The Puffer Forum

Im cleaning out Gabriella, my abei puffer, and have noticed what look like tiny white/neon green little amoeba worms on the front of the glass.... some are stilll... the larger ones are slowly wiggling.... she appears to be fine.... What could they be? I dont think a photo would capture them as they are so small, I change a bucket or two of water once or twice a week (its a 20gal tank).....Help?

What do they taste like?
Jk. Those are generally harmless, but may be from overfeeding.

Those worms are planarias, they are common on fully cycled with no predators tanks, there are peaceful planarias, and other kind called "Arrow head" that are aggressive to invertebrates, but no threat for puffers.

If you don't like them you can eliminate them by using potassium permanganate (1gr per 100Lt) or hand catching before cleaning water.

yep sounds like planaria , there non parasitic . They usually appear where overfeeding has happened and thrive on the waste leftovers . Give your substrate a good clean and cut down on the feeding .

are you sure they aren't nematodes?

How do I differentiate between nemotodes and planaria? The thing is shes only fed 1 or 2 tiny (frozen) fish a week, and is cleaned out the day afterwards everytime.... I dont think it can be? However I put sand in because I thought I would get a congo/arrowhead and it has been a bloody nightmare, looks awful, collects crap, moves around everytime i put water in, and that probably hasnt helped.

nematodes are a round worm and usually tiny and thin. Planaria are flatter and wider.

Theyre just tiny white strands.... maybe nematodes? they are not wide in any way, they are always very very thin, a few longer than others....

nematodes most likely.. you can do a google images search and compare between the two.

Nematodes are slim like this ,
Planarias are fat And moves on groups, none of those are dangerous for puffers.

Both types indicate insuffiiciecnt tank upkeep - high organic loads in the water and especially in the substrate.

They are normal tank inhabitants, but in well maintained tanks are rarely seen. Excessive numbers leads to them being visible on the glass or substrate or even free-swimming. Do repeated 50%water partials with full depth vacuuming more often than weekly to get under control. Vacuum out any uneaten food routinely.

HTH

As always RTR is right on the spot.

Second question: How long has the tank been set up?

Next question: What kind of puffer & why are you feeding it fish?
viewtopic.php?f=66&t=28566

Ok, that's one...