midge Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Hi, Ive just siphoned some water out of my tank (and the gravel) and in the containter with the water i took out are worms. They are long and skinny. Does anyone have an idea what they are? will they affect my fish and should i put something in the tank to kill them? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 If they are dirty white and look like cotton threads they are planaria and harmless. They can get out of hand though with overfeeding and poor mainteneance. Cut back the feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 planaria is sorta flat like a slug and relatively short or atleast the ones ive seen are., if theyre a reddish brown colour id say theyre tubifex which are pretty much harmless, skinny and get to around an inch long, your fish may even be feeding on them given the chance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midge Posted September 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 Ewweee so i have looked again and i have both of those sorts of worms. those flat slug looking things (which now i have found them also are very disturbing - they look like leeches!) and the worms. I am very guilty of overfeeding especially when i try and feed my glass catfish. I will cut back from now on. Thanks lots for both of your advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 Is that all that needs to be done, cut back on the feeding??? Will that eradicate the worms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 probably wont eradicte em but will stop em thriving on the left over food, theyre pretty much harmless i stopd worrying about them in my tanks and havent seen them 4 ages. You can kill them with formalin (get the strong stuff from ya vet :lol: ) but watch out that stuffs lethal and may harm your fish if you dose just a lil to much so straight up i wouldnt worry about them they genarally wont harm your fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 The worms are probably tubifex and harmless. 30 years ago most pet shops sold live tubifex and most peiple fed them to their fish. They would come in with live food or plants from a waterway. They will be thrivng on left over food and waste as will the planaria. The dose of formalin to kill planaria is 12mls of 35% per 100litres and will kill plants and fish. The easiest way is to cut right back on feeding and vacuum the media regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelj Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 THey are good key indicators of over feeding. They help eat up left over food too. They only get out of control when conditions arent ideal in a tank. If tank conditions are great, you wont even notice them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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