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During a 25% water change today, I noticed what I think are Nematodes wiggling around in the removed water. I know that some species are parasitic and I am concerned. I haven't noticed any visual worms on my fish, and none have died. Any advise? Is there a good way to remove the worms?
Thanks

I had this problem a while back. They were long stringy white things that crawled around in the gravel. Unfortunately, all but one of the fish in the tank died. I suggest treating the tank with a anti-parasitic medicine. The things started out sort of short and white, wiggeling around int the water during tank cleanings, but grew longer and grosser as time went by. I used Jungle Parasite Clear - killed them very quickly, according to directions. They most likely came in on a new fish (mine arrived via a rubbernose pleco, which was the first to die).

There are some small white worms that are part of the natural eco-system. I would be concerned with any treatment to water unless you know exactly what you are dealing with. I would bag a couple and go to your LFS, and ask them. These worms could also becaused by over feeding.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

I agree you should find out what you are dealing with before you treat anything. I have encountered both nematodes and planaria in my tank with no ill effects to my fish. I even was able to breed the nematodes in ajar for awhile and feed them to my dwarf puffers at the time. The planaria started to go away when i got an SAE. I am guessing this is why as I have read they will eat them.

I suspect both cases of worm "Infestation" were due to over feeding.

They went nuts for those wigglers. Not saying what you have are benign but they very well could be.

From what I've read in these post and on the web,
I belive I'm guilty of overfeeding. I'm taking the sit back and observe carefully aproach. So far so good.
Thanks

I am sure plenty of people will disagree with me, but my view is if its not hurting the fish or causing some form of problem, then its just nature doing its thing. Worms are just taking care of what your fish didn't. If its to the extent that your water quality is suffering then its probably not a good thing.

Hi,
Unless you deliberately cultured these worms and freed
them in your tank, any worm in the tank indicates poor
maintenance, possibly combined with over crowding and
over feeding. The worms thrive on the sludge found in
between the grains of gravel.

You need to establish a regular maintenance schedule that
includes changing around 10-20% of the tank, weekly, and
at the same time vacuuming the gravel to pull out all
the sludge. The easiest way to be sure that your tank is
healthy, is to mentally divide the non-planted parts of the
tank into four sections and with each water change, vacuum
a section. The next week move on to another section, and
so on. That way, in a month, you have cleaned the entire
gravel bed and at the same time given each section 3 weeks
for the bacterial colonies to recover.

Water changes combined with gravel vacuuming will bring
the worms back under control and possibly eliminate them
all together.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I knew i would get a lecture . Nobody likes the worms.