help please!

Question
well its only what i can describe as living white stuff on my tank glass they move and grow bigger i don't know why i have five piranhas in a 260 liter tank and i feed them blood worm and liver can you help identify it please? really appreciated. thank you

Answer
Hi Leigh,

Your first step should be to test your tank water asap.  You should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5-20 ppm nitrates.  I am guessing that you have high nitrates which is causing either planaria (tiny white worms) or copepods (tiny round scavengers) that are feasting on the excess waste in the tank.  High nitrates is caused by either overfeeding or not enough routine tank maintenance or a combination of both.  The scavengers normally live in the tank anyway but they multiple rapidly and get out of control when the conditions are right.

The way to remove them is to first understand how bad the water is, this is why testing is detrimental at this point.  Once you know how high your nitrates are you can determine how large of a water change you need.  I would start with a 50% emergency water change and do a thorough gravel cleaning.  I would also insert some Phos-X pads into your filter to help reduce the phosphates (excess waste).  I wouldn't use these long term, otherwise you have no way to gauge when you have a real problem again.  You will need to continue to do 25% water change every other day to every 2-3 days as long as your nitrates remain over 20 ppm.

You will need to make sure that you aren't overfeeding your fish to avoid having the issue again and doing weekly 25% water changes and good weekly gravel vacuums will also help reduce the risk of this happening again.

Good luck : ) April M.