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Post by Denise on Dec 11, 2003 1:42:48 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I have two fantail goldfish in a well-established ten gallon filtered tank. My oldest is four years and his friend recently passed away. I brought home a new friend but did not quarantine him because I do not have an extra tank. The next time I vacuumed the gravel (which I do every week), I noticed some little tiny white wormies floating around in the water. At first I thought they were little pieces of lint, but then I realized they were moving on their own and not just from the flow of the filter and air stone. They are as thin as a hair and maybe 1/4" long. They seem to be living in the gravel because I did not see them until I disturbed the gravel. Both fish seem to be perfectly healthy and are acting fine.
Anyone know what these little worms are? Could the new goldfish have brought them in? Are they harmful to the fish, or just living on waste in the gravel? How do I get rid of them? I added some Coppersafe to the water, thinking the worms must be a parasite, although they do not appear to be on the fish or bothering the fish, but I'm afraid they will. After one week, they are still there. Again, I do not see them until I disturb the gravel and then about ten of them will be floating around in the water. I've been trying to get them out with the syphon when I vacuum, and with a turkey baster.
I hope this isn't a serious problem. Any ideas on what they are and how to get rid of them will be very much appreciated! Thanks!
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Post by estel on Dec 11, 2003 2:24:29 GMT -5
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Post by Denise on Dec 11, 2003 12:34:36 GMT -5
Thanks Estel and BettaRic for your quick response. I will read up on planaria and thanks for the links! I have had goldfish in the past who were really good about picking all the little pieces of food out of the gravel. The ones I have now seem to forget about the food if they don't catch it when it's falling, so maybe too much is going into the gravel. The idea of worms of any kind in the tank makes me feel sick, but hopefully they are not harmful and maybe I don't have to panic. Again, thanks for the info!
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Post by Betta MVP on Dec 11, 2003 12:44:54 GMT -5
Denise, Does it look like little white cat hair floating in your tank? I had this a while back and they are nematodes which are not harmful to your fish as long as they don't get out of hand. Siphon your gravel very thoroughly and deep because they are living off of waste in there, also feed lightly for a while to make sure no food is falling to the bottom. Coppersafe won't get rid of them, they are almost impossible to totally get rid of short of tearing down your tank and scrubbing everything but at least they aren't harmful to your fish, they might even snack on a few from time to time. Here is a good link: badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article1.htmlGood luck! |
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Post by Rover on Dec 11, 2003 16:02:51 GMT -5
They are not harmful. They are caused by excessive waste. Maybe get a bottom feeder to take care of food that falls to the bottom and is ignored by the goldfish? Or live plants to use up the waste in the gravel?
If the white worms bother you, get something like a platy that eats it. Yeah, I know platties like warmer temps than goldfish, but maybe if you found a happy medium, and only put the platty in there for a while until the problem was cleaned up ... ?
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Post by Denise on Dec 12, 2003 13:10:52 GMT -5
Thanks againk everyone. I did some reading on the planaria and from what all of you have described, that is exactly what we have. Since the tank is only ten gallons, wouldn't it be too crowded if I added another fish like a Platty? My tank stays pretty warm even without a heater because I keep my house really warm for the bettas. My goldfish tank stays about 76 - 78 degrees F. I will definitely be feeding less and vacuuming more, plus I'm going to give the filter a good cleaning. Thanks for all the help!!!
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Post by JulietV on Dec 14, 2003 13:28:44 GMT -5
I may just be very odd in this case, but I've had excellent luck keeping albino corys with my two goldfish (a fantail and oranda.) They're moving to bigger digs soon, but the corys (there was one, then the other one's tankmates all died and he got moved in with them) have done a great job keeping the bottom clean. They're big enough not to get eaten, and small enough the goldfish pretty much ignore them. My tank stays between 74-76 most of the time (it's spiked nearly to 80 if the light stays on too long) and the fish all seem to consider this a happy medium. One smaller cory might fit in pretty well with your two guys, provided he's not a fin-nipper and they take to him. I've had much better luck with them as bottom-cleaners than I ever did with indian algae eaters, who harassed my tropicals more than they did the algae.
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Post by Denise on Dec 15, 2003 2:14:46 GMT -5
Thanks, JulietV for the info on Corys. The only fish I've ever had are goldfish and bettas, so I don't know anything about Corys. I might consider getting one. If I only got one, would he be lonely, or do you think he would be okay with just goldfish as tankmates? Thanks again!
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Post by estel on Dec 15, 2003 5:11:51 GMT -5
If I only got one, would he be lonely, or do you think he would be okay with just goldfish as tankmates? Thanks again! AFAIK most corys are shoaling fish, so therefore it would be best to get at least four (if you have a small tank (where 10 gallons is considered small), then you could get, e.g., pygmy corys so as not to overstock). Here's a nice guide on choosing catfish: planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/catfishology/catbas1_choosing_your_catfish.htmI guess category A would apply. Other parts of planetcatfish.com would probably be useful, too, so have a look around. HTH |
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Post by JulietV on Dec 16, 2003 12:30:28 GMT -5
I have two who are currently in a ten-gallon (we're moving because the pleco and golds have outgrown it--my new 20Hgal is set up and just needs water and some time to cycle and they can move in!) They seem to like hanging out together, so if you have room I'd get at least two (personally I would think four in a ten-gallon with goldfish is pushing it, since, golds being messy, the water gets dirty out of proportion to the number of fish.) Also, some types of corys can get BIG--my vet has one in his 55gal that's about five inches long. So definitely think about size when picking a variety. The vet's cory, btw, is alone as far as species goes, so they can be kept by themselves. I'd be most concerned, with goldfish, about room and filtration, because while they're more tolerant than most tropicals they aren't quite as happy in mess as the goldfish are. My guys' new tank has both power filtration and ugf, and I'm hoping that'll be enough, especially if the goldfish reach their potential sizes.
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