Help IDing this white undulating worm

[biotsrama]

Hi,

This is my first post here, here goes...

On several occasions I have noticed a thin, white worm in my 30 gallon planted tank. I have never seen it on a fish or on glass; I have only seen it wriggling in the water, undulating its body in a whip-like fashion. It seems to show up after I disturb the tank (e.g. water change or cleaning the filter). The following video is not mine, but is a good illustration of what I've seen:

YouTube - Things in my aquarium

Note that the video also shows a planarian FLATworm crawling on the glass; that is NOT what I have in my tank. I have the thin, white undulating worm shown in the video, which I believe is probably a ROUNDworm, not a FLATworm.

The fish haven't shown signs of sickness or anything (I've had the tank for close to 5 months), but I wanted a positive ID on this creature just to make sure that it's nothing to worry about. I have a hunch that it may be a nematode, but that is only my guess. Water params are pretty standard (0 ammonia/nitrite, < 5 ppm nitrate, pH around 7).

Much thanks for any insight you could provide!

 

[aakaakaak]

Do they look like these tubifex worms?

YouTube - Tubifex worms in the wild

Lives in substrate
Hides from fish
When safe, wriggles it's body halfway out of the substrate
Same family as bloodworms and blackworms
Tasty, tasty fish treat

 

[biotsrama]

There appear to be some similarities but it's hard to say. I think my worms might be thinner and whiter than the ones in your vid (which appear slightly pinkish).

 

[aakaakaak]

Whiteworms then?

YouTube - Whiteworms raising for tropical fish food

Same concept.

 

[biotsrama]

Definitely a possibility... I wish he had zoomed in on the worms in the water dish so I could see how they swim. If the motion matched then I would say probably yes.