Little White Worms in my Fish Tank?

I have a freshwater 10 Gal. Tank, and just the other day , i was feeding " Jack-Jack" ( my Jack Dempsey) and Larry ( Crawfish) when i bent down to eye level i sall that some algae has grown on the inside of the tank, only a little bit. Then when i looked closer they were little worms, white and semi-long probably ----- %26lt; that long, thin and about the width of a human hair, my dad tells me to wash out the cage again, but if there harmless, or eating the Algae i'll will let them stay. what are these little whit worms? i sall them before on my crawfish.

Little White Worms in my Fish Tank?

This is a common problem and an area where misinformation abounds.

About.com has this one 180% wrong, these are not planaria! Unfortunately this misinformation is just passed around the internet.

In the professional aquarium keeping business this has become a joke as these detritus worms are well known.

These are common Detritus worms and normally are not a problem. Under normally conditions these worms eat excess organics in the gravel.

However when seen in the water column it generally indicates a population explosion caused by to much organic build-up/decay. This can result in oxygen depletion for fish.

Please make sure and vacuum carefully to remove organic mulm and increase circulation as well.

Also it is important to make sure all your parameters such as Ammonia/ nitrites are in order too.

Please read this article for more current information about detritus worms, nematodes, annelids and more:

http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/200...

:~) C

Little White Worms in my Fish Tank?

Planaria are flatworms, related to flukes and tapeworms. They are quite small, and if examined closely have eyespots as well as protrusions from the sides of their heads.

Although they do not harm fish, they love to feast on eggs, and therefore are dangerous if breeding egglaying fish.

The Real Problem

Even though Planaria do not harm fish, they are an indicator that the aquarium has a problem. They require a food source, which means there must be excess food wastes in the tank to support them.

If you have Planaria it's time to give your aquarium a thorough cleaning.

Pay particular attention to the substrate, as that's usually where they find their food. Make sure there are no dead plants, or other wastes in the tank.

You should also take a hard look at how much you are feeding your fish. Usually the excess waste the Planaria are living on is the result of overfeeding your fish. Reduce the amount you feed your fish, as well as the frequency of feedings.

Finally, once you've cleaned things up, be sure to continue with regular maintenance and water changes. A clean tank is the best defense against becoming overrun with Planaria.

Little White Worms in my Fish Tank?

Those are parasites. Has anything died in your tank recently that you didnt clean up? yeah i had those and just left them. I heard that you have to treat them with some type of chemical or something. But i just left mine and nothing happened i have not seen them since. You should watch them and if they begin connecting onto your jack dempsey then you gotta do something about it. just go to like petco or something and buy some worm killer stuff

Little White Worms in my Fish Tank?

Actually, planaria looks like a white slug with an arrow shaped head, usually seen crawling on the glass. Usually harmless to fish and humans, though some species like to eat fish eggs and very small fry.

What you're describing sounds like nematodes. Whitish color, thin like a hair, and they look like an S swimming through the water. Harmless to fish and humans.

Both planaria and nematodes generally show up and multiply when the fish are being over fed and there's lots of gunk built up in the gravel/substrate. You can also bring them into your tank via plants. Best way to get rid of them, increase your water changes to once a week, being especially aggressive with the gravel vacuums. And cut back on how much you're feeding the fish. Once a day, what the fish will eat in about 5 minutes is enough. Even skip a day or two during the week.

Increased gravel vacs and cutting back feedings will eventually starve the nematodes or planaria, as well as manually removing them through the water changes.

Generally when you can see a "parasite" swimming around your tank, it's not going to bother your fish. Not always the case, but usually they're fine.

Here's a link with some descriptions of some tank critters:

http://www.petfish.net/articles/Aquarium...

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