Clear Wiggly Worm Thing?

[Ginty]

Hi every one. Ive just done a water change on my small 32litre tank. I have 4 baby platties in it. When i topped the water up in the tank i noticed these small wiggerly worms arising. I saw my fish eat 3 of them?
Ive never seen these before. What are they and will they harm my fish?

 

[Goggy]

im guessing mosquito larve there a delicacy to nearly all types of fish. they wont harm your fish

 

[Ginty]

im guessing mosquito larve there a delicacy to nearly all types of fish. they wont harm your fish

Thanks for your reply. How would they have gotten in my aquarium?

 

[Munroco]

I don't see how it could be mosquito larvae, especially at this time of year. Are you using tap water for water changes? If you were using stored rainwater or something similar then maybe it could be from that, otherwise, I'd reckon you must have a colony of something in the gravel.

 

[sawickib]

My definite guess is planaria worms, in which case are caused from over feeding, cut down on feeding and up gravel cleanings and you should be fine, harmless worms.

 

[Ginty]

I use tap water then add api stress coat plus to make tap water safe.
It could be over feeding as i feed the babies a small Pinch dailey. I do a weekly water change which invovles cleaning the gravel also.

Could it be that i added some blood worms over 6months ago and something came out of that bag?

 

[sawickib]

Frozen or live? If frozen then absolutely no way.

Just saying the most common and likely culprit is planaria.

 

[Goggy]

could you show us a picture? that will help

I don't see how it could be mosquito larvae, especially at this time of year. Are you using tap water for water changes? If you were using stored rainwater or something similar then maybe it could be from that, otherwise, I'd reckon you must have a colony of something in the gravel

i live in thailand and mosquitoes occur alot in tanks as they fly in through the door and get into fishtanks. sometimes i get the feeling that everyone lives in thailand, im quite foggy at times!

 

[Munroco]

A mixed blessing Goggy. In UK we get gnats. Gnat larvae is similar I think to mosquito larvae, and is great for feeding to fish. I harvest it in tubs outside during the summer and feed to my goldfish. Now I have tropicals again, I'll be setting up a few more tubs in the garden for this and daphnia and the like.

 

[Ginty]

I couldnt get a pic coz they ate them straight after the water change. I was just worried it was a parasite or something.
I used live bloodworms in the past. So maybe it could be from that??
Aslong as it isnt harmful

I do gravel cleans with water changes. Would u recommend using the air gravel cleaner or battery one?

 

[Munroco]

If the fish are eating them they are unlikely to be harmful. Try stirring up the gravel a bit and see if any more appear. (have a camera ready in case they do)

 

[Ginty]

Ok ill give it a shot. Ill post pics if i see any.

 

[fluttermoth]

They sound like 'detritus worms' to me (I don't know the proper species name for them). Planaria tend to crawl around on the glass, rather than being free swimming, and they look like tiny slugs rather than wriggly worms.
 
Detritus worms are harmless, but they are a sign that you're overfeeding, and that your maintenance regimen could do with being upped a bit, so more gravel cleaning for you, I'm afraid
 
To be honest, in fry tanks, you should be doing water changes at least every other day but preferable daily. Livebearer fry produce hormones that stunt their growth once they reach a certain concentration, so you need to be diluting that or they won't grow properly. And fry tanks are almost inevitably overfed, as you need to make sure they have enough food, so the extra water changes will reduce the problems caused by that as well.

 

[Ginty]

They sound like 'detritus worms' to me (I don't know the proper species name for them). Planaria tend to crawl around on the glass, rather than being free swimming, and they look like tiny slugs rather than wriggly worms.
 
Detritus worms are harmless, but they are a sign that you're overfeeding, and that your maintenance regimen could do with being upped a bit, so more gravel cleaning for you, I'm afraid
 
To be honest, in fry tanks, you should be doing water changes at least every other day but preferable daily. Livebearer fry produce hormones that stunt their growth once they reach a certain concentration, so you need to be diluting that or they won't grow properly. And fry tanks are almost inevitably overfed, as you need to make sure they have enough food, so the extra water changes will reduce the problems caused by that as well.

Ok thankyou. Ill up the water changes.
These babies are not new. They are 7months old.
I will be adding them to the big tank in the next few weeks.

 

[fluttermoth]

At seven months old, they should be fully grown and breeding themselves! Not what I'd call 'fry'