Weird worms

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

Sam ary

New Member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
35
Reaction score
2
I have a little tank setup with just an air stone and a fake plant and have snails that reproduce for my little pea puffers (they love them) well today I noticed hair like worms all on the sides! Would you happen to know what they are? Could they possibly go from the snails to my puffers? Could they be mosquito larvae since the weather is warming up? (I'm in western Washington)
 

Attachments

  • 1560638281958490153149931822166.jpg
    1560638281958490153149931822166.jpg
    80 KB · Views: 170
If the worms are an I shape and white, then they are detritus worms.
If the worms are white and have an arrow shaped head they are planaria.

These worms normally live in the substrate or plants and only crawl on the glass when something is not right with the tank.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The worms should go back into the gravel when it is clean.
*NB* Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

------------------------
You don't mention a filter. Do you have a filter on the tank?
If you don't have a filter, you need to get one.

If you don't have a filter, you should only feed the fish a couple of times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding.

You should also get an ammonia and nitrite test kit and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels. If you get any ammonia or nitrite readings, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
 
If the worms are an I shape and white, then they are detritus worms.
If the worms are white and have an arrow shaped head they are planaria.

These worms normally live in the substrate or plants and only crawl on the glass when something is not right with the tank.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The worms should go back into the gravel when it is clean.
*NB* Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

------------------------
You don't mention a filter. Do you have a filter on the tank?
If you don't have a filter, you need to get one.

If you don't have a filter, you should only feed the fish a couple of times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding.

You should also get an ammonia and nitrite test kit and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels. If you get any ammonia or nitrite readings, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
I only have an air stone and a fake plant as the snails are the only thing in the tank, I harvest them out to feed to my puffers which I have a sponge filter that contains charcoal inside of it and I do periodic water changes. The snails I didn't think needed as much care! Heres another picture, a little bit better
1560701973693422501487823614107.jpg
15607024777051195089216637745907.jpg
1560701973693422501487823614107.jpg
 
They are not planaria and look too long for detritus worms. So I'm going with either a white aquatic worm or pale black worms. Kind of interesting. Wait and see if anyone else knows.

On the topic of snails, they need clean water too. An air operated sponge filter works well for them. Make sure the pH of the water is above 7.0 and feed them a variety of food.
 
Do I need to worry about them transferring to my puffers?
 
no, they aren't the type of worms that get spread to fish via snails. They are just some sort of aquatic worm that lives in the substrate.
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top