i just started to do a water change,and i was vacuuming the gravel and i noticed like 20 worm like things about 1/2 an inch long and the thickness of hair swimming around in the aquarium. i freaked out and stopped cleaning the aquarium. what could they be? they were wiggling around and swimming. could they be parasites? i havent added any fish or plants or anything in a few months. the only thing ive added is food flakes. i have a few different kinds of tetras in there, and a two inch long orange fish (not a gold fish) that i cant remember the name of. please help!
also what could i do to get rid of them?
2007-09-30 12:18:00 · 10 answers · asked by george 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
some more details:
i have a few hundred malaysian trumpet snails in my tank.
my tank is a 10 gallon tank.
when i stir the gravel with something a bunch of bubbles of air or somthing else pop up and go to the top of the aquarium and pop.
i poked one of the wormy things with the handle of my fish net, and it kind of shrunk and stopped moving, then it started to swim again.
2007-09-30 12:25:56 · update #1
Planaria don't swim - they crawl along the glass or gravel like snails without a shell (and they're wide and flat - see photo: http://www.caudata.org/cc/images/articles/critters/planaria1JOHNSON.jpg )
I think what you're seeing are nematodes if they move with a "vibrating" motion. If they move by thrashing their bodies in an "S" shape, these are migde larvae. A midge is a small terrestrial fly that lays thier eggs in water where they hatch (like a mosquito does). Neither is a parasite, and your fish may eat these. Nematodes are often found in aquaria, but usually stay below the gravel. There are some that are parasitic, but these wouldn't be large enough for you to see without a microscope.
For either to survive in large numbers, they need to have a source of food. They can be an indication they you need to clean your gravel (using a gravel vac to siphon out debris) more frequently, or that you might be overfeeding your fish. (the same can be said since you have a large number of Malaysians - they regulate their population size by the available food)
Your orange fish may be a platy or female swordtail.
The bubbles might be caused by algae (producing oxygen) or bacteria decomposition of excess food/debris - this creates carbon dioxide, or hydrogen sulfide if it's produced deep in the gravel where there's no oxygen - this is harmful to your fish!
2007-09-30 13:08:40 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
help! weird, gross, worm like things in my freshwater aquarium!?
i just started to do a water change,and i was vacuuming the gravel and i noticed like 20 worm like things about 1/2 an inch long and the thickness of hair swimming around in the aquarium. i freaked out and stopped cleaning the aquarium. what could they be? they were wiggling around and swimming....
2015-08-14 16:51:42 · answer #2 · answered by Gisele 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I tried a chocolate-covered ant (pretty good, actually!) when I was a kid. I've had squid (oh God was it chewy and awful) in Hong Kong. I ate a tiny little taste of horse meat once to try it, and in the high school cafeteria on a dare I tried a bit of dog biscuit. It was the rage at the time to show you were brave enough to chew a dog biscuit, and the boys would eat the whole thing, with relish.
2016-03-16 06:33:11 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like you are experiencing the "joys" of planaria. Planaria are most often found in tanks where there is a lot of extra food for them to eat. Simply feed your fish a bit less each day and vacuum the tank weekly (removing 20% of the water) and you will see them gradually dissappear. Because of all the extra food, they can quickly reproduce, leading to "infestations". In the meantime, they will serve as a nice, meaty food for your Tetras. These Planaria are not parasites, they just eat extra food. By removing the extra food, you will starve and kill them. The bubbles you see are normal, it is caused by a buildup of anaerobic decay biproducets, as long as you stir up your gravel when you vacuum the tank, it is perfectly fine. Email me if you have any questions.
Soop Nazi
2007-09-30 12:42:54 · answer #4 · answered by nosoop4u246 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
What do baby fish look like after hatched? I don't know, but it is a possibility. Clean it thougly and make sure to clean all the plants/ whatever else who have in there and buy new gravel. Also maybe buy a new fliter system.
2007-09-30 12:26:06 · answer #5 · answered by J-J S 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Maybe parasites just takes ur fish out and take everything else out of the aqarium and then spray inside of it with some germ killing thing then clean it out and put ur fish back in and if they don't go away sell ur fish tank off ebay and get a new one.
2007-09-30 12:22:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
Start treating your tank for parasites but remember to follow the directions apropriately. I dont know how many people have come to me at work and asked me why the parasites arent gone. Well, its because they only treated the tanks half of whats needed. Try Coppersafe, that should help.
2007-09-30 13:58:23 · answer #7 · answered by SunShyne 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Try to catch all the "parasites" they might be fries (fish babies) since I can not see them I can not tell you with certainty, just put them to a side, and clean the aquarium, and buy new gravel.
2007-09-30 14:41:27 · answer #8 · answered by racm_86 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
take all the fish out,dump the aquarium out and fill it back up
2007-09-30 12:22:26 · answer #9 · answered by imjustakid&lifeisanitemare 4 · 0⤊ 4⤋
I always watched my fish, and I had the same problem. I think it's fish poo...
2007-09-30 12:30:40 · answer #10 · answered by Math Geek 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋