Camallanus?

Art_Gal

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Jun 23, 2011
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New Jersey
Quick question. I took my canister filter apart to replace some media. I had a basket sitting in the sink and when I lifted it up, I saw a few VERY VERY tiny red wiggly worms. They were so small that I wouldn't have even been able to see them unless they were against the white background. Please tell me that this isn't camallanus! None of my fish are sick or show any symptoms of camallanus, so I guess that's a positive. But I have no idea what they could be. I don't see anything like this in the gravel or on the plants, it was just on the filter media :dk:
 

Art_Gal

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Jun 23, 2011
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New Jersey
Yes, in the past I have fed my fish frozen bloodworms. I would give it to them once every 2 weeks or so. I haven't fed it to them in the last month.
 

foti

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Apr 20, 2010
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Sydney AUS 2206
it wont hurt your fish to deworm them and then you will be sure 100%
camallanus worm extroud out of the anus

but its probably bloodworms

and as far as camallanus worms if i remember correctly you need to vacum them up after they drop out other wise you run the risk of fish eating it and the process starts again !
 

Jackson

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Jan 14, 2011
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nothing to worry about IMO.

They're just some type of nematode or microfex worm. They live off the junk in the filter. I collect them from time to time and feed them to my corys.
 

Art_Gal

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Jun 23, 2011
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New Jersey
Thanks for the info! They didn't look like camallanus but whenever I see something unexpected in my tank (especially live wiggly things) I get nervous. Last thing I need is an outbreak of camallanus in my tank.

foti; I did recently de-worm my angelfish with a Fenbendazole medicated flake. I did it for no other reason than an angelfish breeder told me that it's good idea to de-worm them once a year. Over the summer I purchased Fenbendazole and was going to deworm the entire tank, but I never did it. I was worried that it would hurt my corys or pleco. That was why I opted for the medicated flake food.
 

Lornek8

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Apr 21, 2009
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Do you feed blood worm?
Yes, in the past I have fed my fish frozen bloodworms. I would give it to them once every 2 weeks or so. I haven't fed it to them in the last month.
This is one of the instances again of differing common names. The worm that Xingu is referring is probably a tubifex-type worm which look like larger versions of what you're seeing. The frozen bloodworms you feed (Hikari?) are a choronimid-type (gnat larvae) species. I don't think i've ever seen a frozen tubifex worm, I don't think they survive the freezing process well.
 

Art_Gal

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Jun 23, 2011
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New Jersey
Thank you for the clarification Lorne (btw, my nephew has the same name as you. I feel like I'm talking to him). Yes, when I say bloodworm I don't mean tubifex worms, I mean the American version of what we call bloodworms. If I start seeing a lot of them in my filter though I'm going to go off the deep end. I only saw 5 this time.