Tiny White Worms

[williamvo]

I've just notice that there's some sort of tiny white worms are crawling all over my tank. They're so small that you would have to really examine to see them move. I don't know what this is. Would it affect my discus? How would I get rid of them? So, far I increase the water temperature to 90F (32C). I don't know if this will help in any way. But any comments or suggestions are welcome.

[sammigold]

Hi there,

Saw your post and thought it looked similar to the problem that this guy had.... maybe this link will help....

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6750

Good luck! :)

[williamvo]

Mmm, I didn't think that I was overfeeding my discus. I was only feeding them 3 times a day. But I guess I can cut down. Is there any sort of medication do I need to put into the water if the worms doesn't go away?

[marg]

Williamvo,

Give your Gravel a good vacuum and do a large water change - don't cut down on the amount of times you feed your Fish, just feed them smaller quantities.

I had some in my tank ages ago and was quite horrified when I found them, but thanks to Ladyred I stopped worrying. I just did what I have described above (I usually do a 25% water change every day, but when I noticed them in my tank I did 50% water changes for about a week till they were all gone), and I haven't seen any since.

Regards,

Marg.

[G-1000]

William,

Marg is right on the money there. All you need to do is to remove the worms from the tank physically i.e gravel vac.

This brings their numbers down to manageable levels, if not eradicating the majority of them.

I have also heard of people using clown loaches to treat the worm issue - with success aswell.

G

[williamvo]

Thanks everybody for the quick responses. Marg, I'll give your advice a try. G-1000, I've also heard about the clown loaches but haven't try that yet. I'll try doing frequent W/C and maybe get some clown loaches to prevent the worms from coming back.