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RE: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #1403



> "K Will" <steelwill27 at hotmail_com> wrote:
	> I pulled a worm out of my tank while cleaning it. It is about
1 inch long 
> > and skinny. It has some kind of sucker on it. It kept burying itself
> in the 
> > Gravel which explains why I never saw it before. I'm not sure what
> it is, 
> > can anyone help?
> 
You've just described what could be any number
of parasitic worms.  Don't start drinking your tank
water, and please wash well after playing around
on the inside of your tank.  (Do you have any
rosie rashes on your body, or notice any rapid
weight loss lately?  ;-)))

It could have come from any number of places...
fish food (feed any tubifex in the last six months?),
fish, plants... 

I once had a tank with many hundreds of tubifex
worms that accidentally started growing after 
feeding freeze-dried tubifex.  It was great.  I didn't
feed the fish again for months.

Not all of these parasites are bad in a tank (some 
of your fish may love the extra nutrition.)  It's likely
to be bad for humans, though.

That's the main reason that I often sample a wide
variety of dog foods and biscuits, but you can't
get me to eat fish food.

I don't want to freak anybody out.  Any such 
parasitic invasion into humans (and Kevin is probably
not affected, and won't be) is pretty easily treated 
these days.  The biggest problem seems to be 
accelerated imagination on the part of the patient.

If anybody wants to follow this through, I'd be happy
to quote from the US Army's Survival Guide on 
Maggot Therapy.  My Boy Scout Troop had a good
time with that one.

	--charley
	charleyb at cytomation_com