How do I get rid of these stupid things?

[logansmomma1228]

Ok there are nematodes/planaria( not sure which one) in the 29. EVERYWHERE. I don't over feed, I have just the snails in there. I throw in a couple shrimp pellets the same day I do water changes. I change about 30% of water once a week. Should I do bigger WC's? ??? I have no clue how those things got in here. Is it possible they were in the substrate from the 5 that I added? They are really bugging me lol

 

[Silent Night]

heres a link for some possible treatment options:

Aquarium Medications and treatments; Parasite & Chemical Treatments

try specifically the Levamisole HCL, as from what i have read it offers the best results. i hope you can get hold of some.

i've heard that the best solution would be to dose the tank in question with parachlorometaxylenol (or Dettol) and water solution to kill any nematodes.
10 ml parachlorometaxylenol per litre aquarium, but im not gona vouch for that.

heres a URL to a simsilar thread in AA:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/levamisole-for-worms-126518.html
hope it helps. good luck

 

[mgamer20o0]

you gravel vacing too? fish tend to eat them. some people use dewormer to kill them off in shrimp tanks.

 

[logansmomma1228]

I have PFS in there, and it is a PITA for me to try and clean. I swirl the vac over it but msot of the debris is too heavy to come up.


And there are no fish in there yet, but if I use dewormer with them in the tank will it hurt them? I should have them Thursday if all goes according to plan.
Thanks for the link silent night.

 

[logansmomma1228]

heres a link for some possible treatment options:

Aquarium Medications and treatments; Parasite & Chemical Treatments

try specifically the Levamisole HCL, as from what i have read it offers the best results. i hope you can get hold of some.

i've heard that the best solution would be to dose the tank in question with parachlorometaxylenol (or Dettol) and water solution to kill any nematodes.
10 ml parachlorometaxylenol per litre aquarium, but im not gona vouch for that.

heres a URL to a simsilar thread in AA:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/levamisole-for-worms-126518.html
hope it helps. good luck

It says not to use Levamisole in the prescence of inverts; I have MTS in my tank that I do not want to go bye bye. Can I remove them for a while when treating?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Vacing PFS is easy... its all in how you control the vac... stick it in there, then lift it up before the sand has a chance to leave the big tube in to the hose. I've always done this with maybe just a few grains sneaking in to the hose. If its planaria, just simply cutting back on feedings and doing lots of vacs should take care of them. how often are you feeding? i've never had them, but I only feed every 2-3 days

 

[logansmomma1228]

So I have ID'd the mystery worms as Detritus Worms, not planaria or nematodes. It must be due to lack of oxygen in my tank, as I have good filtration and clean it regularly. I also don't overfeed, as stated before, since there are no fish in there yet. I am going to get a different air pump (the one i have is broken) and hook it up to see if that will help. Will it help if I do more/bigger water changes?

 

[Silent Night]

It has been said that dirty water holds less oxygen, although there is no scientific data to back this up. Without question, water changes supply clean oxygenated water to your fish and thats a good thing!

Getting the air pump online would definitely help too!

I have read that Detritus Worms are generally not an issue and often go un-noticed living in the gravel breaking down waste. You only notice them close to the surface when oxygen is depleated.

 

[hbeth82]

I had a snail tank going for a while & had problems with planaria when feeding them algae wafers. When I switched to feeding the snails veggies (cucumber or romaine), the planaria disappeared. Not sure if the same would be true for the detritus worms or not but might help.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Well I first noticed something like this in my 5g when it was a snail tank. I thought it was nematodes then. I did a large water change, rinsed off the decor and they disappeared( sp?) However, I started noticing these things in my tank about a week ago or two. They look like little white hairs floating around in the tank. When they hit the substrate (PFS) they look darker. The only pic close to what they look like is the detritus worms. I think I am going to have to do larger water changes. I will def. be hooking the air up as well. Thanks all for the help