parasites in 125 redbelly tank

just as i was in my way to work today the boy called and said there were white worms less than 1/4'' long crawling on the sides of our 125 gallon. we did a 30% water change just last night and i had not noticed anything- usually with my previous experience when water level goes down u see them stuck on sides of tank. anyways, i was wondering what group experience is with these worms, what they are, where they came from, what meds to treat them, change in temp if needed.........? fish look ok but about 2 weeks ago i had to quarantine one of the 6 because both eyes clouded over and he got bad body and gill fungus and ulcerated his lower lip real bad scratching it. he is much better now after separation, mass water changes, and meds (maroxy and maracyn two). i didnt notice any worms in his tank, but i suppose i could look closer. we had a problem with this when we accepted 2 redbellies from a friend several years ago- one died and the other we treated (dont remember what exactly i did) we added healthy one to 125 gall eventually- im wondering if worms were just lying dormant and something happend to cause population explosion.........this tank is a constant source of conflict amongst me and the boy- seems i have to throw a fit and threaten for him to take any action on his tank and i wind up doing most of the dirty work anyways. any suggestions greatly appreciated. :m35:

 

The worms sound like planaria to me. They're harmless, but can be unsightly. They're usually associated with over feeding and not enough cleaning.

How often do you clean the tank? Do you vacuum the gravel when you clean?

-Chelle

 

when a had gotten that i cut my feeding down by half a they disapeared
it also happen in my 125 altho i have africans in it

 

yea, thats caused by over feeding...i noticed them living in the algae of my tank when i had them.

 

weve actually been having tank problems pretty much since the first few months- i dont tank ever cycled properly. this is my boyfriends tank and he needs to be told a thousand times before he does it and usually only when i make him aware of some crisis. lately we've been feeding much less than usual (tho feeders from petsmart might not be the cleanest) and vacuuming gravel/changing 1/4- 1/3 of water biweekly. usuing fluval 404 canister with carbon and ceramic media, also aquaclear.....not sure model but bigger than 40 over the back type. (125 gallons). we never had problems in a 55 gallon befor ewith just crappy whisper 60 (tho fishies were slightly smaller then). will a pleco help clean things up? they really havent been getting fed much lately, maybe a dozen small feeders for 5 hand-sized redbellies every 4 or 5 days recently, very few algae wafers once in a while. i hear coppersafe is not safe for redbellies? how to get rid of these worms? i hate these fish. in fact they are free with the tank and their 26 year old boy.

 

I wouldn't add a pleco, that will just add more waste.

Also, be careful with store bought feeders. If you're going to use them, quarantine them for at least 2 - 3 weeks before giving them to the piranhas. Otherwise your tank really could get nasty parasites & other diseases.

Since planaria are harmless, I really don't recommend using chemicals to get rid of them. I'd increase your water changes to 30% every week (or even twice a week until the worms are gone) and make sure you're vacuuming the gravel each time. That should take care of them.

-Chelle

 

I had the same problem, as t_chelle said their harmless but arent very attractive, I cut back feeding alot for a week and then went up a bit but still lower from my regualr feeding schedule. Best of luck :y_the_best: