# Little white bugs on glass?????



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I was looking through the aquarium today with a flash light(because of the tannins) and notice on one side only,the side i have the powerhead,the there's litle white parasites/bugs.
At first i thought it was little white particles but when i looked closely,they seem to be crawling on the glass and only on that side. Is this something to worry about?
I mostly feed shrimp and silversides. Wtaer params are:
PH 7.6
ammo 0
nitrate 5.0
nitrite 0


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## Genesis8 (Sep 11, 2009)

I think it's planaria of something like that or however you spell it.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Genesis8 said:


> I think it's planaria of something like that or however you spell it.


is it harmless? Should i do anything about it?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Yeah, Genesis is right, they're "Planaria."

Planaria are not a bug, but rather what's referred to as a "metazoan."
They're harmless, but are the sign of a dirty tank.

They usually "Appear" when there is uneaten food in the tank.

By performing a series of water changes and turning the heat up to the mid 80's for a few days, they will disappear.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I have left uneaten shrimp in the tank for about 13hrs and i get planaria!!! 99% of the time i remove the uneaten food after 20 mins. My params are perfect.
I did a water change today.Should i do another tomorrow? Shouldi add salt?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Forget the salt.
Wouldn't hurt to do another water change tomorrow... but the important thing is to vacuum the substrate well, so as to remove the planaria's food source.

Turning the heat up is good too, as the planaria can't handle higher temps.
Mid to uper 80's should do it.

One more gravel vac tomorrow with the temp in the mid 80's and I bet you that your little white visitors are gone by Sunday.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> Forget the salt.
> Wouldn't hurt to do another water change tomorrow... but the important thing is to vacuum the substrate well, so as to remove the planaria's food source.
> 
> Turning the heat up is good too, as the planaria can't handle higher temps.
> ...


I have the temp at 83F.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

I keep mine at 82 on a regular basis.

Like I've said, I'd go mid-upper 80's.

Either way though, you should be fine if you've done a good vac job.
(And rinse uneaten food out of your filter media too... rinse it with aquarium water...)


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> (And rinse uneaten food out of your filter media too... rinse it with aquarium water...)


I did this about 2 weeks ago. Gonna do another gravel vac tomorrow.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

If you've already done one waterchange and gravel vac and turned the temp up, you should already notice a serious decrease in planaria.

Don't be afraid to turn that heat up... these are piranha man... they can handle it.
You should see what these buggers go through in the wild!

Dry season... small pools with the sun beating down on them... roasting the water temperatures...


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Just want to add-
Make sure you are regurly testing your water params through out all these water changes....


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Good point AK.
I had a Planaria problem in my Mac tank..Not a Clue how being I don't leave even partial remains in the tank that he doesn't eat within 5-10 minutes.
I tore my canister down and ran it with fresh water and it blew out all types of crap so I ran a brush through the lines and its been better ever since.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

To add to what AK was saying...

Rule of thumb for water changes is that in a well established tank, don't exceed 50% water change at a time, and not any more frequently than every 8 hours.

Just to be on the safe side, I routinely change out 40% at a time.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> To add to what AK was saying...
> 
> Rule of thumb for water changes is that in a well established tank, don't exceed 50% water change at a time, and not any more frequently than every 8 hours.
> 
> Just to be on the safe side, I routinely change out 40% at a time.


I change out about 10%


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

1rhom said:


> To add to what AK was saying...
> 
> Rule of thumb for water changes is that in a well established tank, don't exceed 50% water change at a time, and not any more frequently than every 8 hours.
> 
> Just to be on the safe side, I routinely change out 40% at a time.


I change out about 10%
[/quote]

That's not enough to even bother with.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

what is the min water to be removed when doing a water change?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Well, it also depends on frequency.

I wouldn't bother with any less than 25% personally... and no more than 40%.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

you should do as much as you need to keep nitrates low. If your getting planaria, you may want to increase your water changes, gravel vac frequency and circulation. I would do about 25% for about a week and they should be gone. DO gravel vacs along with it too.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

sean-820 said:


> you should do as much as you need to keep nitrates low. If your getting planaria, you may want to increase your water changes, gravel vac frequency and circulation. I would do about 25% for about a week and they should be gone. DO gravel vacs along with it too.


Nitrates are at 5ppm and i'm doing daily water changes ,i think the planaria are almost gone.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

If you're keeping your nitrates at 5ppm... then you're doing extremely well.









Didn't I tell ya that you'd be rid of 'em by Sunday?
Didn't I tell ya?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm???


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> If you're keeping your nitrates at 5ppm... then you're doing extremely well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just checked param and Nitrates are at 10ppm. Planaria are still present. They're litle white bugs on the glass and seem to fly around and go back on the glass!!! Temp is up to 85F,going to bump it up to 87F.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

If they swim around then reattach, they're not planaria.
Planaria are flatworms.

I suspect you have nematodes.

Treatment is the same.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> If they swim around then reattach, they're not planaria.
> Planaria are flatworms.
> 
> I suspect you have nematodes.
> ...


Is it caused by uneaten food as well?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Yeah.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I read that it can kill the fish, Do i have to clean out the filter too?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

There are literally tens of thousands of varieties of nematodes in existence.
The type(s) found in aquariums are not typically parasitic.

Just keep up with your water changes, do gravel vacs and make sure there isn't uneaten food in the tank.
You'll want to rinse your filter media in the aquarium water that exits your aquarium during water changes, but do not 'clean' otherwise or replace.
You need that bacteria in the media in order to maintain a cycled tank.

Do this and keep the temp. up and you'll be rid of those little buggers faster'n you can say "Natural ways to get rid of nonpathogens."


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

wait wait wait, 
First thing i'm gonna aask is do you have any snails?
I had the same thing and I thought it was plantaria but it was in my quarintine tank so i didn't care. Waited about a week looked inside and all the little "bugs" on the side of the tank were snails. The diffrence is plantaria is wormlike while these snails look like little fast moving beetles on the side of the tank.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

^^ We've already deduced that they're free swimming.

That means that it's 99% that they're nematodes.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I removed the gravel completely and replacing with sand. That will get rid of whatever those buggers were.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I still have a few "white bugs" on the glass even after all these water changes and replacing the gravel. I haven't fed the rhom since. Bumped up temp to 86F.
I have no snails or live plants.Will salt help?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Changing the substrate was pretty drastic...









I'd personally just not worry about it too much.
If you've only got a few left and you're doing water changes and making sure there is no food left behind from now on, they'll disappear.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> Changing the substrate was pretty drastic...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah i know it was drastic







I wanted to switch over to sand eventually and this made me do it faster. No bug will thrive in my tank


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

they actually fly around like butterflies and land on the glass. Still a few left.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

This is the longest "Little white bugs" thread I've ever seen!









Usually it's "I have little white bugs..."
Followed by "They're planaria or nematodes..."
"Here's how you treat..."

Then, a few posts later "They're gone..."

You have some very persistent little buggers in your tank!


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Seriuosly!!! You'd think after changing substrate and all those water changes , those buggers would disappear








The water is very clear now can see the rhom a lot better but i might add some of the tannins back? Watcha think?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Dude to be honest, ya got me stumped.

"Fly around like butterflies and then land back on the glass..."









That's a new one to me.

(Have you been eating any little blue mushrooms lately?)


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> Dude to be honest, ya got me stumped.
> 
> "Fly around like butterflies and then land back on the glass..."
> 
> ...


lol,never seen these guys before. They fly around close the glass and land on the glass like a humming bird!!


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Okay, yeah... you're definitely on drugs.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> Okay, yeah... you're definitely on drugs.


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

drop like a dozen zebro danios in the tank and they will take care those little worms, assuming they don't get pick off by your rhom first.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

So what's the update on this?


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

yeh update would be nice... i still have mine damnit... they just dont want to dissapear!


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

haha p man you gave this one your best shot


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

These little bastards don't want to disappear! Not to many left but still there. I think the only way to get rid of them is to raise the temp and not feed till they're gone. I did a big water change when i changed the substrate and since, i've been doing water changes every 2 days. I'd say 95% of them are gone.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

mtuttle02 said:


> haha p man you gave this one your best shot


Yeah, I've laid awake MANY NIGHTS thinking about this thread!
I'm "this close" to getting a damn plane ticket and flying out and seeing these little white buggers for myself!


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> haha p man you gave this one your best shot


Yeah, I've laid awake MANY NIGHTS thinking about this thread!
I'm "this close" to getting a damn plane ticket and flying out and seeing these little white buggers for myself!








[/quote]
I think for therapy purposes you should come and see them,lol!


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Almost gone!


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Dude, this has GOT to be a record.

I've gotten planaria and nematode breakouts many times... and I've always gotten it eradicated within a few days.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

woohhoo! I have a record on Pfury!!!!


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Sir I do believe you have 2 records:

1.) Longest amount of time to get rid of an outbreak.

2.) Longest thread regarding said outbreak.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Nice!! 2 records!! Going for a 3rd. Nobody can stop me now!!!!!!!!


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Any speculation on what the 3rd record may involve?


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> Any speculation on what the 3rd record may involve?


I'm the only member that started 2 threads back to back that strat with "little white...". Ha!!!


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

That's pretty amazing man...


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