bugs/worms o.o

[_brokenglass_]

ok... i dug through a bunch of threads, but none had pictures and none really fit the descriptions... so. help if you can

little flies, which i assume to be midge flies? started showing up a couple months ago... i brought a few in to the lfs and asked him where the heck these things came from and what they were... he said he had no idea what they were, and that they probably came from the plants i'd recently purchased there, but that they should go away as fast as they came. i was good for a couple weeks after that "batch" died off, but now they're back in full force... i really wouldn't care but i keep my tank in my bedroom and those flies are really annoying (not to mention my mother is not too happy with them). they're about |---| that long, tanish, little black heads, and the antennae are kinda fuzzy.

also. my filter (aquaclear 200) has the habit lately of getting clogged up with random stuff, and i've been having to take the intake tube out weekly to clean it out because no water is able to get through. i'd noticed a few times before that some of the crap that got stuck in there looked like big brown worms, but figured it was just normal fishtank stuff, rinsed it out and went about my business. i took it out tonight to do the same thing, looked a little bit closer at one of these "worm-like" piles of grossness, and wouldn't you know it, there was a little red worm squiggling around in the middle of that pile. i found one affixed to my driftwood not too long ago, which i quickly smashed and removed. these "piles" are all over inside the filter box... in the intake tube, on the sides, attached to the ammonia dealie inside there... kinda disgusting. i figure that's where they're reproducing, because that was the only part of the tank that wasn't completely cleaned after my little "accident" (i'll be posting that as soon as the water clears up for a pic ^_^). is it best just to empty that out and get new cartridges?

other information about my tank... 55 gal planted. 12 fish (2 bala sharks, 1 pleco, 3 pictus cats, 1 green tiger barb, 3 clown loaches, a chinese algae eater, 1 yet-to-be-id'd catfish who hides inside the driftwood all day). am currently questioning the whereabouts of my chart to test the water, the colors seem way off from where they normally are though. i feed them (usually) 2x a day, tropical crisps + brine shrimp pellets in the am, some little wafers (don't remember the name since my dog ate the bag, they're more than just the spirulina though) + a couple extra algae wafers in the evening. the pictus's are a bit voracious in their feeding habits, and one of the balas and the pleco are both over 5 1/2 inches, so i don't think i'm feeding too much.

anyways. any other questions, ask, and if any of you have tips on what to do about/how to get rid of these, please share thanks in advance!

 

[Devilishturtles]

First off, what kind of substrate do you have? Gravel, sand, river rock, etc?

How often do you do a vaccuming of your substrate? Water changes?

I think your problem is that you are overfeeding. It may not seem like it, but that food that you put on the bottom does't all get consumed. Alot of it settles into the substrate and sits there. That is where these little "things" get their food. As far as what they are, they could be a number of things. Insect larvae would be my guess, followed by some sort of nematode. I would feed once a day lightly, and perhaps only the wafers every other day. Some of those tropical crisps will make their way to the bottom of your tank.

With lots of water changes and a better feeding habit, you should see the pests go away.

HTH