
Need some advice on what they are or how to get rid of them. Tank is a 125 with 1 tsn and 1 rtc. Tank was up for at least 6 months with the tsn and had no problems. 2 weeks after adding the rtc, i have little worms in my sand, blowing around through the water, they are everywhere. They are clearish white with black on the tip of them. Has a fx5 filter on it. temp is 75 degrees. I have noticed too i have some tiny green bugs and a few tiny orange ones with wings on the underside of my lids. they are dead so i don't know if it's what the worms turn into?

Fish have no problems that i know of. Look healthy, act healthy etc. My readings for the tank are 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, and 20 nitrates, ph is 7.8.
I vacuum the sand once a week when i do my 30% water change. i feed them mainly store bought pre cooked shrimp, once in a while gold fish. i have thoroughly cleaned the filter twice and added a polishing pad but havesn't changed anything. LFS says it's from over feeding but it's hard to believe because they get fed once a week, and not that much.

What are your thoughts, how do i get rid of them? Makes my tank look a little hazy when looking long ways through it.
 
How big are they? I once recall having these in a 50 gallon tank with one Largemouth bass, but the worms only lasted for about a month until all the surviving mosquito fish and rosey reds I feed to my bass ate them all. Also, there were lots of small bug like looking things under my lid as well. To me, they didn't seem to harm my lmb whatsoever, but if you want them gone, try adding some small, but big enough fish to eat the worms. Preferably fathead minnows, buy them in bulk at your local baitstore. Usually 1$ a dozen at a resonable baitstore. They work really well for getting rid of small worms, mainly mosquito larvae. Even if your cats eat many of them, it should only be a few weeks until the worms are gone. But I don't remember ever getting rid of them completley, as the population would explode and then die off.
 
Most are a 1/4 inch or less. ill have to try getting some fish, but i dont want to over feed them. My tsn hasn't been fed alot since the worms came about, but his stomach looks like he just ate, i'm wondering if the silica sand is messing up his digestive track some how.
 
You could always try adding lots of floating plants, or at least plants were your cats don't normally go. Add around a dozen mosquito fish, 2 dozen if there seems to be several hundred worms. After that, I'd say it'd take at least a month till 90% are gone. That sounds like the same size, but who knows? Maybe the worms are parasetic? I know my lmb was always fat, I did feed him a lot. But he did eventually die about 6 months after the first sight of worms. I don't know why. The worms maybe?
 
Why do you feel you need to get rid of them. Having a mixture of species is what makes an ecosystem healthy.

If they aren't hurting anything then why kill them?

Seriously, do you have any idea how many little critters are in that tank that you can't see?!?? You probably have a nematode of some variety, they are harmless and help to break down any uneaten food. Their numbers will go up as water quality goes down. Change 50% a week, don't over feed and keep vacuuming, you will see fewer and fewer of them.
 
It's not that they are hurting anything, just have not seen them in any of my other tanks and it makes my tank look a little hazy. i don't know if they are hurting the fish or not. Fish seem to be ok.
 
If you want to find out what's wrong with your fish, you have to give more information. So far, between this thread and the other one, we know that you use sand as substrate and have planaria in the tank. Neither of these cause swelling or bloat. There's something else going on. If you want help, please go back to the thread you posted on the substrate -- I put some questions there. They are from the sticky on fish disease and illness. If you answer those, I assure that you will get more educated answers on what could be wrong with your fish. Here is the link to that post: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286015. Please take the time to give this information.
 
If they aren't attached to your fish I wouldn't worry too much, they are probably scavengers of some sort. I had some tiny worms in my tank, about the width of a hair and 1/4" long. Got rid of them by feeding less and gravel vacs.
 
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