worms in gravel

13 posts • Page 1 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


triple2ate
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:52 am

worms in gravel

by triple2ate

just doing a water change and syphoned gravel found a few worms in gravel is this a bad thing or is it alright should i put them backi in for my cichlids to eat?


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

What do these worms look like?


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I've heard of other people who have seen small white worms in their tanks.

I really don't know if they're directly harmfull to your fish or not, but if it can survive outside a fish it's probably not a parasite.

Maybe you could reduce the food they eat by cleaning the gravel, and or possibly getting some ghost shrimp or something that will eat them.


stormer0719
 
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:05 am

by stormer0719

These worms are called ....I'm not posotive on the name.... its palancia or something along those lines. They are flat worms and if you look really close you will find them scattered all over the walls after you do your siphoning or what ever. The website i went to advised reducing your gragel to 1/4" in thickness. As well a full 7 days of doing 20 percent water changes where you clean your gravel THOUROGHLY.

It is a result of over feeding, I can tell you that the website also said that they are harmless and yes they will feed some of your smaller fish. They are unfortunitly a warning sign of built up decay in your tank from over feeding which may cause you grief by bringing illness or disease to your fish.
I sudgest the websites advice, because it will get rid of the crap in your tank keeping your fish healthy. I have found in my local petsmart or petco,i don't know which, a treatment for parasites that had the name of them little buggers on it. I'm unsure the type but i will look through what I have and spam another post here telling you what it is if i find it.

I personaly change the water in my tanks twice a week or more, and 30% of it at a time as to keep my water freash so they don't get sick. I did the 7 days of gravel cleaning and found that there really was alot of over feeding or atleast yuck building up in there. Take it a section at a time if you are going to do it because there are thousands of them more than likely. If you don't mind the little guys then you don't need to go all extream, i don't know that I ever fully rid my self of them and I never used the parasite meds on my tanks so i have no advice if you were to go that way...


I think the main thing is to heed them as a warning that disease could strike if no action is taken. They are eating something down there and thick gravel is one of the main problem makers for people.

oh and to answer who evers question of what they look like, they are barely visable to the naked eye, they are little white worms.....really little....u can see them, but yeah they are for sure small.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

worms you say? yummy. fish like worms.

another great surprise to many hobbyists...I never ever vacuum the gravel. I have about 100 trumpet snails do the work naturally for me. I have dwarf chain loaches that keep the population of the snails down. There are olive nerite snails and ramshorn snails that help graze the entire tank.

So in my book, do not vacuum. It's another fallacy from so called experts. A tank can naturally rid the tank of potential problems if the habitants are balanced properly.

I also never use artificial lighting. I let the sun rays come in through the southwest window regulated by mini blinds.

I have a filtration system that is 13 times more than the recommendation from so called experts that filter the tank. I have a water flow pump that agitates the surface to provide max oxygen.

Vacuum...ha!

Do not fret if there is algae, mulm or "yuck" in the gravel, sunlight in the tank...I think experts need a good spanking with the fin of a very large fish.

Happy fishing!


mro2you2
 
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm

by mro2you2

wow... nver new that. But do you admit that vaccuums so help???


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I clean the gravel in the tanks I have with undergravel filters because the aspect of it being a "filter" causes it to collect a lot of crud.

I don't clean the gravel in my non-UGF tank with high light and co2 because I, like the author, have a wonderful bunch (thousands) of Malaysian trumpit snails which live in the gravel and clean it during the day. At night they come out of the gravel and clean the rest of the tank. Other than at night, I see very few most of the time.


mro2you2
 
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm

by mro2you2

interesting........and how did you get these " thousands" of malaysian snails? love to skimp out of of vaccuming.


mro2you2
 
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm

by mro2you2

oh wait, ive had them. Little white snails in the gravel. yeah I replaced my gravel thinging they were pest. and that is also why I have loaches.

did some reading and would love again to "skimp" work. I do run aquarium salt and my pH is 7.2. and my loaches take care of any that pop up.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

well to your utter amazement, malaysian trumpet snails are unisex, that is, one snail will produce many snails without a partner; and the beauty of it is, the more crud there is, the more this snail will reproduce.

I do have dwarf chain loaches that keep the population down to about 100. At night, like Peter said, if you look in the tank from a side (long) view, you will see hundreds of these little fellas all on the aquarium glass. If a light is turned on, in about an hours time, they disappear, back deep into the gravel.

Like I always say on this forum, let nature take care of its own...once us humans figures out how it all works in our tanks, it's pretty amazing stuff to watch nature do its thing.

Hope this helps.

worms in gravel

13 posts • Page 1 of 2

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