luckyyouxx

Hello, A few weeks ago I noticed little white thread like worms everywhere in my 55 gallon fish tank. I tried using parasite clear just as the directions said to. I used it once a week for the past too weeks and the worms are still in the tank. My largest oscar isnt acting like himself. This morning he was behing a big rock and then he started floating on the top of the water and then he dove down into the rocks and stayed there for a while. It was still dark out when I woke up and I turned the tank light on. Could that have cause his weird behavior this morning? The other fish in the keeps trying to ram the glass of the tank. What should I do about the worms? Could that be causing them to act this way?

I can give you the tank readings if you need them.

Please help!

Thanks,

Amanda

Shawnie

Im thinking from someones earlier post, that these are not parasites..and if thats the case, medicine isnt needed...oscars tolerate alot, but they do not seem to do well with any meds added to a tank..id do a water change of at least 25% and deffintaly check your reaDings..ill see if i can find the thread or you can look also, on the worms someone else had that the fish seemed to have just eaten up...goodluck

Shawnie

heres one link Worms and bugs? and i know ive seen more....

also, did u know oscars sometimes sleep on their sides at the bottom of the tank as well?? maybe thats what you saw today?

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore. I would do a 25-50% water change now. You may want to try a product called Clout (for external parasites). Do you have any pics you could post of your Oscar that's acting different? Especially around his gills?

luckyyouxx

I did a 50% water change last night. I didnt add any more of the meds last night. I just added aqua safe, aquarium salt, clear water and aquari-sol. The fish that has been acting weird was floating on the top this morning. Im going to go buy a tank divider and separate them for a while because I just noticed that the reason he is staying behind a rock is because the other fish (who is smaller than him btw) is making him stay down there. I saw him try to come up and the little fish chased him back down there. He is acting fine now though. I walked over to the tank and he came up to eat like he always does. He doesnt have a place on him anywhere that tells me he's been beaten up though. His gills look very healthy. They dont look abnormal at all. I'm going to the pet store tonight and I will get clout. Will that kill the worms? They seem to be growing (getting longer) instead of dying.

COBettaCouple

I'm not totally sure if it will, since I'm not sure what they are, but clout is stronger than parasite clear and intended for external more than parasite clear.

tan.b

could you describe the worms? or get a picture?

i had a worm thing going on in my tank, and occasionally they return. they were about a cm long, quite thin and would only be seen when i fed the fish and they would come out of the gravel and travel up the glass. however hideous they were, thankfully they were completely harmless and never bothered the fish. i went to the trouble with one tank of using very hot water (about 60 C - not boiling for fear of cracking glass) and clearing everything out, however as it returned within days i left them be!! now they only come back every month or so.
maybe this is what you have?

luckyyouxx

That sounds like what I have but they dont just come out when I feed them. They are floating in the water but the description you gave about them is exactly what they look like.

COBettaCouple

Have you happened to notice any small flies around? We had something very similiar to what Tan described break out in one of our cichlid tanks. Turns out that they were fly larvae of these tiny little flies.

tan.b

sounds likely...they are like mini maggots!

Butterfly

They may be a type f planaria. They show up if theres extra food in the substrate. A couple of good gravel vacuums and a couple of good water changes should see them under control.
carol