Tiny worms in tank!

[Mike Hanlon]

On 8 Oct 1997 12:02:09 GMT, "Sidewinder" <sydw...@bluegrassx.net>
wrote:

>Yesterday I noticed that my 10g and 20g tanks have "near microscopic" worms
>or larva of some type crawling on the walls. They are light in
>color....not sure of color because of their minute size. They move as a
>slug would on the glass. Is there any possibility that they are a larva of
>an insect that found its way into my house and then my tanks? Are they from
>my recently purchased amazon sword or apongeton plants? Are they harmful
>to my fish? My 10g tank (all tanks are freshwater) is empty with the
>exception of plants and these intruders. Two of these plants were moved
>there from my 20g that houses two baby Jack Dempseys and these pests?! My
>29g and 55g appear to be free of these creatures. The temperature of the
>water in both infested tanks is about 80 degrees. My large JD and feeder
>guppies are the only other things that have ever been kept in these
>tanks.(The adult JD was only there for a couple days after an emergency in
>the 55.) Can anybody identify these things?....are they a threat?....are
>they parasitic?... can and should I treat the tanks?....what with?
>
>Thanks in advance for any help.
>
>Paul
>
>If you e-mail....remove the x from bluegrass.
>
>
I'm not sure what these little worms are called, but they usually
occur in new tanks that have been overfed a little. Don't worry, they
won't hurt your fish. Simply clean the glass and decorations off, then
do a water change of about 25%. When you go to add the new water add i
teaspoon of aquarium salt/5 gallons of water. Make sure you don't
overfeed and the worms should go away shortly thereafter.

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[Douglas Duncan]

Sidewinder wrote:

These worms are most likely turbellarians, also known as glass worms. If
you look at them under a good magnifying glass or microscope they are
generally around 1/4" long with segmented bodies and an elongated
looking head. They are white/transparent. If this describes what your
seeing, then read on.

Glass worms are usually associated with overfeeding and using certain
types of food continously. I used to have them alot when using freeze
dried tubifex worms. They are pretty much harmless, unless your trying
to raise newly hatched fry. During one hatching of baby keyhole cichlids
a few years back, I discovered upon close observation using a good
magnifying glass and much patience, that the glass worms were attacking
the newly hatched fry while they were still in the non-freeswimming
state.

Reduce or eliminate suspect foods, vaccum the gravel with each water
change (2 week intervals), and introduce a few otocinclus cats. I have
observed otos grazing on these worms as the work their way across the
glass.

You can get radical if you choose to do so by tearing down your tank and
starting over, but I have found that the worms will subside on there own
when the conditions they thrive upon are lessened or eliminated. This
has been so from my experience. They will continue to live within the
substrate at a greatly reduced population level, but they'll cause no
problems there and your glass should be worm free.
--
Douglas Duncan
email: cas...@sprynet.com

[kingsnake]

I HAD THOSE!!!
I never got rid of them, they still are found on the walls, but the fish
ignore them, and they ignore the fish. They aren't larvea, unless you
have something different, they multiplyed fast in my tank, but soon died
off.
Harmless is all i can say, and annoying, if you want to get them out
faster, take air tubing and in the manner of a water change, run it over
the glass sucking them out, i did this for 2 weeks, a gallon a day, the
population dropped like a rock.

[Patrick M Chase]

In article <343C6376...@sprynet.com>,

Douglas Duncan <cas...@sprynet.com> wrote:
>Sidewinder wrote:
>
>> Yesterday I noticed that my 10g and 20g tanks have "near microscopic"
>> worms
>> or larva of some type crawling on the walls. They are light in
>> color....not sure of color because of their minute size. They move as
>> a
>> slug would on the glass. Is there any possibility that they are a

[...]

>These worms are most likely turbellarians, also known as glass worms. If
>you look at them under a good magnifying glass or microscope they are
>generally around 1/4" long with segmented bodies and an elongated
>looking head. They are white/transparent. If this describes what your
>seeing, then read on.

Everyone seems content that these are normal and no problem.

I've also got a freshwater tank, 30g, mature, with a Power Filter. I recently
added three firemouth ciclids. Tonight I noticed that the filter media
(sponges) had three "worms" in it. They were each an inch or more long, slow
to move, flesh colored, thin, and possibly speckly. They would curl and twist
like a minature version of an earthworm or something in the way that they seem
to move forward by elongating themselves and then compressing themselves. I
only found them in the filter media -- nothing in the tank itself and nothing
visible on the fish.

Tank occupants: A single Amazon Sword (old), three Firemouths, a Geophagous
(scuse the spelling if it's wrong), a Blue Gourami, and ten Zebra Danios. Water
tests fine (albeit a bit alkaline). Light is relatively low.

Anyway.... any ideas?
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[Patrick M Chase]

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