# Moving White squiggly lines in fish tank?



## jesterx626

Upon close inspection of my 50gal tank with 5 dwarf snakeheads, I see these little white squiggly lines that move, they twitch and are on the move like worms. they're also on my fishtank glass, some seem stationary, maybe its a nest? What in the world are these little white line things? Is it some kinda disease or parasite? They seem like living organisms, they're really small, literally as long and big like this dash "~". Help ASAP!


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## d851

I think i had something like this when one of my tanks were 1st setup. Worms that appear 'flat' are most likely to be planaria (flatworms), more thin and wiggly worms are most likely to be nematodes (roundworms).

Both of them do not exceed 4-5 millimeters. Both types are harmless to fish and thrive on excessive nutrients in the water column often resulting from overstocked aquariums.

To get rid of these you need to improve the water quality, cut back on feeding and increase water changes. If in a community tank they will be eaten by tetra's, danio's etc...

hope this helps

daz


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## the REASON

d851 said:


> I think i had something like this when one of my tanks were 1st setup. Worms that appear 'flat' are most likely to be planaria (flatworms), more thin and wiggly worms are most likely to be nematodes (roundworms).
> 
> Both of them do not exceed 4-5 millimeters. Both types are harmless to fish and thrive on excessive nutrients in the water column often resulting from overstocked aquariums.
> 
> To get rid of these you need to improve the water quality, cut back on feeding and increase water changes. If in a community tank they will be eaten by tetra's, danio's etc...
> 
> hope this helps
> 
> daz


damn straight.


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## MONGO 

throw a dose of salt in the tank also


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## joey'd

d851 said:


> I think i had something like this when one of my tanks were 1st setup. Worms that appear 'flat' are most likely to be planaria (flatworms), more thin and wiggly worms are most likely to be nematodes (roundworms).
> 
> Both of them do not exceed 4-5 millimeters. Both types are harmless to fish and thrive on excessive nutrients in the water column often resulting from overstocked aquariums.
> 
> To get rid of these you need to improve the water quality, cut back on feeding and increase water changes. If in a community tank they will be eaten by tetra's, danio's etc...
> 
> hope this helps
> 
> daz


yup, how often are you feeding them, from what i know golds usualy eat them, not sure baout others


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## W0LFMAN

dude... i have just noticed the same thing in my tank... perfect description the same as me...

I have 3 x Paranha and some black sucky mouth fish about 6 inch long...

is there anything i can add to the tropical tank that will eat these worms... but will not be eated by the Piranha...

something like snail's.. or cleaning shrimp....

someone mentioned neon tetra'swould ... but i presume they would be eated quickly...

also.. the pic of my fish.... whats that on his body..

p.s. how do you set picture uploads... underneath each other..


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## d851

it's a basic water quality issue - less feeding, more water changes, more gravel vac's until there gone, they should'nt return if the water quality maintenence is kept up.

tetra's will eat these also

daz

Looks like a fungual infection, what are your water parameters ?

daz


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## W0LFMAN

My test results yesterday are:

PH = 6.5
NO2- = <0.3mg/l
KH = 3
Co2 = 35


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## d851

nitrite should be zero, what about nitrates ?

daz


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## W0LFMAN

N03 test does not come with my test kit...

only

N02
GH
KH
PH
Co2

will have to get a nitrates test kit tommorro.. as shops are closed now

i feed the fish this fodd... but dont remove the left-overs.. as they don't eat straight away... only at night when everything is settled... could this be a factor?

any tips on how to stack the Uploads


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## d851

your nitrates could be high, how often do you do water changes? also how big are they ?

Nearly all health issues with fish start with poor quality water/maintenance

is your red showing any other symptoms ?

hopefully we can sort your problems out mate









daz


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## W0LFMAN

_your nitrates could be high, how often do you do water changes? also how big are they ?_

i only got the tank and fish on saturday from a owner that wasn't interested in them... so i took them as i felt i would look after them alot better...

picture shows the fish.. i can't really measure them but i would say around 5 inchs

_Nearly all health issues with fish start with poor quality water/maintenance_

I understand and as a new fish keeper will do my best to sort out this problem

_is your red showing any other symptoms ?_

i don't belive so... but they are SUPER shy and twitchy...

_hopefully we can sort your problems out mate _

thx.. you been a great help already...

i included a picture of my combo filer and pump... was around £115 pounds...and filter's are good at the moment

the last picture is the other fish thats habiting the tank with them.. and comes out mostly at night for a good suck around the place... he is bigger than the P's and seems perfectly fine

with a tank this size.... how many tetra's could i put in there to help with the worms...

i also feed them 2 of those silver dead fish a day... is that ok?

many thanks wolf

forgot.. here is pic of tank


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## d851

I would start by doing 15-20% water changes every other day until the worms are gone, also use a gravel vac when you do so.

The injury could be either a fungal infection or heater burn. I would increase general maintenance and treat with primafix.

They will be shy/skittish from the move they will settle in soon.

that other fish is a pleco.

I would vary there diet more, checkout the feeding section for more ideas, hold off the feeding for a while until the maintenance issues are sorted

nice setup

have you looked at piranhaforum.co.uk ? another helpful site but uk based

daz


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## nirvanarules1

ok first of there not flatworms or round worms there fluke worms. You get them from feeders and other sorts of contaminated food. They multiply quicker and eat the dead materials in your tank. And heres the answer to the question are they harmless...well the answer is yes they will eventually get into your piranha and eat him alive. Now dont panic this takes a little time to happened. Go to your local fish or pet shop and ask them about fluke worms and they will give you a few chemicals to kill them off, and you will also have to do about 2 or 3 water changes in the week you start treating the tank to clean it up and get rid of them.

Hope this informed you all


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## W0LFMAN

thx will do........

however........ since the last post a few days ago..

my Fish have taken a bad turn for the worst...

i don't know what it could possibly be......
All the water tests are coming up normal..

Fish are active and still eating... however

on each of the 3 RBP's....are large marks of lost skin..

i don;t know it its bite marks / heater burn's / or some virus or parascite..


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## nirvanarules1

W0LFMAN said:


> thx will do........
> 
> however........ since the last post a few days ago..
> 
> my Fish have taken a bad turn for the worst...
> 
> i don't know what it could possibly be......
> All the water tests are coming up normal..
> 
> Fish are active and still eating... however
> 
> on each of the 3 RBP's....are large marks of lost skin..
> 
> i don;t know it its bite marks / heater burn's / or some virus or parascite..


Yea sorry to hear about your fish but what i would do is go to your local petshop or fish store and ask them bout parasite killers cause it sounds like you got body flukes which are bad but what ever you do dont use cloud on ur tank it will kill the piranhas there like allergic to it i would use coppersafe or life bearer(use half the dosage for piranhas to be safe)and when you use these make sure you take out ur carbon cause it will take the medication out of your water
[/quote]
also do like 2 water changes in one week it might help ur fish and get rid of some of the flukes


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