help!!

harleyQ8285 · Sep 22, 2007

I have 2 albino axolotls and lately I have been having this strange problem with their tank. A few weeks ago I noticed tiny white worms crawling all over the tank despite the fact that I do two water changes a week. So I did a complete water change, changed the filter, and scrubbed out the tank and put my axolotls in a salt bath and they went away. Now they are back and more than ever. I do not know if they are hurting my axolotls as they are very tiny worms that are the same exact color of my axolotls so I cannot see if they are on them no matter how hard I try. How do I get rid of them? Even if they are not hurting my pets I went them gone! I need suggestions!

kapo · Sep 23, 2007

Despite you doing two waterchanges a week, how often do you clean up any uneaten food/waste? Are you still doing twice weekly waterchanges and how much %? What do you have as substrate? How much and how often do you feed and how large is your tank?

See: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml

Unless your axolotls had a fungal infection I would avoid doing the saltbaths.

Jennewt · Sep 23, 2007

All tanks have micro-organisms living in them - these are various detritovores, meaning that they break down normal tank detritus. In general, the are beneficial. They include mites, tiny worms, protozoans, hydra, etc. People tend to become alarmed when the micro-critters are big enough to see with the naked eye. But in the vast majority of cases, they are harmless. Doing a complete clean-out of the tank is probably more stressful than the presence of the worms.

Have you ever tested for nitrate? This would give you an idea of whether the amount of your water changes is sufficient. Also, what kind of substrate is on the bottom of the tank?

Bellabelloo · Sep 24, 2007

My tank was invaded by these tiny worms, also I have these tiny barnical type things as well. These appeared around summer time and I believe the eggs are air born, now the temps have dropped nicely the ammount of worms has dropped. The barnical beasties get wiped off every now and then. I also have a tiny bright red dot ( have found only one) that wanders around the glass. These have had no effect on the axolotl at all.

harleyQ8285 · Sep 24, 2007

My tank is 15 gallons. When I change the water I scoop out all uneaten food and anything that was floating around that was not caught by the filter. I change 50% to 60% of the water and I feed them a little bit of pellets every other day. My fish tank (which is right next to it and less than half the size) is completely fine which is confusing. I do not keep any substrate on the bottom of the tank because when I did the pebbles prevented them from finding the food and if they did find it they would get the pebble instead.

Bellabelloo · Sep 25, 2007

I think you are doing too big water changes, you should only need to do 20-30% weekly...if you take out too much it'll upset the good/bad bacteria ratio. I spot clean when ever there is any waste ( be it food or axolotl) ..as they are in the kitchen with me they are looked at regularly.I may be wrong on this but a 15 gallon tank sounds a little small for the two axolotl, if they are in a more confined space there frequent movements will swirl the food and axolotl waste all over the place, this might be why you are having un-invited guests in the tank.

kapo · Sep 26, 2007

How long are your axolotls and how long is your tank? I get confused when it comes to gallon sized tanks, I'm just getting my head round litre sized tanks but we tend to deal more in mm/cm or feet (length x width) than litres or gallons.

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