Strange Worm in My Tank

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by T. Guppy, Oct 28, 2019.

  1. T. Guppy

    T. Guppy

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    Hi everyone!

    So I've just noticed now a tiny little worm wriggling around in my 30l tank, quite close to the surface. Here's a picture with some plants so you can see the size of it too.. IMG_20191028_144319.jpg

    I have no fish at all in this tank, just a big population of Malaysian trumpet snails and some plants..

    Does anyone have any ideas what this worm is and what I can do about it? And should I be worrying?
     
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  3. Kiaan26

    Kiaan26

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    Planaria worms.
     
  4. OP
    T. Guppy

    T. Guppy

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    It didn't look flat though.. I could be wrong as I can't find it now to look at it again, but also it wasn't crawling on anything.. At 1 stage it did come into contact with a plant leaf and it didn't crawl at all
     
  5. Kiaan26

    Kiaan26

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    Check your substrate for anymore.
     
  6. Saibot

    Saibot

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    If you have no fish in there are you very worried about it?
     
  7. OP
    T. Guppy

    T. Guppy

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    Not right now no, but I want to put something in there soon, and I don't want to do that if there'll be an issue with parasites.. So I just want to make sure..
    @Kiaan26 I just stirred the substrate up a bit and found another few.. Does that mean detritus worms?
     
  8. Kiaan26

    Kiaan26

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    I've hat them before in my shrimp tank. They are okay until their numbers get uncontrollable. Fish can eat them so I added a few endlers into my shrimp thank to keep their numbers in check. They live off detritus and uneaten food.
     
  9. OP
    T. Guppy

    T. Guppy

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    Oh OK so it'll sort itself out if I add fish then?
     
  10. Saibot

    Saibot

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    If it is detritus they are harmless but if it is planaria then you will have issue with shrimp if you plan on keeping shrimp.

    Have you been vacuuming etc when doing water changes
     
  11. OP
    T. Guppy

    T. Guppy

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    Yeah I do, and I try doing water changes every week, but since I've had no fish in there recently I haven't needed to do it as regularly (based on water tests).. I'll do another water change with a good vacuum this weekend I think
     
  12. Kiaan26

    Kiaan26

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    It looks like a detritus worm more than a planaria worm. So you should be fine.
     
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  13. OP
    T. Guppy

    T. Guppy

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    Awesome! Thank you both for your help!
     

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