I gave my sisters tank a gravel siphon and water change yesterday and in the water I siphoned out I noticed that there were tiny thread worms (at first I thought they were hair but then I noticed that they moved) Does anyone know what they are and if they're bad? And if they are bad how to get rid of them?

She said her fighter had recently died. I tested the water acidity (it was the only test available) and it was really acid so I used ph down and did a 30 percent water change.

I have seen them in the tank since so they are definately still there.

I'll be in auckland at my sisters for the rest of the week to help her out so any tips will be appreciated!

Her tank is an aqua one AR380 and everything from the tank to the gravel, stones and fish have been purchased from hollywood fish farms. She has 15 neon tetras, 2 britstlenoses, and 3 platys.

I've posted about worms before. I found some in some filter media. They turned out to be harmless. I can't know if they're the same worm or not but I wouldn't be overly concerned.

Probably planaria worms. Totally harmless.

Wait...So, the kit said that the water was acidic...So...You added PH down...Which makes it more acidic? Why?

Could be planaria worms which usually appear through overfeeding, just cut back the feeding and keep up with water changes and they should dissapear As for the pH if the tank is acid you want to add pH up to bring the alkalinity up and make it less acidic...personally though unless it's under say 6.5 it might be better to leave it rather than play around with it as often rpaid changes in pH cause more trouble than they are worth. Most freshwater fish are hardy enough to withstand a relatively wide range in pH

Good luck! and pm me your number btw so we can organise that coffee and picking up the tank

Yikes I hope you didn't use ph down.... if the tank is already acidic...?

Yeah I agree that they could be planaria worms, I have actually seen fish eat them.

changes in pH cause more trouble than they are worth.

exactly.. I believe krantan1 is doing the smart thing and adding pH down to the NEW water.. so it's more inline with the old water!! Good idea to bring it up gradually. I used to add strong acid to my discus water changing barrel until I slowly acclimitised them to my tap water pH of 8

Ok so why would you want to add ph down tho.... if the tank is already too acidic.. ? What was the actual reading?

Gradual water changes should up the ph... and not do any harm if done slowly... providing that your tap water is higher than your tank ph, buffering capacity... etc

This is interesting actually 8) I have never used ph down, but I guess you would have to use it sparingly.. incase you use too much and ph plummets?

Oh sorry was typing in a rush I added the stuff to make it more alkaline. It was just a colour ph test and it was yellow which was highly acidic I tested my fry tank which was set up using local water and it was completely neutral so it wasnt the water from the tap that is acidic.

My sis says that it understandable that they could be there from overfeeding but my question is where did there they come from and how did they get there? Thats something I don't understand!!!

pH up makes it more alkaline.

So does baking soda, in fact they're usually the same thing

Planaria can apparently come in on fish, plants, frozen or live food and some people even reckon they can come from freeze dried food...crazy little things! Dwarf gouramis are meant to enjoy a snack of them so your sis could always get one to replace the fighter

yeah it was sodium bicarbonate that the ph up contained lol

are those worms good fry food?

I have my fry tank set up next to it atm and 4gt the air pump so have been feeding them boiled egg yolk till I go to lfs this arvo and buy sum frozen bbs.

big sister here

bought a couple of Dwarf gouramis today actually (before seeing this thread) glad to know i made a good choice!

this fish tank thing takes a bit to learn, but we are getting there!

Oh mean!! Will see them tonight when I come home to feed my babies

What kind did you get? Dwarf ones I hope!