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Dirt Disaster!

BexM

BexM

Member
Joined
4 Jan 2015
Messages
127
Location
Peterborough
Hello. I a while back I started having dirty water issues with my tank, worm casts on the gravel, dirt getting into the water colum and all over the plants. I discovered i had limnodrilus hoffmeisteri worms in my aquarium soil. I found several tangled up amongst a plant root. I stripped the tank and removed the soil and founds lots of them in there and set it up without soil and all seemed fine.

I then had to strip and move the tank again after discovering we had wood worm in our floor ( I'm plagued by worms it seems). Not long after setting it up again the old tank began to leak, it was old and beyond repair, so I had to buy a new one. I decided to dirt the tank as it had given me good results with the plants before.

Unfortunately the worm problem has started up again and the water is constantly filthy no matter what I do. I know I am stupid for not taking more care when stripping the tank. I should have made sure the plants and gravel were properly treated before using it again or got rid and started over but I really cant justify spending any more money on this hobby.

I really, really don't want to have to start over again...i just don't have the funds to do it or the inclination. Can anyone think of any other way I could get rid of these worms without tearing my tank down? I'm so fed up with it
 
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What fish do you have? I'd be thinking about loaches, corydoras etc that would happily eat them.

Though fish choice would depend on how that 'dirt' is capped - you don't want them digging it up.

Regards, Mark
 
I have 15 harlequin rasbora. I did get get three khuli loaches but I've had them for while now and the problem seems the same. The cap is about two inches of small gravel.
 
BexM said:
the water is constantly filthy
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there must be a lot in there :eek:
so I can't see anything short of tank strip down solving the problem.

re budget, move plants to temporary home, anything that can go emerse growth, I'd take in that direction as it should help resolve worm contaminants (basic propagators are very simple, quite a few in the Emersed Growing Forum)
- you might also put out a request for clippings/trimmings once tank is ready for replanting ... if you can manage photos to document progress this always stimulates interest (people can relate so much more to visual cues)

remove gravel - wash, soak in bleach, wash, oven bake etc

remove soil - if garden variety, I'd just buy new as I suspect most of the worm eggs etc will be here. If you replace the soil, definitely obtain from an alternate source.
Perhaps Darrel (dw1305) will have ideas on how to kill this worm & larvae & eggs

Fish can easily manage in a bare food safe plastic bin while you sterilize tank etc

Sorry not very helpful but sympathies on this situation :(
 
I may have to get new gravel. I bleached it before and poured boiling water over it. I'm wondering If I should have use something on the plants like potassium permanganate. All I did was soak them in tap water and cut off some of the roots. Catching the fish is a real PITA.
 
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Waves hello! Not the solution to your problem, but seachem purigen is good for water quality issues - it produces crystal clear water. Sorry about the worms - massive water changes until the professional advice arrives?!
 
Hi all,
BexM said:
limnodrilus hoffmeisteri
Click to expand...
alto said:
Perhaps Darrel (dw1305) will have ideas on how to kill this worm & larvae & eggs
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They are Oligochaetes, so they aren't easy to get rid of chemically.

I've had them in some of the tanks (I look at this as a good thing), along with other Naidid (Tubificid) and Lumbriculus worms, but Dwarf Cichlids or Corydoras eradicate them all pretty quickly.

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all, They are Oligochaetes, so they aren't easy to get rid of chemically.

I've had them in some of the tanks (I look at this as a good thing), along with other Naidid (Tubificid) and Lumbriculus worms, but Dwarf Cichlids or Corydoras eradicate them all pretty quickly.

cheers Darrel
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Thanks, maybe I should give some corydoras a try. My water is full of particulates. It looks gross and I cant be much good for the fish.
 
I've put in 5 peppered corydora. They have been in for a couple of weeks now. I did two 90% water changes yesterday and cleaned the filter. I was shocked at how much dirt was in there. Eheim filters are work horses for sure. The water looks filthy again this morning. I suppose I will have to be patient but I'm finding it hard. Feeling bad for the fish.
 

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Are you running filter floss?

You could also look at adding in a micron filter (to remove particles) such as Marineland's Magnum Polishing filter (sorry cant get the link to work) ...
if your water is moderately hard, you can safely use the flocculants such as Clarity
 
Thanks, I do use floss. My water is liquid rock so maybe I could try that. Someone else suggested purigen as well. It does seem to getting better slowly.
 
Manisha said:
I did :) purigen is very good - I think because it binds the nitrogen compounds that produce cloudy water? How is your tank doing?
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Thank you Manisha, It's getting better I think. The water still has some particles of mud in it but it seems to be getting less and less. I've not tried anything else yet as I'm waiting to get paid.
 
How deep is the capping layer on the soil and what did you use?

Even if there are millions of worms in there, with a proper capping layer they should create very little mess.
 
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