Reply To: Small, thin worms in breeding tank.

@atlantis_child wrote:

Today to my suprise and horror I found a swiggleing long, thin and tiny worm thing in my recently set in breeding tank. :evil:

I stirred up the tank water and sand and found more.

And no, there’s no possible way these evil things could be fry, they are as long as the fishs themselves…

From looking up unwanted aquarium criters and stuff I came to the conclusion that it might be ich. My fish have been rather pale recently, even though there have been no changes made to their habitat recently. Their tails and fins are still bright red, and they seem busy enough, chasing each other around, circling each other and such.
Their appetite has been down lately though.

I treated the tank with Maracide.

Any thoughts? Anybody had ich on their fish before? Is this what it looks like when not on the fish?

Advice and comments would be appreciated greatly. Please reply.

Ich in its freeswimming form is totally invisible. You can only see it with the naked eye when it’s in its form ON the fish. (Your fish will look like it’s been rolled in salt if it has ich.) Nothing you ever see crawling on the glass or swimming in the water is ich in any stage.

If you do have a lot of these little worms–which are probably one of several forms of harmless, but pesky, invertebrates often found in tanks–and your fish are paler, eating less, and seeming lethargic, it’s time to do a water test, and probably a water change. Worms like that only tend to flourish when there’s an overabundance of biological material (uneaten food, decaying plant matter, waste buildup in the water, etc) so if you have a lot of them, it means something’s off balance. Check your ammonia/nitrite/nitrage levels, for sure. If they’re off, do an immediate 30% water change. Even if they look OK, I’d do a water change if it’s been more than 3 weeks since you did your last one.