hazeymom

We have a 30 gallon tank that we got about a year and a half ago after our kids came home with Comet Fish from the fair. Most of the comets didn't last long, and for well over a year the tank has had 1 comet and a black moor in it.

This is going to sound terrible, but I am a tropical fish person and never really liked the goldfish. (I tried to find someone else to take them with no luck) My 13 yr old convinced me about 2 months ago to let her take over caring for the goldfish. I tried to keep an eye on her and them, but somehow in the craziness of life, the tank didn't get cleaned as often as it should, and a couple of days ago, both of the fish died within 1 day of each other. I assumed it was because of high ammonia or nitrate levels, but I'm really not sure. (I know it's terrible that I didn't pay more attention).

So, I just took all the decorations out with the intention of cleaning the tank and putting something else in. When I lifted up a decoration I saw a big gross red worm. It quickly dissapeared...

I've been scouring the net for hours trying to figure out what it was with no luck. It did look exactly like this worm: http://www.aquaboards.com/viewtopic.php?id=6567&p=1

So now my question is, what should I do with the tank, filter, etc. to be able to use it again? Clean the tank and filter casing and tubes, and decorations with bleach and rinse really well, or throw out everything but the tank and clean the tank thoroughly with bleach? (Once its sanitized, I can start over and seed the tank with extra filter media from another tank to get the cycle going)

I honestly have no idea if the mysterious worm had anything to do with the fish dying, but I certainly don't want to take any chances.

I apologize for not having more details about the worm, but it just grossed me out way too much to do any further investigating. I'm just getting rid of all the water and gravel with gloves on and hoping not to see it again.

Thanks!

gremlin

I find worms in my pond sometimes. They seldom survive to be that big, my mosquito fish hunt down anything wiggly and eat it. The ones in my pond seem to like the moss - I find them in my waterfalls. The look and act just like earthworms, but don't survive outside the water. We have always had the little red worms in the pond. We just toss them out into the garden (nice mulch) or, if they are still small enough, feed them to the mosquito fish.

hazeymom

Thanks Gremlin
So far I guess I'll go with the theory that its a harmless worm like the ones in your pond and not the cause of the fish deaths.
(Makes me feel a little bit better anyway)

But I wouldn't call this thing little...it must have been like 4 inches long or so. It was really gross and totally unexpected since I have no idea how it could have gotten there. There were no snails, live plants or anything else I can think of that would have carried it in to the tank.

gremlin

no problem.

Some of the ones that I would find in the waterfalls were pretty long. I never actually measured, but they could easily have been 3-4 inches (or more). The big ones I would throw in the garden.