Id for worms in my carbon filter SOS

[HayleyMartin]

Hello,
Last night I noticed my pleco appears to have ick. So I decided to start treating my tank. I used API super ick cure and followed the instructions and remove my carbon filters. A few minutes after treating the tank I noticed one of many panda corydoras swimming really oddly. Within 10 minutes he was dead and the rest were sitting on the bottom not moving but alive. I researched what could have happened and learned they're sensitive to salt and Super Ick is full of it. So I did and immediate water change and went to put my carbon filters back in when I noticed they had worms inside. A couple popped their heads out to say hello. If anyone could help me ID this worm and let me know if they're safe to put back in my tank I'd really appreciate it. I have new ick medicine coming which doesn't have all the salt in it and new carbon filters as well just in case I cant put these back on.

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 112g
How long has the tank been running? 2 weeks
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 82oF
What is the entire stocking of this tank? X3 dwarf gourami, x4 albino corydoras, x3 panda corydoras, x 2 guppy, x1 clown pleco

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 20%
What do you use to treat your water? API Stress Coat
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum gravel

*Parameters
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API Fresh Water Mater Kit
What are your parameters?

Ammonia: 0.2
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30
pH: 8.0 (I know this is high for the fish I keep but they were all purchased from a breeder that has the same PH level)

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Twice a day flakes, once a day sinking pellets, once every other day pleco sinking food
How much do you feed your fish? 2 small pinches of flake twice a day. 8 sinking pellets once a day, a small pinch of pleco food once every other day
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega One Freshwater Flakes, API Bottom Feeder Pellets with Shrimp, Top Fin Sinking Algea Crumbles
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Top Fin Freeze Dried Bloodworm twice a week

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 2 weeks
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Last night
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? One of my Corydoras died 10 minutes after treating my tank for ick
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Water change
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? All of my Corydoras are sitting on the bottom hardly moving

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
I would like to know if it's safe to put these carbon filters back on my filter with these worms living in them please. I want to clear the Super Ick out of my tabk before I lose any more fish. Thank you, I appreciate any help.

 

[richiep]

It would be better to id these in their own environment can you put some in a jar and photograph or if there's any free swimming or on the glass would be better
Can I just ask as well you say the tank as been running 2 weeks and the fish have been in there two weeks
What happened to the cycling part

 

[ForceTen]

Big water change, big cleaning, then turn up your tank heater. I'm not certain the temp, but raising it worked for me last time and has worked for others.
There is no need for any commercial ick remedies.
Increasing tank temp in a clean pristine aquarium seems to cure ick.
I should say it has always worked for me.

 

[jkkgron2]

3 dwarf gouramis?! Are they All males? You may have some bullying or fighting issues if they are.

Upping the temp to 86°F and doing daily 25% water changes is all you need to treat ich.

 

[HayleyMartin]

It would be better to id these in their own environment can you put some in a jar and photograph or if there's any free swimming or on the glass would be better
Can I just ask as well you say the tank as been running 2 weeks and the fish have been in there two weeks
What happened to the cycling part

Thank you for getting back to me. I tried to get some in a jar. They seem to be tan colored and have prongs on their backside.
I cycled my tank for a month and then added fish, the fish have been in there for 2 weeks, so 6 weeks altogether. I apologize I just misunderstood the question. I thought I only needed to mention how ling fish have been living in my tank since there's a separate about whether or not I cycled.

 

[HayleyMartin]

T

Big water change, big cleaning, then turn up your tank heater. I'm not certain the temp, but raising it worked for me last time and has worked for others.
There is no need for any commercial ick remedies.
Increasing tank temp in a clean pristine aquarium seems to cure ick.
I should say it has always worked for me.

Thank you for getting back to me, I'll do as you've suggested and see if it'll work for me too.

 

[ForceTen]

Thank you for getting back to me, I'll do as you've suggested and see if it'll work for me too.

Make sure you do not heat the water to much. Google says 85-89f. But someone here should have a better number. Some fish cannot handle the higher temp, so be careful.
But I do know this works. I have used this method before with excellent results.
Be sure this tank is clean and has plenty fresh clean water. I would do daily water changes until this thing clears up.
I think the cleaning actually does more than the heat, but that is an opinion.

 

[richiep]

The cycling question was out of concern nothing else but when these forms are filled if its by a newbee its a simple case of trying to get them out of trouble before they loose everything
As for the worm it looks like some sort of nymph but not sure which one at the moment, chances are your fish will eat them Feohw may id straight away

 

[HayleyMartin]

Make sure you do not heat the water to much. Google says 85-89f. But someone here should have a better number. Some fish cannot handle the higher temp, so be careful.
But I do know this works. I have used this method before with excellent results.
Be sure this tank is clean and has plenty fresh clean water. I would do daily water changes until this thing clears up.
I think the cleaning actually does more than the heat, but that is an opinion.

Thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to gradually increase the temperature so this fish have time to adjust to it. For daily water changes, I've been stress coating when I water change. Do I need to do this everyday with the water change or would that but to much? I apologize, I've only been keeping fish for 2 weeks for I'm very new to all of this. I thought I'd prepped well but I definitely didn't.

 

[HayleyMartin]

The cycling question was out of concern nothing else but when these forms are filled if its by a newbee its a simple case of trying to get them out of trouble before they loose everything
As for the worm it looks like some sort of nymph but not sure which one at the moment, chances are your fish will eat them Feohw may id straight away

Thank you for letting me know about the form and for picking it up to begin with. I'm here because I've only been keeping fish 2 weeks, so there's a lot I don't know and I appreciate all the advice anyone can give me so I don't accidently kill all my fish. I didn't take offence to your asking so I apologize if it came across that way.

 

[ForceTen]

When I do water changes I use nothing but Prime. Just to treat the water for chlorine.
Clean up your filter with water you take from the tank.
I would get rid of as many of these worms as possible.
Super clean tank, super clean filter and warmer water is your ticket to success.
Watch out for chlorine when doing water changes.

Also collect any floating debris.

 

[HayleyMartin]

3 dwarf gouramis?! Are they All males? You may have some bullying or fighting issues if they are.

Upping the temp to 86°F and doing daily 25% water changes is all you need to treat ich.

Yes I have 3 of them, I thought 2 were female and 1 was a male, but I've spoken about them on here before and was told that they're probably all in fact males. I've only seen them fighting once, my two orange ones had a little circle dance but generally they leave each other alone. They each seem to have chosen a place for themselves and don't seem to bother each other unless one wanders a little close to where the other claimed. Even at feeding time, they eat in different places of the tank and at different levels. So honestly I don't know if I have males, females or a mix. But I watch them constantly and if they start to fight I'll move one of the aggressors out. My quarantine tank is 30 gallons and I have another 10gallon tank set up as well for emergencies, so I have space to move 1 gourami if I need to. I don't have anything in my other two tanks at the moment but they're fully cycled and ready to be used when needed.

Thank you for the advice on the ich treatment, I'll do that and see how it goes for my fish. At the moment the only one showing white spots is the clown pleco, the rest were all acting perfectly normal until of course I poisoned my Corydoras.

Thank you for the advice

 

[jkkgron2]

Yes I have 3 of them, I thought 2 were female and 1 was a male, but I've spoken about them on here before and was told that they're probably all in fact males. I've only seen them fighting once, my two orange ones had a little circle dance but generally they leave each other alone. They each seem to have chosen a place for themselves and don't seem to bother each other unless one wanders a little close to where the other claimed. Even at feeding time, they eat in different places of the tank and at different levels. So honestly I don't know if I have males, females or a mix. But I watch them constantly and if they start to fight I'll move one of the aggressors out. My quarantine tank is 30 gallons and I have another 10gallon tank set up as well for emergencies, so I have space to move 1 gourami if I need to. I don't have anything in my other two tanks at the moment but they're fully cycled and ready to be used when needed.

Thank you for the advice on the ich treatment, I'll do that and see how it goes for my fish. At the moment the only one showing white spots is the clown pleco, the rest were all acting perfectly normal until of course I poisoned my Corydoras.

Thank you for the advice

Ok sounds good then. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t having aggression issues because they can get bad if left alone.

 

[HayleyMartin]

Ok sounds good then. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t having aggression issues because they can get bad if left alone.

I'm quite worried about it too, it's early days for my tank yet so I dont know how these 3 will treat each other as time goes on.

 

[jkkgron2]

I'm quite worried about it too, it's early days for my tank yet so I dont know how these 3 will treat each other as time goes on.

I would watch them carefully as they mature. From what I’ve heard and my one experience with a very mean DG they start fighting once they mature.

 

[HayleyMartin]

When I do water changes I use nothing but Prime. Just to treat the water for chlorine.
Clean up your filter with water you take from the tank.
I would get rid of as many of these worms as possible.
Super clean tank, super clean filter and warmer water is your ticket to success.
Watch out for chlorine when doing water changes.

Also collect any floating debris.

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. I'll get a different water treatment for the daily water changes instead of using the stress coat. I'll get these filters cleaned and replace them when the new ones when they arrive. I'll do the other things you advised as well and keep and eye on everyone.

 

[Fisch]

3 dwarf gouramis?! Are they All males? You may have some bullying or fighting issues if they are.

Upping the temp to 86°F and doing daily 25% water changes is all you need to treat ich.

Don't forget the gravel vacuum during these water changes, getting the ich out of the gravel.

 

[HayleyMartin]

Don't forget the gravel vacuum during these water changes, getting the ich out of the gravel.

I'll be sure to do that, thank you for letting me know. Do I need to be worried about killing all of my good bacteria cleaning my tank this much?

 

[Fisch]

I'll be sure to do that, thank you for letting me know. Do I need to be worried about killing all of my good bacteria cleaning my tank this much?

Your good bacteria should be mainly in the filter. Stirring the gravel a bit rather than going really deep is more the key as the ich cysts detached from the fish and fell on the substrate. It is not buried deep at that point.

 

[HayleyMartin]

Your good bacteria should be mainly in the filter. Stirring the gravel a bit rather than going really deep is more the key as the ich cysts detached from the fish and fell on the substrate. It is not buried deep at that point.

That's great to know, thank you

 

[MrBryan723]

Not sure if this has been answered yet, but that is a midge fly larvae. Common and fish edible. They like to lay eggs on the filter floss.
Edit: poor spelling

 

[HayleyMartin]

Th

Not sure if this has been answered yet, but that is a midge fly larvae. Common and fish edible. They like to lay eggs on the filter floss.
Edit: poor spelling

Thank you for letting me know what these were and that they're not harmful.