Bloodworms living in gravel!!

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Quake2player

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
165
Location
Westchester, NY
I have a 10 gallon tank with only a crayfish in it... few months ago I threw in some "live" bloodworms to give him a nice treat... apparently the crayfish didn't get to all the bloodworms cause now it seems that a few slipped into the gravel and multiplied!!! I thought crayfish were supposed to be great bottom scavengers... the bloodworms are not causing any problems, they just plain look ugly as they stick out of the gravel looking like little red/brownish hairs growing out of it!!!

Seems like whenever the crayfish walks around looking for food, the bloodworms simply sink into the gravel and slip away... I wonder if the cray can even get to them. So my questions is... how the heck do I get rid of the bloodworms? I'm thinking about getting some good bottomfeeder catfish... but the cray will make a midnite snack of 'em I am sure!! I was also thinking about getting a tank divider, then stock the other half with catfish to finish the bloodworms off.

I've also tried scooping at batches of gravel in hopes of "flushing" the bloodworms out... man, this is tuff.... they just seem to manage to stick onto the gravel... they won't just fall out.

Any other suggestions? What fish could surely clean 'em out of my gravel????
 
maybe a corydoras would get them for you ... corys love to dig into the gravel.

or maybe a chichlid of some kind - there are a few spieces that enjoy playing in gravel.
 
oh ya! eartheaters! some grow to 6" and they look for stuff in the ground all day plus! they dont half bad either i love the mouths! :mrgreen:
 
no fish will actually clean out the cravel completly. i had the exact problem with my tank recently and the truth is that even though they dont seem to be causing any kind of problem they will cause a problem soon. mine were still alive after 2 weeks and there were quite a few buried in there. the biggest problem with this is WORMS PRODUCE WASTE! your fish do also so be carefull that your nitrate and your ammonia dont go through the roof like mine did. the best way i found to get them out was just to siphen the gravel. when you do so dont just get the top or the middle, use the siphen to really shake up the gravel, get to the bottom, that way the filter gets some and the siphen gets some. you will be in awe when you see how many actually come out. i suggest doing the tank once or twice within a couple day period just to be sure.
 
Corys will do it. They crayfish wont pick on them, they are too fast. And the corys nick name is the "Armored Fish".
 
I would try the corys, but I would also try the tank divider idea, because I had a crayfish that terrorized an 8-inch oscar. In a tank that size they won't get too big, unless you move them out when the problem is resolved. I would also definitely vac the gravel thoroughly as well to get the worms' waste.
 
Thanx for all the great advice. I think I'll just have to do it the one way that'll take time and work and that is to vaccum out the gravel as much as I can. I can replenish the tank with water from my bigger tank so I don't kill the good bacteria. This crayfish already made midnite snacks of 2 Zebra Danios out of 5 I had in there... Zebras are quicker than corys AND are also top swimmers... I don't think any bottom feeders would make it in there with him!

I have more of the small-med sized gravel, not sand... as I read that eartheaters prefer sand over gravel... plus I dunno if a 10gal tank would do any justice for an eartheater. I don't even think I've ever seen an eartheater at my local petstore (from Westchester, NY).
 
To me i think a clown loach would be a good choice, they loves blood worms a lot, but you must provide a small ornaments with holes so they can hide from other predators, they are fast swimmers too.....
 
Quake2player said:
I can replenish the tank with water from my bigger tank so I don't kill the good bacteria.

the bacteria live on/in the gravel not suspended in the water.

vacuuming it will distrupt the colonies and reduce their numbers, that is why vac. a small section a day is recommended. but if you don't do all the gravel the worms will just move from one part to the other.

here's my recommendation:

Day 1> Replace filter cartridge / media with a clean cartridge

Day 2> Wait for new filter to be colonized by bacteria

Day 3> Vacuum all of your gravel - try to do it with less than a 50% water loss. Refill with treated water that is around the same tank temp.

Day 4+> Allow tank to recover - it may "mini cycle" which will cause your water to cloud up - don't worry, it is just the bacteria moving back into your gravel. Check for the worms again, and if they're still there ... repeat the whole process :(
 
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