Fish tank

[Cartosbartos]

Hey guys just having some troubles with my fish tank, well its been going on for a while now.
First off it started with small black dots all over my fish, i got some blue dye to try fix the problem (Wardley Ickaway formula) which temporary fixed my fish from laying near the bottom and breathing rapidly and acting lethargic. I stopped using it after about 5 weeks as i had to leave for a week or two.
After i came back my fish were fine for a few weeks until they started acting strange again, repeated treatment and also got some para-gone tablets to try kill out any parasites if any were in the tank.
I have been using the ickaway for about 4 - 5 weeks now and still no sign of improving. Yesterday i came in to find one of my barbs was dead and it was not even the one i thought was sick.
This morning i was cleaning the tank and i noticed that a 2-3 inch long red worm that looked very similar to a beach worm that came out of the substrate, just wondering if anyone could help ?

Ill post some pictures of the black dots on the fish soon

 

[George9]

Oh my gosh, I've seen those worms at the beach, gross. But I've never heard of one in a tank, I'd be scared crapless. Sounds like some kind of parasite (the worm thing)

The black dots do not sound like ick to me. Ick is white spots that look like grains of salt. I'm not exactly sure what this could be. Maybe someone else will chime in with more parasite experience

 

[jlk]

The worm hiding in the sand sounds like a leech. They hide in the substrate & can be brown or reddish in color typically. If theres one, then theres more.... the black dots may be bites but a pic of the worm & the dots will help us to figure it out.

 

[Nellynelson23]

Do you mean loach?

 

[jlk]

No, the worm sounds like a leech not a loach which is a fish.