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Emily94 · Jan 3, 2011, 12:36 PM

I have a fry tank for my baby guppys, I took the babies out about 2 weeks ago and just never cleaned the tank after... now I have white worms everywhere (Supposivly there some kind of ringworm or something)... How do I get rid of them??

Also, there are a few worms that are black and white and are on the bottom shaking... I haven't been able to find anything on them... anyone got any suggestions?

Wondergirl · Jan 3, 2011, 12:41 PM

You have some work ahead of you --

Aquarium FD - Planaria Small Hair like White Worms - Disease Identification, Diagnosis & Treatment

Emily94 · Jan 3, 2011, 02:32 PM

If I was just to take down the aquarium would the worms like... hybernate until there was water? Or would that kill them? (Sounds silly haha)

Wondergirl · Jan 3, 2011, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by Emily94

If i was just to take down the aquarium would the worms like... hybernate until there was water? Or would that kill them? (Sounds silly haha)

The worm web site sounds like they will rear their ugly little heads again if you don't do this right. For instance, you have to clean every piece of gravel, or replace it completely.

I'm betting Alty is a worm expert and will toss in her two cents this evening.

Emily94 · Jan 3, 2011, 04:28 PM

I don't have any gravel in the tank, I have 2 large rocks...

Alty · Jan 3, 2011, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

I'm betting Alty is a worm expert and will toss in her two cents this evening.

I wish WG.

Fish are not my thing. I'm still amazed that I have a 5 year old goldfish. The pet store assured me he'd only live for 2 weeks, which at 27 cents wasn't a bad deal. Five years later he's somehow still alive. It's a mystery.

We do have a fish pro but he comes and goes.

I looked at the link WG posted. Looks good to me, but I agree, it looks like you have your work cut out for you. Personally I'd replace everything. Gravel, decorations, filter, you name it. Scrub the tank good, and rinse. After that I'd add the water and chemicals and wait. If you didn't get everything the worms will likely show up again. If you did get it all, you should be good to go. But, this is just a guess.

Check back. Hopefully our fish pro will come along and offer some more concrete advice.

shazamataz · Jan 3, 2011, 05:37 PM

No advice here sorry but just letting you know I had those little wiggly buggers a few years back.

I just did regular water changes and it seemed to help but they never actually completely went away until we stopped using the tank, let it dry out then refilled it again.

GZDZ · Jan 4, 2011, 01:04 PM

What you have is a harmless worm called "Planaria". They appear when there is an abundance of food in a tank that is not maintained. Do weekly water changes and clean the contents of the tank and cut back on feeding. Some recommend adding salt, use it as a last resort, and never leave salt in the tank 100% of the time. This can cause some strains of bacteria to become resistant to salt when you really need it.

What I did was purchase small tetras and some octo sucker cats,(small 2" mature), the full name eludes me at the moment. Eventually with proper maintenance they disappeared.

They will go away, give it some time and don't give up.

Emily94 · Jan 11, 2011, 07:54 PM

Thank you for all the helpful tips, I syphoned out all the food that was on the bottom and removed 25% of the water, I couldn't do anymore because my guppy had her babies and they needed to go into the tank. Some of the worms have gone away (At least I don't see them all the time now).