worms

[Jonney_boy]

I have a Red Cherry Tank that I setup about 2-3 months back.... I noticed today that there are some small fine worms in the substrate.

They are white, really fine (like a thread) and about 1cm to 3-4cm long. I also saw 1-2 of them swimming around.


I now have a few problems.

1) how do I get rid of them. I ONLY have Red Cherry Shrimp in this tank. Can I use de-worming medication ment for discus in the tank?

2) is this kind of worm harmful for fish. I also have a 100gal discus tank and a 75 gal rainbow tank. The last thing I want is for fish to get sick because of worms spreading... I'm willing to shutdown the rcs tank if it means "saving" the other 2 tanks.


Thanks in Advance.

[alym]

Are they planaria?

[airbaggedmazda]

Is your subtrate gravel? People usaually get those worms when they are not cleaning the gravel enough. I have had them before and they are not harmful to your fish or shrimp

[Jonney_boy]

it's fluval shrimp substrate... looks a bit like ada...

no I have no been vacuming the substrate as it is a "lightly" planted tank..
and yes i do feed a lot

[davej]

They are white, really fine (like a thread) and about 1cm to 3-4cm long. I also saw 1-2 of them swimming around.

Planaria crawl on surfaces.
Nematodes swim frantically in an S-shape in the water.
Do they look like this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYEU6...eature=related
If so they are harmless nemetodes.

Here is a great post on another forum that helps identify "BUGS" you might find in your tanks.
Bugs you might encounter in your aquarium

[Jonney_boy]

I defently saw one of the worms swim.... looked like a sea-snake.....

so given that, I guess it's not Planaria.

either way, glad to hear it's not "deadly" to anything

[Fish_Assassin]

I am also using the susbtrate from fluval...and i also have those worms your talking about. I had put some substrate in a separate container and i couple days later i've found some of these worms crawling around. There were no worms in the substrate at the time i put it in the container. They are not harmful...the fish seems to love them

[CRS Fan]

Panacur will eradicate these worms. A friend of mine used some on her Cherry shrimp tank and they were killed off. I have some liquid Panacur available. I can supply some at minmal cost (depending on how big your tank is). You should also bring a 10ml syringe without the needle to carry the medication in (if you pick some up from my place). PM me if interested.

PS if you tank is NOT heavily planted you can also gravel vac your substrate with a little practice to remove excess food particles/detritus.

Best regards,

Stuart

[Jonney_boy]

The tank is a 10 gallon.

Thanks for the suggestion on panacur. I have some discus de-wormer (kusuri wormer plus) that I ordered and has the same active ingredient (Fenbendazole). I'm going to give that a try first.

if it does not work, I will defenitly take you up on your offer of panacur.

Thanks a lot