Hey folks! Haven't had a problem since several members solved my nitrates situation. I check in on the boards about two or three times a week, but this time, I've got a strange situation: after changing the water on our Oscar tank today, and checking and re-starting the Fluval FX5, the return began as usual, but I soon noticed several (about 30 or so) small white "worms" about a sixteenth of an inch long on the glass. They were moving, but stayed in a general area of about 6 inches. This is something I've never seen before. Anybody know what they are? Could they be harmful to the fish? I'm thinking the filter(s) will get them if they come off the side of the tank, but could they be some wierd kind of parasite, or just some harmless creature?
Need expertise again!
55 gal tank
water parameters well within bounds
one Oscar 8 inches
fish only
no live food
everything normal

Thanks!

sounds like planeria to me and is usually caused by overfeeding. there are a few ways to treat it.
the method i use is cleaning the glass well and cut back on feeding. planeria thrive on uneaten food in your tank and filter. they are basically harmless to fish but should be eliminated asap. it usually takes me about 7 days to remove all signs of them.
bgh has a thread posted on how to get rid of them using salt i believe. its on the forum somewhere. try searching planeria and see what turns up.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY what so ever for any harm caused to your fish or any other pets in your posession ..this is only an informative post for the benefit of users studying disease and parasites in aquaria and NOT TO BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS A FULLY EXPERIENCED AQUARIST


right guys i have earlier this morning treated the planaria ...i am infested ,there appears to be at least 10 planaria per cubic inch of water so after a lot of research i have treated my tank.....i have used a 0.1g per 10 galons soloution of FENBENDAZOLE..commonly known as DOG/CAT WORMER this is reported to be the only effective killer for planaria the particular brand i used was "panacur" this contains 22% flubendazole so in 1g there is 22.2mg of the active ingredient...the best dose i could get to from the web was 0.1g - 10 gallons of water ..so i got a 4.5g pack and divided it equaly into 3 parts each weighing 1.5 g and then removed one part and combined the other 2 and weighed again and they came out at 3 g to confirm i had exactly 1.5g i came to this dose by using the equasion of...0.1g x 10 = 1g....0.1g - 10gals.... 1g = 100gals + 0.5g = 50 gals....1g + 0.5g = 1.5g -150 galons


i found that in high concentrations the planaria actualy irritate fish by living in the gills of them and feeding on the food that gets trapped there causing the fish irritation and to flick and rub on solid objects

i disolved the flubendazole in a soloution of warm water and added it at 1pm on the 11th of feb(today) the dose i used is a "shrimp dose" to err on the side of caution this will take approx 24-36 hours but the dose can be increased to 0.2g - 10 gal that works under 12 hours if the shrimp dose is not effective i will leave for 48 hours and treat again with the 0.2g soloution.........i will report results daily

there is no effects at all on the fish up to now and the planaria seems to have decreased to 2 per cubic inch of water 11pm 11th feb