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I noticed these little white things crawling on my betta. What are they and how do i get rid of them??

I also see them floating in the water.. please help!

-pamela

EWWWWW!!! First things first, assuming he's in a smaller container (less than 5 gallons) do a 100% water change.

We will need to know tank size, occupants, and the last water change. Water quality numbers of Ammonia, Nitrite, and NitrAte will help eliminate the guesswork.

They may be planaria from overfeeding and poor water quality. Planaria are generally harmless, and just look gross. By correcting the overfeeding and doing water changes more frequently, they will die out.

If the white worms are attached to the fish and look like this they are anchor worms, a nasty parasiter that more often than not causes secondary infections. If it is anchor worm, go to your local pet store and pick up some Jungle Labs Parasite Clear tank buddies, Aquarium Products Life Bearer, or Dimilin, if you have access to it. Dimilin is by far the most gentle, but is difficult to find. Salt will not kill this parasite.

Good luck!

He is in a filtered 10 gallon. No other tank-mates.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10 - 20pmm range

I have been doing water changes over the past couple of days because my tank finally cycled in the past month and the nitrates were skyrocketing. I got them down to 10-20ppm yesterday and I woke up to find these little white things floating around my tank and walking around on my betta. I do have some live plants in the tank. I don't ever over feed. I make sure he eats what I put in there... that's why i so worried.

I ran to the fish store and got coppersafe & maracide.

I've fortunatly never had to deal with this before, so pleae forgive if i sound like a newb. I'll try to get some pics...

Thanks!!!

Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 11:53

Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 13:35

Don't worry, with your good care he should recover swiftly Go with the coppersafe out of those two meds, it should work the best. I just can't imagine where the little buggers came from!?! You said no new plants, right? They could have hitched a ride on some new live plants... Very very odd!

Yeah, I purchased the live plants (rotala indica) last september at petsmart. I disinfected them too.. I just don't know how this happened so fast.

Nothing in my tank has changed over the past month.. The only thing I did extra in the last few days was add a little aqaurium salt to the water.

I see the little white buggers walking on the glass too. So, is this planeria? They're very tiny and roundish, if that helps..lol.

thanks again for the help!!!



Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 12:38

sounds like planaria, could be baby snails, though...?

Last edited by guppylove1985 at 05-Jan-2005 13:40

I don't think they're snail eggs. They seem too tiny and they float around. Actually upon closer inspection they are more shaped like teardrops.

As long as the coppersafe gets rid of the mystery white thingy's. I'm happy.

Does anyone knows if this is planeria or not...help?

tanks a lot!

-pam


Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 14:00

I tried to get a decent pic of the mystery white thingy's. I was unsuccessful. But, i got somthing more interesting.

Here is a pic of the little paths they make when, yes, they crawl out of the water...

http://home.comcast.net/~pammylz/HPIM0563b.JPG

Someone help. eeek!

-pam
P.S. They stopped crawling on the betta. But, it seems like they've multiplied on the glass. I can look at a square inch and count 10-15 of them.

Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 16:03

No its definitly not planeria, they are much smaller then those tracks. They also dont really crawl on things, or at least I have never seen them do that. They mostly just wiggle around in the water, and they wouldnt come out of the water.

-topher

Ok, now i'm starting to see long white worms in the water squirming around... at what point should i pull the betta out of the tank??

-pam

Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 17:27

Last edited by HermeLZ at 05-Jan-2005 17:27

OMG I thought we'd already taken him out! I would take him out and put him in another container with same temp dechlored water. Treat him with Coppersafe because you said they were on his body too, right?

I pulled him out shortly after that post. I broke down the tank last night and cleaned & rinsed it good. I didn't see them when I put the tank back together. I also dosed the tank with coppersafe. I'll keep an eye on it, though.

I highly doubt they were planeria. Maybe some form of a parasite....eew.

Thanks for the help everybody!!
-pamela