EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

[leahd626]

I was goint to clean my 29g tank with my one tiger oscar and there is a few 1/2 inch or so worms in the water! What are they and how to get rid of them. Tiger seems fine, HELP!

[Mzungu]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

Are they actually swimming in the water? Have you done any recent water tests? If they're the worms I  think you're talking about, they usually appear in tanks that have accumulated lots of waste. That's very possible in a 29g with an oscar. :)

[leahd626]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

They were swimming in the water, I dont see them now.He is past due on his water change but only two weeks. Im running a emp 400 on his tank. Other than a major tank cleaning what do I need to do to keep him from getting sick from these nasty things?

[rrocket2002]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

Do they have flat triangle looking heads?  If so, its because you are overfeeding and/or not vacuuming the substrate often enough.  Don't feed your oscar for a few days or just enough for him to snack and remove any left overs.  They should die off if there is no food supply.

[leahd626]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

I dont tink so, I think they were straight, almost looked like thread. I feed him twice a day and he is usually looking for more after he eats the pellets I give him. 4-6 med. each feading and once a week or so I give him a molly. My daughter n law dumped about 40 small  mollies on me cause she didnt want them anymore I dont know what else to do with thim so Tiger gets one a week.

[rrocket2002]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

Are they free swimming or on the glass?

[cichlid1409]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

sounds like the tanks been too dirty for too long keep good cleaning regiment and should clear up.

[leahd626]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

Free swimming. Im giving it a good cleaning after kids get in bed. he hasnt been in this tank but a couple of weeks so I didnt think it was to bad but guess I was wrong.

[Mzungu]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

They shouldn't harm the oscar, but a nice water change once a week should get rid of them. If you get a nitrate test kit, that can help you determine if the water changes you're doing currently are sufficient.

[leahd626]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

I did a 99% water chance last night. I put  tiger in a cycled tank that stays empty and cleaned the Sh*t out of his tank. I was going to do a 50% water change in a couple of days and then go back to my once a week changes once it seems to be rid of the nasty things.

[djmatthewblack]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

Planeria maybe?

[leahd626]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

They didnt seem to go away so Tiger is in another tank till I get that tank cleaned and recycled with an undergravel filter and a hob.

[crazybettaman]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

look closley does it have a dark little bitty head on it. at the very tip

[leahd626]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

didnt look that close but I already drained it. But from what I remember, no I dont think so.?

[Paleoguy]

Re: EWWWWW! Help!Thin white worms in oscar tank!??

I agree either planaria or nematodes. Not a danger to the fish! This is a symptom of overfeeding. Slow down on the food!

Cures:

      1. NO OVERFEEDING!

      2. Freguent water changes - stir that gravel and siphon the results!

      3. Test for ammonia  if it's too high you are still feeding too much!

      4. Buy a loach or some killies and watch them get fat on the planaria!

      5. In the old days, we added a couple of teaspons of salt per gallon of water. I hesitate to suggest this because of the  
          possible effects on sensitive fish and plants.

      6. Another way we used to collect planaria in grad school for labs was to tie a small piece of meat to string and drop it
          the water. They would collect on the meat. (Please note the author is IN NO WAY SUGGESTING THAT YOU PLACE
          A PIECE OF MEAT ON A STRING IN YOUR TANK