Little White Worms?

[Mturner615]

I just came home from a weekend vacation and cleaned out my 20g and within a few hours after cleaning it, I found all these little white worm-looking creatures climbing up the side of the aquarium. Does anyone know what they are? And are they harmful? How do I get rid of them? Bc they're kinda disgusting looking.

 

[Mturner615]

is that planaria? I did a little more research after I posted this.. and it sounds like planaria..

how do I easily get rid of them?

 

[MissFishy]

They look like planaria to me. They appear in tanks where there is extra food just sitting around. They're a real pain to get rid of. To get rid of them, obviously make sure all extra food is out of the tank. Put a lid in the bottom of the tank with an algae wafer or something yummy on it, leave it for a few hours, then take it out and dump it. The planaria will be on the lid with the food. Do this several times and do lots of gravel vacuuming.

 

[damian09]

r these worms harmful to fish cos on closer inspection i have them to

 

[RexyTexel]

They're not harmful at all. Just a pain in the butt to get rid of.

 

[molson-ice]

ok sorry to jack your thread, but how do you keep from getting them? Will a bottom feeder or snale keep them away?

 

[homebunnyj]

A bottom-feeder or snail won't help. Only having a clean tank will help.

Avoid overfeeding -- once a day, or even every other day, is sufficient, only what your fish can eat in a couple of minutes. Vacuum your gravel with every water change, which should be 25% or more weekly.

 

[molson-ice]

Thanks for the info...

 

[damian09]

can you trn up the temp and put to thermostats in both on high temp will it kill it off aftr removing fish

 

[RexyTexel]

I've heard raising the temperature only works sometimes.

 

[damian09]

well it has worked a bit today i looked and the worms have mostly dissapered just a few left i used anti internal bacteria and turned up temp to just under tops on the thermostat will update tomoz

 

[RexyTexel]

How high is your temp and do you have fish in it? If it gets too high you could kill your fish.

 

[Mturner615]

The planaria were in my turtle tank. I did a heavy cleaning of the tank, and now they have disappeared.

 

[damian09]

no the fish wernt in when i turned up the temp