My 20 gallon

[RexyTexel]

I have recently filled my 20 gallon which is now just cycling. There's only a cupful of gravel from the previous 10 gallon, the heater and filter running in it. I've had this bad snail problem with it so I've been netting snails out all day. Well upon closer inspection I've started to see tiny little creatures scurrying across the inside of the glass. I have no idea what they could be. They're incredibly too small for me to get a picture with my camera. One looks like a tiny worm and the other looks like it has a round body and long neck. Any idea what these could be and if they're bad?

Again there's nothing in the tank and nothing has ever been in the tank.

 

[ValRasbora]

ewwwww! That is really, REALLY weird. Could it be algae bugs? hm, try to Google it. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[OrangeCones]

One looks like a tiny worm and the other looks like it has a round body and long neck. Any idea what these could be and if they're bad? Again there's nothing in the tank and nothing has ever been in the tank.

The tiny worm is likely Planaria that came in with the gravel you added. It is normally a sign of overfeeding (same with the increase in snail breeding). Not sure what the 'round body and long neck' is without a better description or photo.

Neither the worms nor the snails are harmful to fish you may keep.

 

[MissFishy]

The little white worms are planaria, a huge pain in the butt to get rid of. I currently have an outbreak in my snail tank. A way to get rid of them is by putting a lid with some food sitting in it into the tank, leave it for a day then pull it out and wash it off, the planaria will hand around the food. If you do it a few times, that will get rid of a lot of them, then be careful when feeding. You can also add some ammonia to the water if it's just cycling to kill off anything in there before you start to add fish.

Anyone have any other planaria removal methods?

 

[RexyTexel]

This website has a pretty good way to rid a tank of them but it takes a bit more elbow grease.

I sort of assumed they were planarians because we had talked about them in my Zoology class back in highschool. Thanks for everyones responses though. They seem to be gone. Same with the little bugs that I think may have been water fleas. It couldn't possibly be over-feeding because there are no fish in the tank. It's just cycling right now. The gravel probably did it though. There was a lot of plant matter in the gravel when I placed it in there.