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Ftn. leeches?? 12/17/10 tiny crawlers, assoc. w/ terr. hermit 10/4/10
Long skinny pink in color worms living in my grave, FW ID
3/25/10 Mysterious white worms (in a freshwater tank)
3/10/10 Strange worm in toilet 2/16/10 little clear worms in fish tank 10/7/09 The Worms Go In, The Worms Go Out....
09/24/2009
Identify Worm 11/23/08 I live in coastal SC and I kept my turtle tank outside during the summer and fall. I just brought it in for routine cleaning and because of cold weather. The tank had some strange "worms" that looked a little like "naked caterpillars with long string-like tails." The ones that were moving were a fleshy tan color. There were also some that were black or dark brown and very hard. Some of them were in the water but some were attached together by the "strings" and hanging off of a rock in the tank. I have looked on many sites and tried many different search terms but am not coming up with an answer. Please help me identify this strange little creature. Brandi <Hello Brandi. What you're describing is almost certainly a "rat-tailed maggot", a distinctive fly larva that inhabits stagnant water. The long "tail" is a breathing tube. They're pretty much harmless, and in England at least very common in small, unfiltered ponds. Fish (and likely turtles) don't seem to eat them, or at least my fish don't! Cheers, Neale.> Little white worms in bathtub 10/14/08 I have been finding little white worms in the bathtub for about 5 days now. They are maybe 1/8 " long with a brownish red head on them. They are all different sizes sometimes smaller. I can't see where they are coming from. I looked in the ceiling and can't find any evidence. please help me. <My gut feeling is these are insect larvae of some type. Fly larvae ("maggots") often appear worm-like and commonly have eyes or heads sufficiently distinct enough in colour to look like what you are describing. Will likely be infesting some decaying animal carcass or rotten organic matter (like wood) somewhere nearby. Look around, initially working on the assumption the worms are falling downwards, either from the ceiling or via the plumbing. Best advice is to collect some of the worms and show them to someone qualified at identifying/controlling household pests. Cheers, Neale.> help! Little wormy things 9/25/08 Hello, I just realized that in my baby guppy tank that there are these hair like worms that I can barely see. They are always vertical and they squirm around like a snake. Umm...they are white and they are about 1/8 of an inch. Are there any medications? I don't want to lose all of my baby guppies. Please reply quickly! -Sarah <Almost certainly harmless nematodes of some sort. They do thrive in dirty tanks, so seeing them is more likely a warning that you don't keep your tank clean than anything else. Cheers, Neale.>
"Slash" our Oscar, concerns w/ "worms" in the tank 8/12/08 we got an Oscar about 4 months ago, and he has come around pretty quick! he is an amazing fish, as he is our first Oscar. he has had these little "worm" looking things on the inside of the tank, they are extremely small, and move around. they have not attached to him, and don't seem to be bugging him, but they are driving me absolutely crazy!! we feed him a high grade pellet food, and about 1-2 times a week he gets frozen treats like meal worms, or brine shrimp. he is in a 55gal tank, with a power filter for 50-60 gal (up grading to a canister filter), we also do about a 30 % water change weekly. I know its hard without seeing it, but what could these "worms" be? and how the heck to we get raid of them!? thanks for the help!! Desiree, Todd and "slash" <The "worms" are most likely Planarians, in other words flatworms. They feed on the food you've given the Oscar. As you know, Oscars are very messy fish. The fine particles they produce get everywhere, especially if the tank is inadequate and water changes are infrequent. In both regards, you're at fault here: cichlids need BIG filters, and you should be using a filter offering NOT LESS than 6 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour. Forget about the rating on the box telling you X filter is for Y sized tank... these estimates are based on best-case situations where a tank contains few, small fish, Neons for example -- not Oscars! You also should be doing AT LEAST 50% water change per week, with the gravel cleaned on a regular basis. It's the stuff you're not removing that the Planarians are eating. While harmless in themselves, they're a "wake up call" telling you of an underlying problem. Long term, excessive nitrate in the water will lead to issues such as Hole in the Head that are a real bother to treat. So please, upgrade your tank (too small for adult Oscars), upgrade your filter, and step up the water changes. Do this and the Planarians should fade away in time. Do see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebindex/oscars.htm Cheers, Neale.>
Leeches??? Hi <Hello> I have had guppies for a few years and not experienced any problems. A few months ago I added a small Pleco followed by two elephant nosed fish. Shortly after introducing them to the tank I developed white spot. <Hopefully your fishes... not you!> I managed to cure this but lost a few guppies and one of the elephant nosed fish. I since read up on the elephant nose fish on the internet where it said not to keep them in pairs as the weaker one would be killed by the stronger. <Yes, very often... particularly in small systems> Since I have had all of these problems, I did a gravel clean and disturbed only what I can describe as a leech. It was about an inch long, white and had a sucker. At first I thought it was a dead fish. All of the info I have found on leeches describe them as fairly small and I have not found any of this colour. This leech (?) is bigger than some of my guppies. I cleaned the tank and a couple of days later found another one. I know they can be introduced by new fish... <Or live food/s> ...but surely I would have spotted them when I bought them. How can I determine that it is a leech and if so make sure there are not any more, I am really unsure of what to do. <Mmm, you could look at them carefully... leeches/Hirudineans are pretty distinctive... Take a look on the Net re: their superficial morphology... from your description already, I am pretty sure this is what you have> Can you please help? Many thanks <By thoroughly cleaning, gravel vacuuming your tank, you have very likely removed all the leeches from your tank. There are chemicals that to a large degree will poison just these worms... but I would not use them. Bob Fenner> Freshwater Bristle Worm? Hi, I hope you can help me! I used to keep a marine tank about four years ago and gave up and said that was it no more fish. Well now I have set-up a small freshwater tropical planted fish tank, it has been running for about five or six months now. My question is we have seen the fish go mad over a worm found in the tank, it was about two inches long, alive and being eating by a small angle fish and a Congo tetra. This worm was identical to the bristle worms we had in our marine tank but did not think you could get them in fresh water is this correct? <Yes> But how could it get there as we have not added any rock only dry gravel plants and fish. And could these cause problems to the tank inmates? < There are lots of little freshwater creepy crawlies that come into a freshwater aquarium. Usually they come in as eggs or larvae attached to the plants. They grow to a point until the fish realize that they are around and soon become live food. Some become parasitic on fish but I think you would have seen them by now.-Chuck> Kind Regards Grahame Brown What worm be this? Planarian? >>Good day, Michael, Marina to help you here. >I started only 3 weeks ago and bought the following : a.. 3 small fantail goldfish b.. Plexiglas tank (4.5 gallons) c.. air pump d.. submerged power filter (mechanical filtration only) e.. gravel siphon cleaner I treat tap water by allowing to stay in a bucket for 24 hours and before carrying out a partial water change I add dechlorinator. >>Very good. >I usually carry out water changes of 50-80% every day but I am planning to build a Plexiglas tank of 70 gallons capacity and add another goldfish. Tanks in Europe are very expensive -- I bought the 4.5 gallon tank for USD 68 (Euros 57). >>Holy canoli! >Once a week I clean the filter element of the power filter. During the 3rd cleaning I noticed many small red worms in the filter element which were clinging in the sponge and could not be removed by washing with tap water. I fitted a new sponge element in the filter. The biggest worms were about half an inch long -- please see attached photo. Can you please advise if these worms are dangerous for my fish and how can I treat the water so that they will not appear again? >>The photo is not very clear, but I am guessing some sort of planarian. I do not think they will pose any threat to your fish. I have not had any experience with them, but I think that if you added some salt to the tank it would be enough to prevent them. This is actually a help to the fish, and is helpful in preventing or alleviating the incidence of some maladies. Use either Kosher or sea salt (anything that has not been iodized--very common here in the States), at a ratio of 1 teaspoon/gallon. I believe that one teaspoon U.S. = roughly 5cc. And 1 gallon (US) = 3.8 liters. I do hope this helps, and best of luck to you in sunny Athens, Michael! Marina (in what is *supposed* to be sunny southern California, but it's 62F and RAINING here! What first day of summer??) What are these things?? More planarians? Good evening crew. <Good evening, Susan! Sabrina here> I sent the following message Saturday but haven't seen any answer as of yet'¦.soooo I thought I might try again. Know you all are busy but any help you can give me would be much appreciated. <I'm so sorry I wasn't able to get back to you last night; I've been battling an illness in my wild angels and totally stressing about it, so I've been quite preoccupied.... many apologies> Since I sent the request I have been doing as much research as I can. I'm now about 99% certain these guys are planarians and I know they are supposed to be 'harmless' but I also understand they will eat eggs. <What I know/can find, planarians really are harmless, and I've never heard/read about them eating eggs, but I'm certainly not positive about it. Can you describe the worms? You mentioned in your original message that they were white, flat, wider towards the middle, and about 3/4 of an inch long. The size alone is suggesting to me that they may not be planarians, which (from my understanding) are typically 10mm or smaller. Do they have a "V" shaped head? That's pretty much a dead giveaway that they are, in fact, planarians.> I would really like to get rid of the planarians before breeding my fish. <I can certainly understand!> Also, I inadvertently spread the problem to my 30-gallon community tank by 'seeding' the smaller tank with mature filter media from my big tank. <Oh, ugh....> This happened before I knew there was a problem in my 125G. I also forgot to mention that we are on well water if it makes a difference. <Mm, possibly, but I wouldn't think so. Worm infestations can happen in tanks that use the best of water. Usually, huge amounts of worms are the result of overfeeding, or otherwise excessive nutrients, and most often seen in predator tanks, like yours (several large predatory cichlids, an electric catfish, and an ever-messy Plec, in a 125 gallon tank, yes?). Try cutting back extensively on feeding for a while and see how that affects the worm population. Also, keep up with hefty gravel vacuuming to see if you can pull some of the little suckers outta there.> I treat any new water (with Prime) before adding to the tanks. Even though we test our well'¦.you just never know. I have talked to the three LFS I patronize and two advised Copper... NO WAY was I going to put this in my tanks. <Ugh! No.... Avoid this desperately! Especially with your scaleless Plec and catfish. Bad LFS, bad! Deserves a swat on the nose!> One finally suggested a fluke eliminator. But he was a little hesitant and unsure so I haven't done anything except vacuum and perform water changes in both tanks and cut the food by ½. <Ah, yes, perfect. Keep it up for a couple weeks, and see what happens with the wormies. Also, I'd like to mention that I had the occasional planarian showing up in my plant tank (well, lots of 'em, really), and they seem to have been eliminated by a very minute amount of Fenbendazole (proprietary name Panacur) that I used to rid my tank of (shudder) hydra. I certainly haven't seen a single planarian (or hydra!) in a month or two. But then again, my planarians were about 2-3mm long. Tiny. The Fenbendazole did not affect my bacteria bed in the slightest, nor did it have any effects on any plants, shrimps, or fish. It is usually sold as a goat-worming medicine, but can even be used as a wormer for discus.> My water parameters have not changed and all the fish are fine. I still have all 14 new Platy babies and they are growing like crazy. And I still have a gazillion 'creatures' that give me the creeps. <Well, keep up with what you're doing, for the time being, and see if the worms start to die out. I'd also like to mention our chat forum http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/ as we have rather recently had another fellow with a similar problem - perhaps you guys can compare notes.> Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide. <Glad to help, and again, sorry for the late response!>
Planaria, or Parasites? I have 2 10 gal. tanks with feeder guppies that have been breeding. There is a parasite in the tanks that looks like a clear, small leech. What do I need to do to clear the tanks of these "leeches". Our local pet store told us that these are probably beneficial parasites that the guppies will feed on, but this information was supplied without their seeing the parasite. We have not seen any of these on the fish themselves but on the sides of the tanks and in the filter. Please advise. <Well, if they're not attached to the fish, if they're only on the glass or other areas of the tank, I doubt that they're parasites of any sort - "parasite" means that it's something that attaches to or lives in the fish and hurts the fish. What you have are probably Planaria. A planarian is a small worm, usually just a few millimeters long, and are best identified by a "V" shaped head - take a look at this: http://www.naparcd.org/planarian.htm . The presence of these little wormies suggests an overabundance of "stuff" in your tank that they are feeding on. To get rid of them, simply eliminate their food source - more frequent water changes, being sure to vacuum the gravel, and cleaning out the filter will help with this. They are essentially harmless, but it'd be a good idea to clean up the tank a bit to reduce their numbers or eliminate them completely. Hope all goes well, -Sabrina> Janet Small worms in freshwater tank (11/06/03) <Hi! Ananda here this afternoon> We have a 29 gallon regular fish tank, we have 2 angel fish and some small plants, lately the water has started turning green and now we have some kind of small worms on the inside of the tank and was wondering what they are and what we can do about it? <Well, the water turning green is an algae bloom. That's usually triggered by an excess of nitrates and phosphates. To combat that, you'll want to do more frequent water changes. Also make sure you aren't over-feeding -- if there is any food your fish don't eat, it adds to the phosphates in the tank. You might get a phosphate test (I like the SeaTest/FasTest one for freshwater) and some phosphate remover (like Phosguard) if your phosphates are high even after several water changes. Once you get the nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) out of the tank, the algae should die off, and the worm population should decrease. I'm not sure exactly what you have, but they are most likely not harmful for your fish. --Ananda> Lair of The White Worm! Do you know anything about white worms. in freshwater tanks. <These are Planaria. Planaria are flatworms and members of the Platyhelminthes phylum. Planaria are often found in aquariums with uneaten food. The Planaria won't hurt the fish, but they are a symptom of too much gravel containing too much uneaten food, and that is not good for fish. You should do a water change and vacuum your gravel to help remove the uneaten food and some of the worms. Doing this will reduce the number of worms in your tank. Good luck -Magnus> White Worms, and a Bit More Info - III - 02/10/2004 Ok I put some food in the tank and the lobster never ate it. So I got worms from uneaten food. Now there are a lot of white worms in my tank little white ones. <With this as the most (only) information that you've given us, I can guess that you probably have some sort of nematode or Planaria infesting the tank.... not so much a direct threat to the crayfish or other inhabitants, but a sign of less than adequate husbandry.... Do not overfeed, be sure to remove uneaten food, change water regularly, vacuum gravel properly, change filter media as necessary.... basically, remove the food and nutrients that is fueling these worms, and they will gradually die off on their own. On such little info, that's the best I can give you. I hope it helps. Wishing you well, -Sabrina> White Worms In Gravel Hello, I have a 55 gallon aquarium and have noticed small white worms in my gravel. The fish I have in the tank are guppies and two Plecostomus. I have had no problems until now and just need some advise to get rid of them. Thanks, mike <<Dear Mike. It sounds like Planaria, in which case, you will also see them on the tank glass. This is generally caused by overfeeding. Cut back on the feeding, vacuum your gravel with each water change, and this problem should rectify itself quickly. Some fish, like Gourami's, will eat Planaria. However, you do need to be careful to keep your tank clean, and keep up with your regular partial water changes. HTH -Gwen>> Re: Tiny white worms in my aquarium - II Hi Gwen, Thanks for the info. I don't think I've been getting deep enough into the gravel when vacuuming, even though my water changes have been several each week, approx 20% each time, I think I will have to vacuum more thoroughly. I saw a cardinal tetra eat one of the worms that I knocked off of the glass when cleaning tonight. Thanks so much. Mark. <<Mark, you are most welcome :) -Gwen>> I think I have Worms Hey, AGAIN sorry to be such a pain I realize you guys got lots of letters. Anyway I got these worm like things in my tank well they look like very very tiny maggots all most they are like 3 mm long and very thin are they parasitic? please get back to me. Thanks for reading, Aaron <<Dear Aaron, they sound like Planaria. Are they on the glass? Is this a freshwater tank? This is generally caused by overfeeding and improper maintenance. Try to cut back on the amount of food going into the tank, and make sure you vacuum thoroughly with a siphon when you do your water changes. Once a week is a good idea, specially till your worms go away...which they will when they no longer have a food source. -Gwen>> Strange red worm like thing Hello <Hey Lukas, MacL here with you on this fine day.> Lukas here. I have recently observed a odd looking red worm like things at the bottom of my 90 gallon and on some of my plants in my Betta enclosure. It seems to be growing at the top of the Betta tank on some plants. <Sounds like algae to me.> But in my 90 gallon its at the bottom around the gravel. I try to suck this stuff up when I do my water change but it keeps coming back. If you need a pic I can get you one on Tuesday. <Pictures definitely help, send it to me if you don't mind.> What is this stuff and is it bad for my fish? Thank you L White worms crawling on the glass of my aquarium I have a 90 gal. tank with four discus in it which is also planted. I have noticed what appears to be small white worms crawling on the glass and swimming freely, can you tell me what they are? <Not specifically... as in down to species. But I assure you, these are likely some sort of innocuous earthworm-like animal (oligochaete annelid) and not harmful to your fish or system. These sorts of critters "pop-up" quite often, particularly in aquariums that have excess food, too little circulation/filtration... and very often "disappear" of their own accord. Do keep your eye on water quality and in time you will likely find they have gone. Bob Fenner> FW worm 6/23/06 Hi Bob. I have a tank with an African brown knife, mollies, ghost cats. This morning I saw what appears to be a tiny, tiny black worm crawling at the bottom of my tank. What can this be? <Mmm, could be an oligochaete (something akin to an aquatic earthworm)... even a Hirudinean (leech)...> Everyone is eating & appears healthy. Water is good. Thanks! Diana <What is that Ted Nugent lick? "Where in doubt I take it out... it's a free for all"... I would remove this mystery creature just in case. Bob Fenner> Not urgent. Calcium, and worms. 11/01/06 Hello Crew! <<Hi, Rachel. Tom>> I know you're all terribly busy, and this isn't terribly important, so please feel free to skip over this one! <<Can't do that Rachel. Yours is important to you which makes it important to us.>> I have a 2.5 gallon tank with a 25-watt heater, 10-watt fluorescent lighting, and in-tank Whisper filter set on low, in which I keep a spoiled-rotten Betta of about a year and a half old. The system was started about a year ago, and was moved/remodeled two months ago. About a month ago I added a Java fern and some red Ludwigia. I added a lovely blue mystery snail (Pomacea bridgesii) a week ago, and he is doing a remarkable job on eating the algae (working on getting the plants to thrive instead!). <<I completely understand'¦>> Temperature is 80, ammonia and nitrite 0, nitrate usually under 5 now since adding the live plants... I think the pH is 7.4, though I'm not at home right now to look it up. I try to do 25% water changes every week or two, though I've been lax lately. Anyhow, my water is on the soft side, and the snail's shell is already looking a little worn. I am planning to add "something" to the tank for calcium. I've heard of crushed coral or marble. However, since I also keep a cockatiel, I have cuttlefish bone handy as a source of calcium for the bird. Could I put a well-rinsed (and obviously unused) piece in the aquarium? <<I've not run across this for aquatic snails but I have for land snails. Frankly, I find it a good option to try especially given that your pH is already at ~7.4.>> And how big a chunk are we talking? <<Try a piece with a surface area of about one square inch, or so.>> The bones are about five inches long by two or three inches wide, half an inch thick, and can easily be snapped into smaller pieces. Was just planning on tucking it behind a rock somewhere with a little water flow to help it dissolve. Right? <<You might find that your snail will actually 'feed' on the bone as land snails do. (I'm somewhat curious about this myself.) Obviously, you'll want to monitor pH levels though I don't believe that this should prove to be a problem.>> Secondly, I've noticed "the little white worms" floating around and wiggling on the tank walls. White, threadlike, about 1 cm long. I had these once maybe nine months ago. Up until yesterday I was assuming they are harmless Planaria, and I was stepping up the water changes as I know these are a sign of excess nutrients. However, yesterday I noticed Terrence the Betta eating them as they floated by. If they're just free-living Planaria I'm pretty sure this is harmless, but is there any chance these could be parasitic worms which Terrence has passed and he is re-infecting himself somehow? <<Parasites, by definition, require a 'host' in order to survive. In all likelihood, they're Planaria.>> His feces are never stringy-white, but very occasionally his normal feces will include some little clear sections that look like mucus. I believe I'm just paranoid, but better safe than sorry! He is acting quite normally, swimming around, flaring and nipping at the snail, eating voraciously -- he has even started to pick at the algae wafers for the snail, and will steal them out from under him! <<Don't be overly concerned about the occasional clear sections in his feces. This isn't uncommon or an indication of a problem any more than a very occasional sneeze means you're getting a cold. Just happens'¦>> Thanks for all your hard work! Rachel North Carolina <<Thank you kindly, as well, Rachel. Best regards. Tom (Michigan)>> Round worms in swimming pool 12/11/06 I know this isn't a typical question you get... but.. thought you may be able to help. We have a salt-water swimming pool and we recently noted 2 worms in the pool we've never seen before. They were about 7-10 inches long, round (not flat), very very thin (think 0.5mm pencil lead). They were swimming just fine in our hot tub - the water was not hot. When we brought them out of the water, they flip flopped around somewhat spastically with both ends moving independently. There were a brown-ish/yellow color. Their skin/skeleton was quite "crunchy" when we tested to see how tough it was. :) Any idea what this could be? -Bruce <Mmm, as you state, could be Nematodes... if you have a good magnifying loupe, you could cut through (make a coronal section) through the esophagus (just a bit back from the head...) and look/see if this is tri-radiate (three-sided)... diagnostic for the Phylum... could be Horsehair worms... other "wormy" possibilities. Not toxic, or dangerous to human health assuredly. Bob Fenner> FW Plant Leech 03/23/07 Hi Crew! Hope all is well with you, you've helped me so much in the past. To make a long story short, I have a 10 gallon tank that has been used as a plant refuge for when I thin plants out of the aquariums. I throw them into this tank. At one time the tank was a failed attempt to raise daphnia, I never cleaned it out after that, just started throwing plants into it. After a few months I was given some cherry shrimp that were too small to go into the main tanks, so I put those in there. When I added the shrimp I put in a sponge filter and heater. I don't perform routine water changes on this tank. This tank has been a fascinating biological experiment of sorts because it has a blanket of live Blackworms now that must have accidentally come in there on plants. (I feed the fish live Blackworms a couple of times a week.) The tank is full of shrimp that have bred like crazy and hitchhiker snails. The water is green, and amazingly there is no algae in the tank, whatsoever. However, it is time for me to transform it into a usable tank and I was thinking of putting a couple of Killies and a group of sidthmunkis in there, of course making sure the parameters are good first. I really wouldn't want to see all of this "food" go to waste. Sound like a good idea? Probably not... But anyhow, I also have these in my tank. Do you have any idea what they are? Are they good slugs/flatworms? Or bad slugs/flatworms? Should I just forget my dream of giving some lucky fish the feast of their lives and clean the tank out before I introduce any fish into it? Thanks! Take care, Mary. < This is a typical FW plant leech. Fish don't eat them but they really aren't much of a problem.-Chuck> FW Plant Leech, Neale's go 03/23/07 Hi Crew! <Hello Mary!> Hope all is well with you, you've helped me so much in the past. To make a long story short, I have a 10 gallon tank that has been used as a plant refuge for when I thin plants out of the aquariums. I throw them into this tank. At one time the tank was a failed attempt to raise daphnia, I never cleaned it out after that, just started throwing plants into it. After a few months I was given some cherry shrimp that were too small to go into the main tanks, so I put those in there. When I added the shrimp I put in a sponge filter and heater. I don't perform routine water changes on this tank. This tank has been a fascinating biological experiment of sorts because it has a blanket of live Blackworms now that must have accidentally come in there on plants. (I feed the fish live Blackworms a couple of times a week.) The tank is full of shrimp that have bred like crazy and hitchhiker snails. The water is green, and amazingly there is no algae in the tank, whatsoever. <Because it's balanced. In balanced tanks, the rate of algal growth is checked by the growth of plants and predation by algae-eating animals. In aquaria (and ponds, and eutrophic waters in the wild) the balance is lost, and often the algae prosper because their natural limiting factors are taken away.> However, it is time for me to transform it into a usable tank and I was thinking of putting a couple of Killies and a group of sidthmunkis in there, of course making sure the parameters are good first. <You'll lose almost all the fun, I suspect. To reach a balance with fish, you need a *lot* of water volume per fish. Look for a copy of the excellent book "Dynamic Aquaria" for a scientific (and highly detailed) investigation of balanced aquaria with complete ecosystems. Certainly possible, but very challenging if you include fishes, miles easier with just inverts.> I really wouldn't want to see all of this "food" go to waste. Sound like a good idea? Probably not... But anyhow, I also have these in my tank. Do you have any idea what they are? Are they good slugs/flatworms? Or bad slugs/flatworms? Should I just forget my dream of giving some lucky fish the feast of their lives and clean the tank out before I introduce any fish into it? <Those are small leeches, annelid subclass Hirudinea. Now, the vast majority of leeches are predators on invertebrates. Very, very few are bloodsuckers. But obviously those that are can be very damaging to fish, particularly very small fish. Identifying leeches to species level is difficult, and definitely a job for your friendly neighbourhood freshwater ecologist or parasitologist. Identification beyond subclass level is below me, I'm afraid! In the meantime though, don't kill it out of hand. Leeches are lovely animals, and if you can encourage it to go swimming you will be treated to one of the most beautiful little spectacles in the animal kingdom. They also have a very cute "inchworm" mode of walking. The sucker at the front (blunt end) is armed with teeth with which it catches its prey, and most species suck up the "juices" of whatever they've caught either directly or through a neat little stylet. You can also see the digestive system quite nicely in your photo, too. All in all, charming, if weird, animals.> Thanks! <No problem.> Take care, <Will certainly try! Neale> Mary. Thin Clear - Whitish Worms - Nematodes/Planaria 7/21/07 Dear WWM, <Andrea with you tonight, Jean> Today I had noticed a several thin, clear, whitish worms crawling up the side walls of my 6.6 gallon freshwater aquarium tank (visible by a bright aquarium light). <Planarians or nematodes, most likely. Sign of overfeeding. Cut back to once every other day, only what your fish can eat in about two minutes. Net out any uneaten food remaining.> Once a week, I maintain my tank by vacuuming the gravel and performing a 20 percent water change. I always premixed my water with aquarium salt and stress coat, a night or two before I perform my tank maintenance. <Fantastic regimen. You can dump the salt, it is worthless as a tonic, and can actually harm some fish. I prefer Prime as a water conditioner. Less used per water change, and no additives other than what is needed for neutralizing chloramines/chlorine from tap water. Prime is a great product. I highly suggest it.> Recently, I treated my Betta with Jungle Parasite Clear because he had contracted a parasite. This parasite problem was due to me feeding him live black worms, which I stopped feeding him. <Shame. I bet he loved the live feeders. Don't discount them in the future as a treat. Bettas love them. Perhaps another live feeder provider?> My question is, can those thin, clear, whitish worms crawling up the side walls of my tank be a parasite? <Not likely.> Is this dangerous to my Betta? <He will likely eat them. Not a danger.> If so, how can I get rid of them? <Reduce feedings, water changes, deep gravel vacuum.> Treat my tank with Jungle Parasite Clear again? <No, unless the fish is sick.> Please give advice. Thanks again for all your help; your site is the greatest. <Anytime, we are here to help!> Jean What are these tiny brown worms in my 10 gallon aquarium? 7/21/07 Hi my name is Donna, I've had my 10 gallon fish tanks for about 3 yrs I was changing the filter tonight and I noticed a couple of little brown looking worms that are located on some of my artificial plants that I let float in the top of my tank for my baby guppies to hide in are they dangerous to my guppies and Platies ? what are they ? and how do get rid of them ? should I completely break down my tank I was hoping to be able to wait a couple of weeks before breaking down my tanks until my new mobile home is set up so could put all my fish in my 55 gallon will my fish be ok till then ? <Hello Donna. These worms are almost certainly planarians. These are usually flat and liver-coloured, and around 5 mm long. The slide along things rather than wriggle. Sometimes they slide along the surface of the water. They are harmless, although they will eat fish eggs and are a nuisance in tanks where egg-laying fish are being bred (been there, done that!). Otherwise all they do is eat microscopic organisms and detritus. In a tank with guppies and other livebearers they are harmless. Besides, getting rid of them is difficult and only worthwhile if they cause a problem. Some fish will eat them (paradise fish are famous for this). They're interesting animals and worth reading up on when you get a chance. Cheers, Neale>
Worms in fresh water aquarium 11/29/07 Hi WWM My sister has a fresh water Aquarium which she just cleaned out on the weekend, and a few days later we have noticed these worm like creatures in the filter tubes no where else but in them. They have small legs and are hatching out of these things that look like cocoons and if you look carefully at them they have small mouths. There very disturbing to look at and gross us out. There's so many of them please help! Jessica <Hello Jessica. Without a photo its impossible to say what they are. But given they have obvious limbs and mouthparts, one must assume they are some sort of insect. Aquatic insects vary in their danger to aquarium fish: most are simply fish-food, but a few, particularly dragonfly (Odonata) and beetle (Coleoptera) larvae, can turn the tables and will catch and eat small fish. If you can send a picture, we can try and identify your visitors with a bit more precision. Cheers, Neale.>
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What's that on your plant? A leech!
A very nice pic. RMF