Tank parasites -white, threadlike worms

Question
QUESTION: Hi, recently I have noticed white threadlike worms crawling on the side of my tank or floating/swimming around in the tank and I am afraid they will harm my two green spotted pufferfish. I clean my tank quite regularly and im unsure what is the cause for these "worms". I am highly concerned as I fear that they will make my fish sick and eventually harm their lives. please help!

ANSWER: Hi Sheena,
Those worms are called "Planaria" and they are harmless scavengers that tend to inhabit tanks with messy eaters or fish that produce a high waste load. Though the actual worms themselves are not a danger, their presence means that the aquarium is not getting enough frequent water changes/gravel vacuuming. So the best way to get rid of them is to do a big water change and gravel vacuum as much of them as you can up. It may take a few big water changes to get rid of them but usually its not too many.

From then on, the best thing to do is be careful with feedings and do more frequent water changes. I know one thing would really deter a Planaria overpopulation is to just lightly gravel vacuum every to every other day.

I hope all goes well!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Karen, i did a big waterchange and actually erm, threw out my gravel and see how things go before i buy a gravel vaccum for the future and new stones.

Puffers are very messy eaters and they DO have a high waste load, so i reckon I may be encountering more of these Planaria. Yikes. What can i Do to ensure this will not happen again?

Answer
Hey Sheena,
The best thing to do to avoid future Planaria overpopulations is to prevent what fuels their population explosions in the first place. And of course that is doing large water changes and keep nutrient levels down. The puffers natural feeding habits and high bioload simply calls for more frequent water changes to keep nitrates as low as possible which is better for their health anyway. And this will help prevent planaria from taking over.

I hope all goes well!
Karen~