I have worms in my tank. What are they??????

[Zebvance]

I have worms in my tank. What are they??????



They are in my 46 gallon grow out. I saw them last week and thought they were maybe planaria worms. But the more i Google pics of them these don't look like it. The don't stick to the glass and they come out and swim/ squiggly around when I go to clean the gravel. They are small ( biggest are at most maybe 1/4 of a inch) white (almost see through) tiny squirmy worms..... help me out guys i am trying to attach a video of them.


here is a video I took of one i caught in a glass.----

[Zebvance]

I just went and looked in my 240 gallon and stirred up some sand and saw them
in there too.

[Zebvance]

I just started up my 2 xp3's after i got done with the water change and about a billion of them came out of the filters.oh and the fish went munching on them immediately.

[armthehomeless]

Sounds like detritus worms (No idea what the scientific name is). I'll get back on a post more tonight.

[Zebvance]

Sounds like detritus worms (No idea what the scientici name is). I'll get back on a post more tonight.

Thanks bud.

[armthehomeless]

from : http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com...s-in-fish.html

"Detritus Worms (from the group of worms called Oligochaetes, sub group naidid worms) are often misidentified in the aquarium hobby as Planaria without close inspection by many internet articles such as about.com.
Many of these worms are accidentally introduced by live plants, gravel (especially in the case of common Detritus Worms) live fish foods, and even brought in with fish transfers.
Many not familiar with Detritus worms will label these as everything form midge larvae, Planaria to baby earthworms, of which none is true. They are very common and most often seen during vacuuming and other cleaning procedures.
These worms generally are not a problem often go un-noticed living in the gravel aiding in breakdown of wastes, however high numbers of particular species can indicate low oxygen levels, cloudy water, poor Redox and low filter productivity, which very often suggests some degree of pollution caused by poor cleaning procedures, over crowding, over feeding and poor filtration. When the population explodes these worms often leave the gravel and cling to the sides, usually close to the surface as oxygen depletion due to the cumulative affects of increased organic mulm (often resulting to pH.KH drops, higher nitrates, poor Redox Balance), cloudy water and simply too many Detritus worms drives them from the oxygen poor gravel."

[Mzungu]

Planaria are usually pretty slow-moving, and tend to creep along surfaces, such as glass, substrate, plants, etc. I think you have tubifex worms.

Especially since you said the fish started munching on them immediately. Not too many aquarium fish species eat planaria.

[newb]

Tim is right I think. mix the gravel really well, and then do a big water change to remove as many as possible. we used Formalin to kill them at HAW when I worked there. Becareful if you go this route cause it can kill your fish.

[Mzungu]

Tubifex worms:

Planaria:

[Zebvance]

thanks guys. I think the cause Is over feeding. I do 80 water changes every weekend and clean the xp3's every2-4 weeks. I plan on cleaning the 2260 every couple of months. To what extent can I reduce feeding with out starving the fish?

[Zebvance]

Oh and Mzungu the links are not working.

[newb]

list your fish...what foods are you feeding

[Mzungu]

Oh and Mzungu the links are not working.

Should be now. I messed up.

[Mzungu]

thanks guys. I think the cause Is over feeding. I do 80 water changes every weekend and clean the xp3's every2-4 weeks. I plan on cleaning the 2260 every couple of months. To what extent can I reduce feeding with out starving the fish?

I'm guessing you mean 80% water changes?

You're only overfeeding if your fish aren't completely eating everything you feed them within 1-2 minutes. If there are still flakes/pellets/whatever after that, try feeding less next time, and so on until everything is eaten within that time frame.

[Zebvance]

list your fish...what foods are you feeding

In 240 gallon Stock List
(2)Pleco/ Hypostomus plecostomus
Bumble bee/ Pseudotropheus crabro
Red zebra/ Pseudotropheus estherae
Jack Dempsey/Ciclasoma octofasciatus
Electric yellow/Labiochromis bimaculataus
Convict/Archocentrus nigrofasciatus
Plumb head/ Vieja Synspilum
Johanni Mumba/Melanochromis johannii
Golden Mbuna/ Melanochromis auratus
Chipokee Mbuna/ Melanochromis chipokae
Super VC-10/ Placidochromis milomo
Salvini/Cichlasoma salvini
Malawi Eye Biter/Dimidiochromis Compressiceps

In 46 gallon Grow Out
Albino red zebra/ Pseudotropheus estherae
Blotch red zebra/ Pseudotropheus estherae
Rusty/Iodotropheus Sprengerae
Acci/Pseudotrophus sp
Green Terror/ Aequidens rivulatus
OB Peacock/Aulonocora Nyassue Var.

Permanent residents of 46 gallon.
Bulldog/Rubber Pleco / Chaetostoma cf. thomsoni (L187b)

Albino Bristlenose/ Bushy Nose Pleco /L-144 (Ancistrus Sp.)

Emperor / Flash Plecostomus/Panaque sp.L-204
Rio-Negro Pleco /Peckoltia sp. platyrhyncha (L 135)




I feed them Hikari (cichlid gold) and Wardley pellets