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Hey everyone. My fish and I just survived somewhat of a blizzard. We were out of power for 3 days and heat intermittently. I was still doing daily water changes though and trying to heat water on the wood stove. I have some little extremely small white worms on the inside of my 10gal. tank. As there was no water circulation and filtration I think it caused some kind of worm spawn. It it camalanus? There are no worms projecting from the occupants anus. The worms were seen on the walls of the tank and floating in the water when I changed the water. I isolated some of the worms and gave them a dose of rid-ich (that is all I had available) and it killed them. I am now treating the tank with Rid-Ich. Will this work? Any identification on the worms (white color)?

Parameters

Ph 6.8
Nitrate 5.0
Nitrite 0
Amonia .50
Occupants 5x nine day old platy fry
(Tank has had no filtration for 3 days) I think it is minicycling as I am sure some of the bacteria died.

Any Comments are appreciated.


"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

Are they planaria? These worms are common and fortunately are also harmless. They are pretty much just indicators of less than perfect water. Lots of fish enjoy eating them, and they go away on their own after running out of food. By themselves, planaria outbreaks are self-limiting.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Definitely not camalanus.
Those white worms are harmless. I've seen them in one of my tanks before. They'll disappear when your water quality is back to normal. Don't worry.

Thank you for the quick responses. I don't think it was planaria sir books. Planaria looks like a flat worm. My worms are longer and more cylindrical. But I do not have a microscope available to compare to your pic so it may be. I am hoping they are not a problem, as I saw one of my fry greedily eating them. I guess only time will tell though. Hopefuly as RickyM wrote they will disapear after the filters have cleared up the water.

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

They are most likely some kind of nematode. There are many species that can be found in aquaria, and normally they are just harmless (even beneficial) scavengers that live in the gravel where they are not visible. Like the planaria, however, when water parameters are less than perfect and there is decaying waste in the tank, their populations increase and they can be seen out during the day.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Sorry everyone! I always try to find old posts on a topic but could not find one on the white worms. Well, then I checked out the post on "little Bugs" and there it is. So I apologize for not doing more homework before posting the question. I think you are right SirBooks and RickyM. I thoroughly investigated my 10 gal. this morning and could not find any sign of the worms. The water is crystal clear again and my fry are happy and growing.

when water parameters are less than perfect and there is decaying waste in the tank, their populations increase and they can be seen out during the day.

Natalie, your on the money there. The room I have the 10gal. in was not lit at all during the 3+ days that the power was out. I did a water change and partial gravel vac but was doing so under a flash light; without filtration and aeration the water was a mess. Those sound like great conditions for these worms. I am just glad that I did not lose any fry as I have a friend who is slotted to take them off my hands eventually. Thank you everyone for the information.

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"