More importantly how did it get there and how do I get rid of it?

I'm putting this in this folder because I don't have any fish in this tank anymore. I lost Ethel last week in this tank and noticed that there was a very slight level of ammonia ( she was always sensitive about every thing.. I actually think she was constipated or something else...but that's beside the point...) . So anyway, I removed her tank mate, cause he was lonely and put him in with the other guys. And so far they aren't showing any signs of anything and neither is the tank.

But the small 10 gallon I notices alot of ..."things" in it after I took the fish out. I had started to make intermittent cleaning, vaccuming and cleaning the rocks and stuff, and then after just letting it sit and filter a few days those things showed up. Today, those things have grown and they look like... itty bitt dots but they move on the glass. I'm assuming they are some kind of parasite? Any idea what kind? If it's fish lice, will I catch it? How did they get there? How do I get rid of it?

could you describe the bugs a little better??

dots on the glass? they could be teeny little air bubbles...I get that sometimes after I do alot of cleaning and water changes....just a thought!

If they are stuck to the glass, this is more than likely Planaria that were kicked up from the gravel vac..... photo by Tim johnson at cuadata culture.com not to worry though, they are utterly harmless and even a very good source of food for fry and small fish.

When you see these guys on the glass in your tank one or both of these things are happening:

1- not vacuuming enough. This needs to be done weekly (especially if you have more than 2 inches of gravel)

2- your gravel is too deep. at best, you need only have 1-2 inches at the most. A light layer is optimal.

Whats happening is you are letting a little too much stuff build up in the gravel. Sometimes this happens because of too little filtration as well. In a fully stocked tank, the filtration needs to be a little higher up on the gph scale (again, especially in deeper graveled tanks).


So, while your tank has no fish, you should still be doing gravel vacuums regularly. And, if it's going to be longer than a week or two, you will want to feed the tank some form of ammonia (100% pure unscented ammonia OR fish food left to rot for a few days and then vacuumed out and repeat)


Good luck!

Great info Toothless.

I had a problem with wormy like things when I first started out. They looked like little white wiggly cat hairs. My problem was overfeeding and dirty tank. They were litterally everywhere when I stirred the gravel. I had the same problem with brown ones too. I can't remember the scientific names of them though. IT was a type of nematode / planaria.

With the advice of toothless... they went away. (not to mention made good fish food for my smaller goldies when I stirred the gravel). More frequent cleaning and monitoring my feedings better...

If it's attached to your fish... it's a parasite and you'll need to post for further details.

Barbra

Thank you sooo much! That answers alot! I'll stay on top of the vaccuming and put some food back in there and let it sit for a few days before vaccumming again and putting the fish back in. Thanks alot!!!

what type of bugs are the little brown wormies that look like smallere blood worms??

Oligochaetes are the worms that move slowly through the substrate like an earthworm (they are related). They can be white, red, tan, brown, etc...

Flatworms are what planaria are. they include slug-luge features. Many different colors as well.

Roundworms are the ones that wiggle in an "S" shaped pattern when kicked up from the gravel or filter/bed. Aslo many colors but mainly white to brown.

None of these are harmful but they ARE harbingers of bad news..... Too much poo in the gravel or the filter/s aren't the correct gph for the tank.

Hope this helps

a couple questions.....

#1 HOW DO YOU GET RID OF THESE THINGS!!!!!!!!! ahhhhh! i cant stand them!!!!
I reduced the gravle by half in all my tanks, and this helped ALOT! but...they like are sucked onto the rocks, and dont suck up in the python! and theyer all over my bio balls, etc! i wanna get rid of these things!

is there like, a bug bomb for tanks??? im at the end of my rope here!

#2 what brings these on? just like, one day they appeared...nothing changed in my tanks....all have been set up for months

#3 am i confused, or did i read somewhere that snails poo out somekind of bug or something if they eat lots of a certain food?? is it these worms? the snails tank has them worst of all....

Well, I think I read somewhere that praziquantel (treatment for flukes, NON-toxic but very expensive) will also kill planaria. But I'll have to go re-checking into that.


So, you say they are everywhere, huh? In my experience, vacuuming the gravel 2-3 times a week for two weeks cleared it up nicely. In fact, I don't think I even have any planaria left in my tanks. Maybe now that they've all been through prazi treatments in the past.....

It sounds like you need a few good bottom feeders in your tanks. Cories and loaches are awesome for this.

As for apple snails and their digestion being helped by organisms goes, I've heard mention of it but there is no mention of it on this VERY in depth page: Apple snail digestion I think the reason you see more planaria in your applesnail tank is becasue they poo so darn much. At least, Mine seem to. And the thing about their poo is that is sticks to the gravel really well. Without fish to stir up the bottom, it just seems to sit there.

Other than stepping up the vacuuming (even the bio-balls need some light cleaning every now and then) and having less than 2 inches of gravel, I can't think of anything else to cut down their numbers. I think that with a little more persistance you'll get it licked.

Good luck!