help, worms?!

[aquasam]

I decided to take the substrate out of my 10 gal cory fry tank ... after doing so and vacuuming .. I was gazing at the tank and slowly noticed these little slits sliding along the glass walls ... on closer inspection I begin to realize that there are many of these ... of all sizes cruizing along pretty fast along the walls ..... what are these strange worm type things .. any ideas .. ??

 

[Fruitbat]

There's a great chance that you've got Planaria....free-living flatworms that took up residence in your gravel and that have been feasting on uneaten food in the gravel. They're harmless but unsightly. Some fish will eat them but you can generally control the population with regular gravel vacuuming and you might consider cutting back on the amount of food you're giving the fish.

 

[aquasam]

thanks alot ... I wonder how they got in there? there was nothing in the tank besides new pebbles... .... you say Planaria cant harm fish but how about newly hatched fry?

 

[webmoose]

worms yuck.. I would think they are there like fruit bat said too much nutrient.

How many cory fry do you have? Are these the same fry from your other posts? How are they doing?

 

[Fruitbat]

aquasam...

I suppose if a planarian was large enough it might cause some problems for small fish fry. Certainly wouldn't hurt to give the gravel another thorough vacuuming if you can do it without endangering the fry.

 

[aquasam]

I took all the gravel out ... that's when I noticed them .... I think I got them all out ... I vacuumed them all with an airline hose and wiped the glass .. the fry are doing well ... my cory in the 29 gal. layed eggs again - about 3 weeks after the first time. 3 large fry remain from the first time.. and a bunch of 1.5 week old ones have now joined them

 

[aquasam]

now they just layed more eggs yesturday .. these are some frisky cory

 

[Fruitbat]

LOL!! Must be something in the water!!!