ive just noticed in my fish tank loads of tiny tiny white worms were have they come from what are they how do?

Question

i get rid of them thanks.

Answer 1

It sounds like planaria. They are harmless to your fish and snails. They are simply a sign of overfeeding. Not all overfed tanks get them, but for some reason a few do.

Planaria thrive on excess food. The only way to get rid of them is by starving them out. Cut back on feeding and they go away.

Check out this site
http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/...

Answer 2

Planaria:

If small white creatures are seen crawling all over the glass and ornaments, especially at night, they may be planaria. Planaria commonly show up in tanks with an excess of food. Most are introduced to an aquarium from other aquaria with live foods like black worms, live plants, or anything else moved from an active aquarium that has them. There is some belief that they can survive in freeze-dried or frozen foods. If a lot of food is left in a tank; including dead and dying fish, snails, other animals, and plants; then a few planaria may divide into hundreds very quickly. They usually reproduce by asexual fission. Their heads are shaped like arrow heads. If a tank is found to be infested, planaria can be controlled by a good vacuuming of the gravel and better tank maintenance. To remove more planaria, see the next section on controlling planaria. Planaria will eat dead fish, fish eggs, and immobile fish larvae (fry newly hatched). They do not pose any risk to mobile fry or adult fish.

Controlling planaria in aquaria:

1. Set out bait like meat in a mesh bag. Remove the bait a few hours after the lights go out on the tank. It should be covered with planaria. Throw away and repeat until the population goes down.
2. Add planaria eating fish to the tank. One species is the paradise fish.
3. Vacuum the gravel very well and do a 50% water change. Often, planaria proliferate when the tank is too dirty. This will remove not only some planaria but their food source as well.
4. Reduce the foods added to the tank. Planaria often proliferate if too much excess food is provided.
5. As a last resource, tear down the tank.

Answer 3

Sounds like you have a bad case of hookworms.
Thre are medications that you can get from the pet store to eradicate them. It's better if you don't have any fish in the tank presently to just clean the entire thing completely.
Hookworks attach themselves to the sides of the fish and are parasites. Left unchecked they can ultimately cause the deaths of your fish.

They can be introduced from live plants or other fish being introduced into your tank.

Answer 4

Don't worry, there harmless, but nasty. If you have community fish, buy a couple small gurami's, they love to eat them, and they will be gone in a couple days. And your gurami's will be huge!

Answer 5

it's poop and I'll let you guess where it came from