im starting to panic...

[patagonia]

i got the melafix today to treat the problem i have with the neons fins...right before i added it i realised the color of the neons has turned really dull...and one of them is swimming in circles....they were ok a couple of hours ago when i went to turn off the lights....the rasboras are fine...as soon as i added the melafix i saw like 3 or 4 white worms swimming freely in the tank...they are really really thin and they move kinda like when you stretch a rubber bad...if you know what i mean...i tested the water right away and ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm and nitrates are 5-10ppm...i saw when the biggest rasbora ate 2 of the worms...so its midnight so theres no way i can go somewhere to get whatever i need to fix this....what do i need to get to kill off these nasty bugs or whatever they are??? would it be ok to add meds when i already added melafix? its so sad....

 

[An t-iasg]

It sounds like the worms you see are planaria. These worms may appear if you're overfeeding or don't use a gravel vac often enough. Your parameters are good, so you're probably not overfeeding. Go ahead and use the Melafix. Do water changes of 10-15% every day, before you dose the Melafix for that day. Do some gentle gravel vacs too -- be careful not to disturb the substrate too much, but gently try to get the worms out of the substrate. The combination of water changes and gravel vacs will help eliminate the worms, plus give your fish good water conditions so they can get better. After the Melafix treatment is over, continue to watch for the worms. If you still see some, do water changes a few times a week if necessary, until they are gone. It wouldn't hurt to skip a day of feeding once a week too. These measures should get rid of the worms.

 

[patagonia]

Thanks An t-iasg! I was so scared last night to go to bed and wake up in the morning and see a tank with dead fish...everybody is fine this morning....ive been reading some articles about planaria and the reasons why they appear in your tank....every week i change 25% of the water and do gravel vacs...i have plants so i just vac lightly around the places where the plants are...i unplug the filter when feeding so the food wont sink to the bottom with the current...i added the neons on wednesday...could that be the problem? the rasboras have been in there for a little over 2 weeks...with no signs of anything....until the neons were introduced....i know i should have quarantined them but the tank i was planning to use as a QT has my 2 platies that im treating for internal parasites with jungles anti parasite food and that takes 4 weeks...so ive learnt the lesson and i wont keep stocking the 29gal until i can move the platies in there and use the other tank as a QT...ive read in an article that planaria are carnivores so they suggested to put a piece of meat in a mesh bag when the lights go off and leave it there for a couple of hours and that will help remove some of them...what do u think? ....anyways...im going to change the water now and do the weekly clean up and add some more melafix....ill let you know how everything goes...your help is greatly appreciated...(specially if your freaking out in the middle of the night like i was...hehe ) THANKS!!!!

 

[An t-iasg]

I'm glad the tank was fine this morning! I have also read about the meat solution to eliminating planaria. I don't think I would try that. I think reducing the feeding and extra gravel vacs/water changes will take care of the problem. Try feeding every other day until the planaria are gone. I would freak out too if I saw worms like that, but according to what I read, the planaria won't hurt the fish or you, but they are certainly yucky!

As to how they got in the tank, I suppose they could have come with the fish, if the fish's previous tank was infected. The planaria may also be present in live food, or be carried on plants. It sounds like your tank maintenance was good, so maybe the planaria was introduced with the fish, or most likely, in the water they came with. When I acclimate my new fish, I put the fish and the water they came with in a critter keeper, and then gradually, over about an hour, add my water to the critter keeper. I net the fish, put him in the QT tank, and throw the acclimation water away.

So, just increase the water changes/gravel vacs, reduce feeding for awhile, and the planaria will be gone soon! I hope the Melafix helps the neons too.