little things won't die

[red64toy]

Ok, so while I was away on winter break in december I had a automatic fish feeder feed my fish. When I got back there was a lot of algae(of course) and also these little tiny(when I say tiny i mean like super tiny) clear/whitish things moving around on the glass. I could also make them out floating through the water. I have since done a lot of water changes, put in a new and bigger filter and also added some rock salt to the tank. I only feed my fish what he can eat(nothing left over). I don't know if these things are bad or not but I just don't like them. Is there any thing that I can do to get rid of them. I have a 20 gal. tank with a penguin 330 and a undergravel filter and a single Texas cichlid. Thanks.:D

[Rudy]

These are caused by overfeeding. (I am sure you fiigured that out) A lot of time people will feed their fish pellets and such. Go away and fill a automatic feeder with flakes or something that the fish is not used to eating.

They are supposively harmless, however I am not comfortable with any white worms swimming around my tank. What you do to get rid of them is:


Either solution requires a good water change and vaccum.

Place a mesh stocking, or media bag in your tank full of some food in the night. These worms will attach to the food in the bag and you can just pull it out in the morning. This however is a real pain and takes forever to get them out. The only reason I would suggest this route it if you have snails, or fish that may be affected by the next way,

2. I suggest you add coppersafe or equivalent to the tank. This will kill the worms quickly.


In the future unless you are going away for over 10 days just leave the fish. They can go at least that long without food. Their metabolism will slow down quite a bit if they are not being fed.
:wink:

[red64toy]

Thanks for the help. I was gone about a month so I had no choice but to buy the automatinc fish feeder. I filled it with pellets so I doubt he didn't eat what came out but I bet the thing started to over feed(obviously). I have given the tank a good cleaning more than once. I will check out that copper stuff, but will it kill the bacteria on my bio wheels? Also I am not talking about worms. They are these super small little dot like things crawling on the glass and on the plastic plant and floating in the water. Although I did see a couple of those little worms. Thanks.:)

[bevoman]

How big and how old is your Texas. You probably will need a new tank soon.

[red64toy]

Ok, the war on these little buggers has begun. I took out the biowheels and put them in some tupperware with water and took out the carbon cartridges and put them in bags. I hope this stuff kills them all:twisted: . As for the tank size question, I know that I will need a bigger one soon. I look in the paper all the time but can't upgrade to a 55 until we move from our apartment to a house in June at the latest. My texas is 2-3 years old and about 6"(give or take).Thanks for all the help.:D

[jonah]

Just for your own info, the worms are probably planaria. They're fairly common when you overfeed, but basicly harmless.

[Rudy]

Just for your own info, the worms are probably planaria. They're fairly common when you overfeed, but basicly harmless.

Thanks For the name Jonah. I could remember it for the life of me.


red64toy I really hope you aren't keeping your biowheels in bags to keep the bacteria. They won't survive. You would be better of to leave them in the tank. Copper does not do tremendous damage to the bioload

[usafschue]

maracide, maracyn, and coppersafe have never effected my bio wheel bacteria more than a couple days worth

[red64toy]

Crap, I kept the bio wheels in a large tupperware overnight with water and I didn't seal the lid. Do you think I killed them all? Thanks. I took out the carbon cartridges and put them in bags, was that ok?
:confused:

[Rudy]

Darn, sorry that may have been my fault. Sorry I should have been more clear.

Anyway you will still have lots of bacteria in your tank in the gravel and filter. I would just rinse off your biowheels and put them back in the filter.

[red64toy]

Oh well, the bacteria will grow back. How long does this stuff take to work? I still see them on the glass moving around and I saw one of those worms too. Thanks.:D

[red64toy]

well, I can't see any of those little worms and more(at least right now) but I can still see those little white specks moving around on the glass. The copper stuff says if it doesn't work then put more and leave it for two more days. I would but how long can the tank go without the carbon filters in it? The LFS guy told me if I put them in that it would take out the copper. This board is smarter than the LFS so that is why I ask. Thanks a lot.:)

[ry415]

Dude I had these white things then they turned to squiggly worms. Now they are little white flies. I just took plastic and covered all wholes on my tank....i can't believe this.

[red64toy]

That is freakin crazy. I hope that doens't happen with the little things that I have. They seem to be immune to copper sulfate pentahydrate( stuff that is supposed to kill them). Hope you have better luck with yours. :)