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MiamiFishy

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
120
Location
Miami, Florida
Hello everyone,
Once more I need your help. My display 10 gal tank which after a snail over-population was scrap down and reinstated clean as a whistle, has come down with the same problem as when the snails were in.

The first time, toguether with the snails the tank got cleaned out of some little buggers, looked like small tinny tinny white worms? that were crawling all over the glass panels and floating on the water's surface. I thought these guys must have hit a hitchjack with the snails, BUT THEY ARE BACKKK!
No snails are in the tank, and I got rid off of everything from that original setup ( except the fish and decor; decor clean heavy with soap and bleach, left on water with dechlorinator for a few days)... so I dont know what to do!
The little buggers are way too many, with patches accumulating on the waters edge, and on parts of the glass panels... I have been doing almost religiously PWC of 25-50% on a bi day schedule ( every two days).
Water parameters ( not the best since the tank has been cycling undefenetly since I had to put my fish back in when I was force to put them back in).
pH: 6.8 - 6.2 (slowly going from 6.2 to 6.8 with PWC )
KM: (Alkalinity): almost 0 ( can't seem to keep any buffering zone )
KH: (Hardness): soft ( dark brown)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
* Note: I use the Jungle Labs 5 in 1 test strips, for the nitrate, the color value indicator is just one block next to the white block indicating 0...

Anyone has any idea what the heck those little buggers are, and how to get rid of them, with hopefully not having to scrap my tank down again???
Please help :(
 
Nothing to worry about. They are nematodes/planaria that hitchhike in as microscopic particals on your fish, but usually die with nothing to eat. In a tank that is higher in nutrients, they begin to multiply and multiply....and multiply. See what I'm getting at? ;)

So, You likely have an abundance of gunk in your gravel, need to change your filter cartridges, feed less, and perform more frequent water changes/gravel vaccums, and they will go away. They are harmless though, so don't worry about them.
 
Thank you again Devilish.
More water changes are on the way... hope the fish wont mind... : )
But how could they have survived, I scraped the tank whole, short of putting the fish thru a bleach bath, I hit everything on that tank!

Will they harm a fish if it eat the little nematodes??
I ask that question because, either they went away by themselves or my fry hit them! I'm using a spent filter media from the first time that the little nemas paid me a visit, and after discovering the fry...and the nemas I notice that as the fry grew the nema started to disappear... could the fry had eaten them..and if so, do they post a risk to the fry health...?
The fry seem fine and big and very healthy and active.

Thank you once more!
 
But how could they have survived, I scraped the tank whole, short of putting the fish thru a bleach bath, I hit everything on that tank!

Likely hitched a ride on your fish. ;) Sneaky lil things.
Will they harm a fish if it eat the little nematodes??

Not at all! Perfectly safe food for them. A combination of better water quality (I notice you are doing frequent water changes) and the fry is likely why they are going away. Just make sure you clean your gravel occasionaly when doing water changes. They'll be gone in no time.
 
Thanks again Devilish,
mmmmm maybe I should move the fry to the display tank, but I think they are already a bit to big to want to much on the little nemas. I got the fry eating micro pellets already, with the occasional brime shrimp which the seem to go crazy for!

The water changes on my main tank are very frequent, since the visit of the snails and the nemas which forced me to scrap the tank down, I have been having what seem as an unfinishing cycling. Since I had to put my fish back in without the cycle completed, the ammonia has to be kept on check with the PWC.

Very soon my fish wont have to worry about that, Ill be moving them (hope for the last time) to their new 29 gal home very soon?... Its almost close to the end. Nitrite spiked about 2 days ago, and Nitrate are at 20 pmm and rising!

When I get zero Ammonia and Nitrite in a 24 hrs period after last positive reading, whatever percent of nitrate I have should be reduce with a 50-75% PWC to below 40 ppm, is that correct???
 
When I get zero Ammonia and Nitrite in a 24 hrs period after last positive reading, whatever percent of nitrate I have should be reduce with a 50-75% PWC to below 40 ppm, is that correct???

Yep. Below 40 ppm is good. Ideal would be a reading of 20 ppm or below though. So I would perform two 50% water changes to get it to that level, and you should be good to go.
 
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