Cichlid Tank Parasites

Question
I have a 260 gallon tank for my Cichlid fish. I have had the tank set up for over a year now and actually have had very few problems. Just last week though, I noticed that my "Dolphin" cichlid fish looked somewhat sick and was swimming near the top of the tank. Eventually he dropped down to hide in the rocks. The next day I noticed hundreds of what appeared to be white pin worms almost looking like tiny maggots on the glass and rocks. None appeared to be on any of my fish. My local source told me to dose the tank with Cupramine. I did not remove the carbon from the filters. I did a Cupramine treatment twice and it seemed to disappear for the most part just a few left over. I then did a 25% water change in the tank. My Dolphin died as his "skin" rose to the top of the tank and now I have all the parasites back again. I won't use the Cupramin again as I'm afraid it will damage the other fish. All of the other fish seem to be doing fine.
Can you advise me how to get rid of these "worms"?

Answer
Hi Demi,
  Those little white worms usually indicate an overabundance of "food" in the tank for them to feed upon. They are always around in very low numbers but when there is lots of "food" they explode in numbers.  The typical reason for this is not enough water changes or overfeeding.  I suggest that you try doing more water changes and feeding less and I suspect that the little white worms will go away on their own.  I never use cupramin personally.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>