minchton Posted October 15, 2002 Report Share Posted October 15, 2002 on checking my Cichlid tank I find it has become infested with some sort of worm. the worm has what appears to be a light brown case from which a tongue comes out to eat at algae on the side of the tank. it measures up to about 10mm long but very thin probably about the size of a pencil line e.g about the thickness of a typed letter. It does not appear at this stage to be affecting the fish but is spreading like wildfire. The tank was fully cleaned for our tank competition last Sunday and these creatures have appeared since then Any help please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted October 16, 2002 Report Share Posted October 16, 2002 Mitch said... > Any help please There are a bunch of wee wormy critters than live in our tanks, generally causing no harm. My guess is that there has been a bit of excess food in the recent past and this has caused a bit of a population explosion of this particular beastie. Is there a pleco type fish in the tank, or big apple snails? These will generally keep the glass free of such worms. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted October 17, 2002 Report Share Posted October 17, 2002 Hey Minch, don't worry too much bro. they wouldn't directly harm your fishs---unless they r leeches( unlikely). however, such 'environmental' worms often indicate possible water quality problems. mainly too much organic matter. have u got plants? rotting vegetation? left-over food? thick layer of gravel/sand.. do u siphon the bottom during water changes? how's the filter? how often do u clean it? To b thorough, i would check ammonia n nitrates. they might b elevated due to excess organic matter. Also, check for breathing problems in the ciclids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted November 6, 2002 Report Share Posted November 6, 2002 Found this article which may be of some help. http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/arti ... icle1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillipdoan Posted November 9, 2002 Report Share Posted November 9, 2002 altough you may find that these worms are harmless to your fish, i'd just like to inform you that a friend of mine had this same incident and told me that they did not harm the fish but instead they starting ruining and harming his fish tank. These worms were starting to eat the silicon between the glasses attached together, he was in a very bad situation because if he did not repair it in time then the tank would be unbalanced and cause a tank crack. He had to buy a clay made for aquariums and had to empty the tank until where the silicon had been eating. Lukily his fish and tank was fine and now he goes through the correct procedures to remove all the existing and future worms in his tank (i am unaware of how to remove them). But because of Pegasus' handy and helpful website you can go through this procedure: "To get rid of your worm problem, try not feeding your fish for 3 days (no, this is not cruel... healthy fish will do fine with an occasional short fast, and it will improve their water quality) and giving your tank a good cleaning with a 25% water change. If you keep small fish, some of them may actually enjoy chowing down on the little worms... guppies and platies, for example, love them. If you keep your tank clean, your filter well maintained, stay true to not overstocking your tank, and do regular water changes, your worm problem should be gone in no time. " good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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