[RitzieAnn]

Hello, I just joined because I found some tiny white worms in my fish tank. I'm kind of grossed out.

I know the general basics in aquarium keeping, and I've been keeping fish for about 8 years or so, but this perticuliar tank is a new thing for me.

It houses a Blue Gill from a local lake. I've had the fish for about a year and a half. I've never noticed worms before. His filter (penguin 175, I believe) currently has no pad in it, because I forgot to purchase it.... I forgot that pad is different than my other tanks :S

I was watching the "debris" in his tank float around, and some of it was dancing. I watched very carefully and the stuff is all over the tank.... dancing. It moves, even in the side farthest away from the filter. It's gross.

It's just Donny (the Blue Gill) in this tank, and it's a 29 gallon, with the one filter, 2 fake plants, and 1 live plant.

Here's a picture of Donny He's a handsome fish.

EDIT: Apparently I can't post pictures yet... I'll show you a picture when I've made the required 5 posts

 

[JIM]

These are planaria, which are flatworms and members of the Platyhelminthes phylum.

Planaria are often found in aquariums where the owner overfeeds, and then leaves the uneaten food. They won't hurt the fish, but they are a symptom of a too deep gravel bed, holding too much uneaten food, and that is bad for the fish.



This what you should do:

1. Clean Your Aquarium. In particular you should clean your gravel with a good gravel Vac such as a Python.

2. Add Aquarium Salt to your aquarium up to a maximum of 1 Tablespoon for each 5 gallons of water in your aquarium.

3. Clean your gravel every day with the Python. When you've done a 20% removal of water from your tank, refill as you normally would.

4. It may take several days of this to fully clean the tank. When it is finally r clean, remove all but about 1/4" of the gravel. If you use an undergravel filter it may have to be removed to properly remove all dirt accumulated there, if you do this i advise removing the fish to safe quarters beforehand, because the gunk built up under there can be really bad stuff.

5. Add Quick Cure. Each day after you clean your aquarium and wash the gravel, treat the water with 1 drop of Quick Cure for each gallon of water in your aquarium. You can also replace the salt you removed with the water at a rate of 1 Tablespoon per 5 gallons of water.

6. Small fish such as neons or white clouds might eat some of the planeria so that could help some

7. Without a doubt this is a pain to accomplish, and will help you remember, not to overfeed your fish, only as much as they will completely remove in about 2-3 minutes and do that only a pinch at a time, when they seem somewhat disinterested, Stop feeding. I hope this helps.