worms in my 75g - any idea what they are?

chris_todd · Post by **chris_todd** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:59 pm

I just noticed two worms wriggling around across the substrate in my 75g tank. They're pinkish, less than a millimeter thick, and less than 2" long. Any idea what they are, and whether they're a source of concern, particularly for the fish?

I've also had a rash of dying harlequin rasboras - I had about a dozen from my 65g tank that I transferred about 10 days ago, and they had been nice and healthy for a long time. Then I went and added a dozen that I picked up last week from House of Tropicals. I've had about 6 deaths in the last three days, and now one of my SAEs is showing signs of listlessness.

Could the worms be related to the fish deaths?

eleontie · Post by **eleontie** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:45 pm

New fish , new diseases. One of my tanks was like that. Every single time I added some new fish, one of the originally 5 angels died.

I doubt it is the worms. ( blackworms maybe ? )

Eugen

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 10:42 am

Either nematodes (long and thin, if in the water column they swim in sine curves) or planaria (shorter and flatter, have a definite head end visible, stay flat). Normal tank inhabitants unless in large numbers, which would indicate excessive organics in the substrate.

Get a QT tank. Even if not up all the time, the filter can be kept on an operating tank and set in the QT when needed, while the tank, heater, top, etc.are stored dry until required. I have not put anything new and alive into an existing tank, only into QT, in the last 30+ years. Nor have I had any infectious disease outbreaks in display tanks during that time. But it is more than just disease,it is also adaptation to your water and feeding and your yank routines. If there are early loses, better in a separate tank away from existing stock.

HTH

chris_todd · Post by **chris_todd** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 3:43 pm

Robert, of course you are correct about the QT tank, and I can chalk up another stupid newbie mistake for not using one this time (I have quarantined fish from LFS in the past, and we had tanks available I could have used, but I got impatient and lazy this time). I simply assumed that since I got these fish from the same LFS as my current population of rasboras, and those rasboras were healthy, that the new batch would be healthy. Obviously, that was incorrect, and looking back at it now, I cannot believe I was so stupid.

As for the worms, they were definitely asymmetrical (the two ends looked different), but they weren't flat, they were definitely round. And they were sort of flopping around on the substrate, not swimming sinusoidally. I only saw them the one time, and I've been looking hard for them since, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

ddavila06 · Post by **ddavila06** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 7:31 pm

lack of oxigen might have made them come out...the fish ok? or a few died? maybe the tank is too hot...

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:35 am

Remember that the LFS is getting in new stocks routinely, and QT in shops is unheard-of ancient history. If they have central systems, fish that were clean last week my not be so this week. The large majority of my critters come from the same shop and have for decades, but they still get an extended QT. Cheap insurance.

Damian's hint is a good one - increased temps can bring out more normally unseen critters, generally from reduced O2 levels, but so can a significant change un the total bioload, for the same reason.

chris_todd · Post by **chris_todd** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:51 am

I *did* have some temperature control problems in this tank that seem to be sorted out now. It is holding at 78 +- 1 *F, but shortly after I set it up, it spent some period of time above 80*, though that was before I added any of the rasboras. Since adding the rasboras, the temp has been a steady 78*F.

Perhaps I should drop the temp to about 76*F?

I'm not sure dissolved O2 is a problem, the fish don't seem to be gasping or behaving strangely, they're just dying.

I'm not injecting CO2, and there's an AquaClear 110 and a powerhead moving the water around. I don't have any airstones in use, as I didn't think I needed them.

Rick Dotson · Post by **Rick Dotson** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:22 am

Parasite medicine might help with the fish death. After getting nematodes recently all new fish get treated in quanatine.

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:51 pm

Non-parasitic nematodes are normal tank fauna. Parasitic nematodes will not be seen free-swimming in the tank.

worms in my 75g - any idea what they are?

worms in my 75g - any idea what they are?

Sponsors