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Wee white beasties and worms

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Falina 
#1 ·
I've got tiny white beasties and tiny thread like worms in my 2 tanks, I don't know what they are. They seem to hang about mostly at the breeding unit where the cory fry are, but in my other tank, which has only a betta in it, they are at the front glass. There's none that I can see in my newest tank.

I've seen a few posts about similar things, but I'm not convinced it's exactly the same thing.

What are they, and are they harmful?
 
#3 ·
The thread-like worms could be planaria, normally caused by overfeeding.

They are not harmful to fish - but do like to feed on fish eggs. My advice would be a thorough cleaning of the tank, and cut back on feeding.
 
#4 ·
I do overfeed a bit, but then remove uneaten food afterwards, rather than worrying about giving them too little. I will give the tank a thorough cleaning, more thorough than usual.

Can they live in the filter? I am worried that even after cleaning that they will still be in the filter and so won't be removed.

I can't take a picture because they are probably bout 1/4 the size of a grain of salt and also because I don't own a camera.
 
#5 ·
Julie said:
Can they live in the filter?
Yes. They are not really harmful, just plain annoying at sight. Most fish will relish them but it's best to prevent such outbreaks anyway.:)

Control your feeding rations as much as possible.
 
#6 ·
Thanks very much.

I noticed they came about at the same sort of time as they fry appeared - Kate said they like to eat fish eggs, but I didn't see them until the fry hatched, and also since the fry are here, it means that they haven't been eaten. Or of course maybe it's just because the fry are so tiny that I have to look much harder and closer to see them so I only noticed them then.

My betta seems to eat them - at least somebody is getting the good of them.

Well, I'll cut down on the feeding and gave the tank a thorough gravel vac and water change last night as well as cleaning the glass as usual so hopefully I won't be seeing quite so many now.

I wonder where they came from though, I know they are caused by overfeeding, but if they weren't there to begin with, I don't understand how they just appeared. Surely there had to be some there in the first place to produce all these other ones?

Good that they're not harmful though - I was panicking earlier thinking that maybe this was the return of the dreaded white spot, and I was seeing them in the stage before they burried into the fish. It wouldn't have explained the worms mind you, but it still worried me.
 
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