How to get rid of white wormy things?

[Fullmoonnight]

I think they are nematodes. I noticed them swimming around in my Ropefish aquarium right after I cleaned it and turned the filter back on. I figure I'll have to boil the filter media or get a new one but what about the sand? Should I take it out and dry it? Will that kill off the nematodes?

 

[HUKIT]

Like any living creature remove their food source and they die, best advice is vacuum the substrate more and feed the fish less.

 

[foster53]

I would guess its Planaria. As Hukit said, more gravel vacs should get rid of them.

 

[butterfly_koi]

What makes you think that they are nematodes? Can you post a picture of them?

 

[Bigfish99]

Gravel vac them out best you can, then get deep in the gravel. When you think you re done keep going and get deeper. Really stir up all the g
Junk at the bottom. Then refill and gravel vac again tomorrow!

 

[Fullmoonnight]

I don't have gravel. I have sand which is why I'm wondering if I should just tank the sand out and dry it.

I don't have camera at the current moment. My dad has taken my cellphone :/ They look like white almost hair thin worms, wiggling in the water.

 

[vicdad999999]

you dont have to boil your media, if they are planaria , little white worms that swim in an "s" pattern they are from to much food in the gravel/sand bed. I get this in the summer around august/sept in one of my tanks as im on a well. With droughts I cant do as many water changes as id like. I take out the gravel ahead of time now in that tank for easier cleaning and feed less in the summer. If you do more water changes and feed less and siphon the uneaten food after each feeding youll get caught up in this. they will will eventually die off if you starve them. I never got rid of my media to get rid of them. Unless you have mutiple filters i wouldnt touch the media if you plan on taking out the sand. Ive not had an issue with nematodes as of yet so i cant comment on how to fix that if they are what you have. But i agree with HUKIT and Bigfish99 that most likely they are planaria.

 

[butterfly_koi]

But i agree with HUKIT and Bigfish99 that most likely they are planaria.

I respectively disagree, Planaria are flatworms and do not resemble "white almost hair thin worms" what the OP is describing is Detritus Worms. Detritus Worms feed off of the decomposing matter in the tank opposed to Planaria which can be considered carnivorous and will feed off of fish eggs.
Oh and HUKIT never stated that they were Planaria

Like any living creature remove their food source and they die, best advice is vacuum the substrate more and feed the fish less.

This is the best way to remove Detritus Worms. Feeding less will starve the parasite and cleaning the substrate (sand/or gravel) will suck them out of the tank. Detritus Worms are completely harmless and often times become a snack for your fish. Which isn't always a bad thing

 

[ktomminello]

I respectively disagree, Planaria are flatworms and do not resemble "white almost hair thin worms" what the OP is describing is Detritus Worms. Detritus Worms feed off of the decomposing matter in the tank opposed to Planaria which can be considered carnivorous and will feed off of fish eggs.
Oh and HUKIT never stated that they were Planaria

This is the best way to remove Detritus Worms. Feeding less will starve the parasite and cleaning the substrate (sand/or gravel) will suck them out of the tank. Detritus Worms are completely harmless and often times become a snack for your fish. Which isn't always a bad thing

No, planaria are not a flat worm, they are a harmless but kind of ugly form of nematode, almost every planted tank will have some, also tanks that have excessive waste. Using a turkey baster to remove excess food and waste. You can vacuum sand, you just need to hover over, but a turkey baster has better control. This and water changes should help out quite a bit....

 

[ktomminello]

Oh, and betta and gourami are the only fish I know that eat planaria- but that's my experience

 

[butterfly_koi]

No, planaria are not a flat worm, they are a harmless but kind of ugly form of nematode, almost every planted tank will have some, also tanks that have excessive waste. Using a turkey baster to remove excess food and waste. You can vacuum sand, you just need to hover over, but a turkey baster has better control. This and water changes should help out quite a bit....

Ok then for the sake of argument
I will provide this
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planarian
And be in my merry way.
OP, good luck with removing your little unwanted guest.

 

[Fullmoonnight]

Thanks everyone. I actually just cleaned the tank a little more often and changed from mysis to blood worms for my rope fish since he was leaving alot of mysis waste. He likes blood worms and eats them all so now there is very little waste.The little creatures are gone now