The Puffer Forum

Heyo,

well... Ive been treating my GSP with praziquantel for a while now.
I stopped treating the water & started soaking his food in it.

but I noticed some small white worms floating in my quarantine/feeder tank... (graveless 5 gal)
& after further examinaton they are in the puffer tank too in the gravel

are these neatodes? how bad are they exactly, I know no IP is ever really good.
but also how harmfull are they to humans?
I cleaned out the 5 gal, and caught a few of these worms to take to the LFS.
in the process Ive been exposing myself to the water & im kinda worried if I shouldn't have

can they use a human for a host?

my GSP looks thin. very thin. (pinched) and his appetite is decreasing (he wont eat shrimp anymore, only black worms)
water levels are 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 5 Nitrate, 7.6 pH

also is this prazi the correct treatment for them? what do you recommend?
thanks~Jon

If those worms are in the gravel, they are likely planaria - a sign of overfeeding & excess waste.

Planaria and nematodes are quite different critters, they look and move entirely differently. There are lots of pictures of each on the web, do some searches and learn to tell them apart.

Both planaria and nematodes are, or can be, normal tank inhabitants. There are many more free-living species than parasitic ones. Parasites live in or on a host. The ones you see free in the tank are not parasites.

But they are generally invisible in the substrate. If you see either in the open water in any numbers it is definitely a sign of excess organics in the tank, and especially in the substrate. You need to do plenty of water partials with thorough substrate full-depth vacuuming to improve the water quality. What are the nitrate readings on your tap water and on the involved tanks?

I noticed the tinyest moving worms in my feeder tank (which yes, prolly has an abundence of waste and excess shrimp & snails +food) so that would make sence...

they definatly look like nematodes, not planeria...
I completely cleaned out the feeder tank bc of this, but when I lifted a log I had in my main tank I noticed the same worms fell out. then after stirring the tank I noticed them more in the gravel.

Im glad to know there not likely parasites, but Ill start to get the water cond to improve.

turns out the nitrates in my tap water are 5 ppm too

Having some is normal - they actually consume some uneaten food particles and such, or the bacteria and/or the infusoria that feed on such. That means they are part of the normal tank biosphere.

But when you see them moving around on the substrate or in the water column, that means you have too many and that is sign of an overly organic substrate.

So chance sightings when you disturb the substrate are not a worry. Routine sightings on the substrate and in the water column are hints that more and more frequent vacuuming is in order.

I have seen OTS (old tank syndrome) Cichlid tanks with a heavy line of nematodes at the water meniscus all around all four sides of the tank. Talk about gross! It is amazing that any fish could still be alive in there. sort of a see-through cesspool with yellow-brown water.

Also it seems they are very common with new set ups. One of the first of the little critters to show themselves before the tanks starts to balance itself.