# anchorworms ?



## illest (Nov 30, 2003)

Hey peeps!

Ok heres the situation...

about a couple weeks or so ago I started noticing little wiggly worms floating around...prolly 1 every 6 square inches....I put in a piece of driftwood bought at lfs and within days they had it covered....now...what i did was poured several pitchers of 6 table spooned salt mixtures into the tank (over days, not all at once of course) which has seemed to have some affect(specially the grains that didnt get totally dissolved and fell right on the driftwood..those spots are clean..its just those last few wigglys floating around im upset about...

*what i don't want to be told from this post*: do lots of water changes..., garbage uneeded info.

*what i want from this post is* ...confirmation on what the parasite is based on the picture i whipped up with Paint Shop Pro...also ideas on how to kill it using aquarium salt....

now first thing yur gonna say is aquarium salt wont kill anchorworms, not true if infact these are anchorworms like am guessing they are...if they aren't so what read below..

I just so happen to have a microscope and did a lil science project...any contact with a _*grain*_ of salt kills the worm within seconds...









GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe j/k

thanks in advance!


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

Are the anchor worms attached to your p at all?


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## illest (Nov 30, 2003)

How much salt, grain wise can be added to a 55 gallon in one serving? Would be a good question...

I often though of making a salt cratridge..out of filter medium and placing it in my gravel cleaner and filter straight back into the tank...causing the worms to float though the little homemade cartridge getting forced onto the grains of salt...problem with that idea would be that the salt would disolve rather quickly....

info needed for that to work would be how much actual salt grain could be added into the salt cartridge im talking about...on a daily basis to keep up a constant worm killer

...daily water changes along side with the salt cycle gravel cyphon would be possible...


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## illest (Nov 30, 2003)

no, I don't think the P's are affected at all, the worms just aren't visually appealing...and are thriving in the mold from the new driftwood...

I refuse to remove the driftwood...


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

Anchor worms are extremely hard to eradicate, especially with p's. I know that Dylox eradicates them quite nicely but Dylox is highly fatal to p's. Droncit though effective for flukes won't do much on the anchor worms. I have heard of some using formaldehyde at a dosage of 2-3 drops per gallon. I don't know how effective salt will be in killing anchor worms but I haven't heard too much success using that route.


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## illest (Nov 30, 2003)

oh, i guess im gonna go with the daily gravel filtering...whats sucks is theres no guarentee...after all that work...


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

Good luck.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

They are not anchorworms (lernea)... Anchorworms are found attached to the fish and if you physically remove them, you will see an "anchor" where at the point where it's imbedded in the fish. If you have these, a safe medication is Dimilin (diflubenzuron). It's safe for use on piranha and is actually very effective against fish lice (argulus) also. I don't suggest the use of Dylox. Overdosing can effect the fish's nervous system and it's also harmful to humans.

You probably have nematodes. Those little white squiggly worms that you see on the gravel, swimming around (like headless sperm), and attached to the glass. They are very common in tanks with a high bioload because they feed on detritus and leftover food. Only thing you need to do is the thing you don't want to hear... Water change! (and gravel vac).


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