worms in substrate

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M

madme

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2011
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oshawa
Hello everyone i'm new to this forum, found it online well doing some research on some issues i'v had with my aquarium and found it to be of great help.

I'v currently got a 55g tank with 5 fancy goldfish in it. About a month ago I noticed a small hair like thing wiggling around in the tank, at first I thought maybe was just a peace of cat hair in there, but after doing a water/vac. cleaning I noticed a lot of these things comming up the suction tube.
Things I have done so far:
1. reduced there feeding
2. water/vac. cleaning every third day
3. lfs said to try jungle tabs parasite clear, no luck
4. add 3 corydorace cat fish, this seem to help a little but there still there

I'm realy getting stumped and not to sure what to do. The fish are healthy as a horse, the water conditions are great, I have 3 filters and undergrave, aqua clear 70, and a heim canister flilter going. At this point any help would be great.

Note the worms look like little hair's, i'm thinking a type of round worm, and have been there for about a month and a bite.

thanks John
 
They are 100% completely harmless.

No need to kill them at all.

They are a round worm, one of about 60,000 species. Your fish tank is an ecosystem, it contains a LOT more than just fish. There are more buggies, bacteria and protists that you can't see than there are that you can. This particular species is large enough to see. You will also find it climbing up your glass above the water line if you do large water changes.

About 3 years ago I picked up some fish off a guy on Craigs list. I saw worms in his tank and thought, well this shy QT is so important and that clean water and such would make the worms go away. Nope, they do better in cleaner water! They have found their way into nearly every tank in my house. FYI: I have a LOT of tanks.

They are just part of the ecosystem. No worries at all.
 
Some small worms are there because the tank is extremely dirty. It doesn't sound like this is the case, but how often were you gravel vacing before? I had them for years in my lined puffer tank, they never hurt anything, in fact they were probably the only scavengers that could survive in that tank. Those are mean, mean fish.
 
Well i'm glad to here that its nothing to worry about. This had me a little freaked cause i'v never seen this before, but also have never had a tank set up that was as clean and over filter like this either.

I do regular water/vac. cleaning, everything week I do a 15-20 percent water change.
 
Then leave em alone. The only concern is if they get really large numbers, and then have a sudden die off, could cause an ammonia spike. But if your keeping your tank like you stated above, I don't see their numbers getting that high. Enjoy your new pets! And if they freak you out, you ever look into a reef tank at night? Lots of wiggly things with more arms and legs then their supposed to have!
 
Just for general information what would be a high amount of these worms? I rarely see these little things with the lights all on, but I see them mainly when I do my vac. cleaning, i'l see them comming up the suction tube. When I do see one or two floating around, my goldfish will eat them up like a little snack. Sorry to bug yea's with this but i'm just trying to learn more about this for future information.
 
When they approach critical mass, you'll know. I do not think that you will though, as you seem to be doing regular maintenance.
 
Yep, they are from overfeeding/under cleaning. GF are extremely dirty fish. A single adult needs a minimum of 30g & 90% weekly WC.
 
I don't beleave to be over feeding them, they get fed once a day and all the food I put in is gone in less then a min. These guy's love there food. There fed the goldfish crisp's, and twice a week i'l feed them peas. 90 percent water changes once a week seems a little high to me, but might be wrong.
 
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