dano569

for the past 6 months or so i have noticed these small white worms in my tank.the last 2 or 3 weeks i've noticed them really bad in my red devil tank.this is the only tank i have that doesn't have a pleco in it.i thought that might be a possibility of them being so bad in this tank.i think they are planaria worms.they are pretty much from uneaten food in the gravel.i have 2 plecos in there now and have reduced the amount of food i put in there.i was just wondering if anybody has ever dealt with this and might have suggestions on how to get rid of them.i've read people saying don't feed the fish for about 3 days.what do ya'll think about doing that?

daniel

Terry

Sounds like planaria and yes - they usually start showing up in large numbers due to overfeeding & excess food ending up in the gravel. They aren't bad for the fish, and may even be food for some types of fish. I'm guessing that the plecos may have been eating them in the other tanks. Maybe a good gravel cleaning may help, as well as the plecos that you've introduced into the tank. Not feeding the fish would help, but avoiding overfeeding may be better. It's difficult not to overfeed as the little guys always seem to be hungry, but it has to be done.*

Numerous articles on planaria in aquaria can be found in a search - this is just one:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/qa/f/faq0050.htm

Butterfly

Also deeper gravel vacs will help . They will multiply faster with excess food and waste in the gravel. Adult fish can go a week or more without food without harm.
Carol

dano569

thanks.i've cut back how much i feed them.i've also thought about going to a floating cichlid food if i can get them to eat it.i think the flakes getting sucked into the filter is helping them survive also.

Butterfly

sounds like a plan
Carol