WTH is this? Tiny, white worm-like things in my tank.

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Alex2290

Large Fish
#1
Oct 20, 2010
159
0
0
Jacksonville, FL
#1
I briefly removed my filter media today and when I put it back in I noticed white things swimming around my tank. When I looked closely, I saw a few "big" ones like the one I took pictures of, and at least 8 tiny ones around the tank. I only have shrimp in there and I have not put anything new in the tank other than the shrimp and taiwan moss over a month ago. I have not noticed them until now. I have been feeding the shrimp a couple goldfish flakes every so often.

The white wormlike creature is in the middle. (ignore the very tiny white specks, those are bubbles)




What are they and how do I get rid of them?
 

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Alex2290

Large Fish
#2
Oct 20, 2010
159
0
0
Jacksonville, FL
#2
It might be planaria but I don't see how. I do up to a 2/5 tank water change every week, and barely anything is sucked up when I go into the gravel.

I guess I'll just do some heavy water changes in the next couple days and see if that gets rid of them....
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#8
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#8
Probably planaria. Not harmful. If you have enough bacteria built up in your gravel and other decorations, your tank might be okay, but because the filters were boiled, you may end up going through a mini-cycle. Just watch your water parameters for a few days.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#11
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#11
They survive and multiply because they are finding food to eat. Clean gravel does not prevent them, but is an indication of overfeeding.

Unfortunately, as the shirmp are usually feeding on the floor of the tank, the critters you don't want are happy to share their food source. If you can move the shrimp to another tank (I've heard of some putting them in a water change bucket for a few days too), then (obviously), not feed the original tank, they should die off pretty fast. Sadly, most things that will kill one invert will kill all.
 

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Alex2290

Large Fish
#12
Oct 20, 2010
159
0
0
Jacksonville, FL
#12
In the past week I've only fed them 4 flakes total. I let them eat whatever algae thy can find and don't feed them all that much and hey are doing well. For this reason idk what to do. I would break down the tank but I am planning on putting fish in next week so I'm guessing that'd be a bad idea. Ferret I really don't want to move the shrimp out of the tank because I'd have nowhere to put them and it'd be a big hassle... My "water bucket" is an old garbage can. I use a one gallon jug to hold new water.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#13
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#13
normal at the start of a tank. once it reaches a balance animals like these will retreat to appear only at night time because fish eat them. besides planaria this can be a FW annelid.
 

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Alex2290

Large Fish
#15
Oct 20, 2010
159
0
0
Jacksonville, FL
#15
Newman said:
normal at the start of a tank. once it reaches a balance animals like these will retreat to appear only at night time because fish eat them. besides planaria this can be a FW annelid.
Click to expand...
Nah it doesn't look anything like the annelids I see on google... :p These look just like planaria.

OrangeCones said:
Your new fish may eat them, as Newman mentioned :)
Click to expand...
We'll see....


edit: omg. I just read my last post... Remind me to go over the text again when typing because iphone really screws things up with the autofill option >.< ...Why did it put the word ferret in there?
 

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Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#17
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#17
ok then a planaria if it glides along the glass. if its spazzes when disturbed or moves in a jerky fashion by feeling in different directions first before moving, then its some sort of FW annelid. I've seen lots of FW worms in planted tanks when they're young. if you took one under a microscope you would know if it had segments.

but these worms dont hurt anything, so dont worry. just keep up with the cleaning of the tank.
 

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Alex2290

Large Fish
#18
Oct 20, 2010
159
0
0
Jacksonville, FL
#18
Yes they kind of glide very slowly across the glass.

I may be getting an old 20-30gallon tall tank for free with stand, hood and powerhead.. I'd have to replace the undergravel filter and power filter because they're old, though. If I take this tank and clean it up, I'll probably move my shrimp to there for a while and try to get rid of the planaria in the 6g, then make the 6g a shrimp only tank ... all of this is just a thought for now, though...
 

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