My Freshwater Fish ( 3 seperate questions)

Question
1. My Convict Cichlid is in a 6 gallon tank by himself.  Today I noticed that there are tiny white swimming "bugs" in his tank.  I Did a partial water change today but there are still bugs swimming.  The only thing that I have changed is the brand of food, I couldn't find the previous brand that I had used.  Are these bugs harmful and what do I need to do to get rid of them?

2.In my 10 gallon community tank I have 3 danios, 2 tetras and 1 fancy Guppy, up until 3 days ago I had 2 guppies, they are about 12 months old.  The guppy that died showed no signs of stress until shortly before he died he was laying on the bottom of the tank, that morning he was at the top feeding like normal.  My other guppy has round "tumors, bumps or lumps" on his dorsal fin, what can I do for my remaining Guppy and are the two guppy problems related?

3. In the same tank one of my danio looks like he has scoliosis or a tail that is zigzag shaped.  He swims fine and eats well can I fix this and is it something to be worried about?

Answer
Hi Meaghan,

1)The tiny white 'Bugs' in the aquarium are not harmful at all. They are Planaria, and are caused by poor water quality. If you want to get rid of them, performing a 20% water change every day with a gravel vacuuming will do the trick. Keep doing the changes until they are gone.

Secondly, your Convict Cichlid is in too small of a tank. They should be kept in an aquarium of 20 gallons or more. Nothing can live in a 6 gallon aquarium other than Bettas, Danios, Snails, and Plants. If you can't upgrade to a larger tank, then you will have to give him away, because in such a small tank, he will die prematurely.

2)Your Guppy's fin is infected by a (not very common) parasite. Buy an anti-parasitical medication at your local fish store. If it does not work, or only a small section of the fin is affected, you will want to cut out the affected part of the tail with a pair of sharp scissors. It may seem cruel, but the truth is, it doesn't hurt the fish too much, and it's better than death. If you are going to use a medication, perform a 30% water change first and remove any carbon from your filter.
If the dead guppy had the same symptoms, it was probably related, but if not, it's highly unlikely.

3)If your Danio is eating well, and acting normally, then It could just be a minor case of fin-nipping, rather than fin rot, a bacterial infection. Many species of fish will nip and chase each other. It's not a serious problem unless the fin is extensively damaged. Fish's fin's heal very quickly.

Good Luck, and Happy Fishkeeping!