Tiny worms in planted tank- how to kill them all

[specialone0812]

About two week ago, i did a water change for my 10g planted tank (plants , assasin snails, red cherry shrimps), there was still some left over food in the tank. after a day, i noticed that i had forgotten to plug back the heater ( i always turn off heater before i do water change).

i also noticed that there were like a millions of tiny worms sticking near the surface of the water, i have read that those tiny worms are not harmful to the fish, snails or shrimps, but they bother me a lot ( the view of he tank , the fearfulness of swallowing them when i start syphoning the water out by mouth when i do water change...).

So, i really want to kill them. Do you have any solution to this? any advice will help. Thanks for reading.

[newb]

are they white??? I think their name starts with a P

[cichlid1409]

newb i think you are thinking of planaria...but i thought they lived in the substrate not the surface of the water. do you see them in the substrate too specialone?

[newb]

They can live in the HOB filter and can get dumped into the water after a water change...especially if the filter is turned off during the water change.

[specialone0812]

well, they are everywhere in my tank- mostly stick to the glass, more on the glass close to the water surface where alot of bubbles from my air pump are formed.
i have soil in my tank, so i never vacuum the substrate so im not sure the worms live in the substrate or not.
i just put like 50 assasin snails in just hope that they will kill all the worms. i can not put fish because my cherry shrimps just released baby shrimps recently, and i think fish might eat the baby shrimps.
any idea???

[cichlid1409]

if it is planaria....clean your filter out good then doing frequent water changes should fix your problem over time. google planaria and see if you can find a pic for a positive id.

[newb]

I got them in my 75gallon tank when I first started out due to bad food and over feeding.

[cichlid1409]

I got them in my 75gallon tank when I first started out due to bad food and over feeding.

+1

[specialone0812]

i have seen planaria before. the ones in my tank are not planaria. they are white, thin like our hair ( maybe half size) some are like 3-4mm, some are just 2mm long.
i had them before in my cichlid tank when i fed my fish tetra color bit granule, and overfed some times.

[specialone0812]

oh, i forgot, i clean my filter every week and do like 50% water change in this 10g tank, filter is a Tetra tech 20, hang-on-back.

[cichlid1409]

they are white, thin like our hair ( maybe half size) some are like 3-4mm, some are just 2mm long.

the ones you have now look like this? threadworms?

[specialone0812]

i goggled some sites about threadworms and came up with two cases:

1st- harmless but irritating:

http://www.buchananschool.co.uk/threadworms.htm

2nd case-so serious an disaster

http://www.kttc.at/photov_st_joseph_e.html

i thought about case 1 before, thats why whenever i touch the water in the tank with worm, i always clean my hand with soap and hot water carefully. but is that safe enough??its so annoying.
About case 2, i have heard about the tiny worms could get through your skin ( via open would, cut or scratched wound), and you will be infested by some types of diseases, but if it could cause elephant-like disease, i did not know that before.

[wesleydnunder]

A couple of decades ago there was a rumor floating around the hobby that the worms were getting into the tanks from contaminated food. I don't know if this is true or not. Likely they got into the tank from plants. I think the ones you have in the tank may be a type of nematode, not threadworms. The ones in the tank are a true aquatic worm. This will be hard to treat due to the shrimp in the tank as copper-based treatments are also toxic to other invertebrates. Like planaria, they'll be a continual pest as long as they have food. Try cutting back on the amount you feed as well as frequent substrate vaccuuming. You may be able to rid the tank of them, but it's doubtful without a complete teardown.

Mark

[specialone0812]

A couple of decades ago there was a rumor floating around the hobby that the worms were getting into the tanks from contaminated food. I don't know if this is true or not. Likely they got into the tank from plants. I think the ones you have in the tank may be a type of nematode, not threadworms. The ones in the tank are a true aquatic worm. This will be hard to treat due to the shrimp in the tank as copper-based treatments are also toxic to other invertebrates. Like planaria, they'll be a continual pest as long as they have food. Try cutting back on the amount you feed as well as frequent substrate vaccuuming. You may be able to rid the tank of them, but it's doubtful without a complete teardown.

Mark

Thanks Mark.
first, i took plants out from my 72g bow front and put them in this 10g( i cleaned the tank with hot water before i got it run. i have not seen the worms in my 72g bow front, so the fact that the worms came from the plants might not be correct. i can only think of the left-over food that could couse this prob. but i could be wrong.
oh, i can not vacuum the substrate, its aquasoil with plants.

[mnemenoi]

I too have what sounds like the exact same creature in my 10 gallon planted tank. I have cherries, crystal red, and Amano's in the tank. I have added some Nothobranchius Guentheri and they have left the shrimp alone, thus far. They did devour the worms and have decimated their population. My only advice would be to add something that is not too large. Pygmy Rasbora, Dwarf Livebearers, Ember Tetra are ones that seem to stay under 1" adult size. They should relish the live food and with enough plant cover they should only have a minimal effect upon the shrimp population (if any at all). Mine seem to ignore literally all the ferts and additives I add and little effects them otherwise.