Worms in my tank

[Sergio]

Need help! So my 2 and half month old boy died yesterday after 16-17 days of being sick & last 7 days of him not eating at all. First time 1 of my fish died that fast.

 

So today after he died, I discovered his 2.5g tank was full of tiny worms of all sizes, biggest being like 1 inch or a little bigger. They were swimming/floating in the water. Most were tiny. They were similar to the one on my 1st photo, which is a photo from Google.

 

⚠️ My question is, HOW should I clean my fish tank, filter and all the decorations inside of it? Can I use chlorox or soap? What?

 

Also, any idea how they got into the tank? Fish brought it from the shop? A mosquito inserted larvaes in the water? Can food or poop create worms/parasites? Maybe it came from the tap water?

 

 Thanks.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

That pic looks like some kind of insect larvae or detritus worm. Regardless of that, the best and safest way to clean your tank is to just let it dry out. Maybe put the gravel out to dry in the sun. The likelihood the worms are connected to the fish's death is super low. 

Edited April 15 by Expectorating_Aubergine

[Sergio]

On 4/15/2023 at 6:27 AM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

That pic looks like some kind of insect larvae or detritus worm. Regardless of that, the best and safest way to clean your tank is to just let it dry out. Maybe put the gravel out to dry in the sun. The likelihood the worms are connected to the fish's death is super low. 

Thanks!

 

You think so? It's rare that it died so young and then it happens to have an infested 2.5g tank.

 

He started feeling weird and staying at the bottom. He would twitch sometimes and zoomed through all the tank very fast and then stop. It's like something was bothering him inside his body. His fins started to rot fast too.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

After your fish died, did you turn the pump and filter off?

[Sergio]

On 4/15/2023 at 6:43 AM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

After your fish died, did you turn the pump and filter off?

Nope. I left the sponge filter turned on.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Ah, I only ask because sometimes when people turn their filters off the lack of flow causes all the little critters in the gravel to come out. Especially if there aren't any fish there to eat them.