Red Worms found in Aquarium Gravel

Hi all

I found these red worms in my aquarium gravel tonight. It's not blood worms. These worms are or at least they stretch very long, about 6cm plus. They leave behind a trail of muck usually found in the gravel. What are these red worms and are they any danger to my fish? The gravel was at a depth of 3cm to 3.5cm. It is now 1cm deep. I kept Betta's and BN's previously in this tank but removed the BN's about 2 weeks ago. @Dirk, @Zoom, @Marco and anybody else that can possitively identify these red worms. Not sure if this is the right forum to place this, if not mods please move to correct forum.

 

Were these in your L46 tank?

 

Yes @Dirk. But for the past two weeks there were only Betta's in the tank. 2 x free swimming and the rest in those Betta barracks type.

 

This is how the tank looked before I rescaped it..



and this is how it looks now...

 

Tubifex???

 

OK Charles,

I am subscribed to your L46 thread, and I see all the praise being doled out there. I expressed my reservations about this tank and I have shut up ever since because I do not want to be negative, but on the other side, with the price tag that I know L46's have attached as well as the scarcity of these fishes, and the fact that they are not easy to keep, I am just getting more and more nervous, I see things that I worry about.

The worms that you show are indicative of the problem that I worry about. That gravel will allow food to sink in between the gravel and this will cause rotting in the tank and release of ammonia which for sensitive fishes such as L46s is a disaster waiting to happen. Those worms are not parasitic and are not a danger to fishes, but they flourish in situations where there is uneaten food such as that between gravel, so the worms are already indicating the problem.

I would not keep L46s on that gravel, I would only keep them on much finer gravel into which food particles cannot sink in. You can obtain the same quartzite filter sand but in a finer grade. I use this extensively for my catfish tanks. The coarser gravel causes endless problems and corys will loose their barbels on that gravel. I know L46s don't have barbels, but that coarse gravel has sharp edges which cuts off the barbels so what will it do to the L46s.

I am worried,

Dirk

 

No Tankmaster,

definitely not tubifex.

 

@TankMaster

Tubifex? How would this come into my tank? All my fish and other tanks get the same food and everthing. I haven't noticed any of these red worms in the other tanks. Come to think of it, there was at some stage a lot of tiny hair like worms in this tank. I used a gravel vac everyday doing 40% WC in the proces and eventually I could not see any more worms in the water colum. But these hair like worms were not red, they were more cellophane/see through like.

 

I have those same see through worms at the moment. They look like tiny eels. Hard to get rid of. I usually take out my substrate and pour boiling water on it. Kills them instantly!

These worms do look like tubifex but @Dirk says otherwise. . . you said they are 6cm+ which rules out camallanus worms. .

 

Thanks @Dirk. I already ordered quartzite filter sand, had doubts about this small grain gravel to begin with. From what I saw on various forums and discusions they had on various types of substrate, the general consensus was a fine grade gravel for some, other said filter sand, others were bare bottom. According to natural habitat, (short version) rocky crevesis, smooth pebbles and some sand, clear water etc. You think you're worried? Just when I think I got 95% of my basis covered, something like this would pop up. Glad to hear the worms are no threat, thanks Proff. Still they should not be in my L46 tank. @Dirk, please feel free to comment any concerns or suggestion you may have on any of my threads! I hold your opinion in high regard. Whether negative or positive comments, all welcome from you. I do not have the experience or knowledge you have and probably never will. So please "Looi die Bus". Like you said, these are not cheap fish. I am confident that I am able to keep L46 succesfully and even eventually breed them. Help along the way is always good.

 

If you look at the pics that Charles is showing, then you will see that they have a flattened and broadened head which tubifex worms don't have so these are not tubifex. Charles also has indicated that he has not been feeding tubifex so where should they come from? So these are not tubifex.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

:nuts: Origin isn't important. What IS important is that there are a handful of species. . .each with it's own physical characteristics. The common Tubifex Tubifex is one most of us are familiar with but what about the rest? I googled, because I didn't know the names of the other species

• Tubifex blanchardi
• Tubifex costatus
• Tubifex ignotus
• Tubifex kryptus
• Tubifex longipenis
• Tubifex montanus
• Tubifex nerthus
• Tubifex newaensis
• Tubifex newfei
• Tubifex pescei
• Tubifex pomoricus
• Tubifex smirnowi
• Tubifex tubifex

If it isn't tubifex then the closest look-alike are blackworms. . .

 

Hi

Ok, this is turning into something its not suppose to be.

Origin is important @TankMaster, as Tubifex worms are not spread by air. If no eggs/live worms are introduced, they cannorpt just appear. Unlike most detritus worms, which these are an example of, similar to the opaque "tiny eel-like" worms you previously mentioned.
Detritus worms are a sign of decaying organic matter, inadequate filtration and more often than not, over feeding.

There is no point in listing a few names of tubifex spp by using Wikipedia to prove a point.
It would help to also familiarising yourself with the habitat and distribution of those worms if they are given as possibles, especially since many of them are strictly MARINE worms!
Not doing so results in coming across as just trying to be a smart ass.

These are NOT tubifex worms, they are harmless yet unsightly - (to my knowledge a form of Planaria) exactly as Dirk indicated.

Can we now let this rest please?

Kind regards

Marco