aquarium glass worms!!!!!!

[lossam8199]

hi guys,
I need help identifying what is this tiny white worms on my aquarium glass. so recently I noticed this tiny white worms crawling on my aquarium glass. it's average size is only 0.50mm!!!, when I first saw them I thought they were dust, so I wiped it off with magnetic scrubber, but it reappears in few days, and when I looked closely, they were moving !!!! I have read planarian, but I don't think it's that small. my tank is a 2.6 gallon betta planted tank, I feed 3 pellet everyday. and I always remove uneaton foods. my fish doesn't seem bother from it, but it's disgusting crawling on the glass.

please help identify what is this. thanks!
these tiny white dusts are the worms, it moves.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Most likely roundworms of some sort - typically show up when there is additional food available in the tank. You may not be getting as much of the uneaten food removed as you think.

 

[bettaowner]

Sounds like planaria. They won't harm larger fish but they might eat the fry

 

[Wy Renegade]

Easy enough to distinguish between round and flatworms with a magnifying glass. Planaria are flatworms.

 

[lossam8199]

Most likely roundworms of some sort - typically show up when there is additional food available in the tank. You may not be getting as much of the uneaten food removed as you think.

how to I get rid of the worm? are round worms harmful? I feed only pellet , so it's really easy to remove the pellet when the betta didn't get it

 

[lossam8199]

Sounds like planaria. They won't harm larger fish but they might eat the fry

how big are planarian? this worm is super small, looks like white dust

 

[Wy Renegade]

All worms start out small - almost microscopic, some get bigger, some don't, so size is not relevant to an I.D. You need to use a magnifier to determine if they are round or flat. Regardless of round or flat, neither is typically harmful to the tanks inhabitants - planaria are not capable of eating fish fry, although I have seen some proclaim they can harm shrimp larvae. Both consume organic debris and left over food. Some round worms and flat worms both can be parasitic, but they are not typically the freeliving type you see on the glass. In a planted tank, (which it looks like you have?) they can be extremely difficult to get rid of as they can survive off of the decaying plant matter and mulm (biofilm) present in your aquarium.

 

[lossam8199]

All worms start out small - almost microscopic, some get bigger, some don't, so size is not relevant to an I.D. You need to use a magnifier to determine if they are round or flat. Regardless of round or flat, neither is typically harmful to the tanks inhabitants - planaria are not capable of eating fish fry, although I have seen some proclaim they can harm shrimp larvae. Both consume organic debris and left over food. Some round worms and flat worms both can be parasitic, but they are not typically the freeliving type you see on the glass. In a planted tank, (which it looks like you have?) they can be extremely difficult to get rid of as they can survive off of the decaying plant matter and mulm (biofilm) present in your aquarium.

thx for the info!
so they are just part of nature aquarium? does every planted tank has these creatures? what can I do to control their population? do they add bioload to my system?

 

[Wy Renegade]

thx for the info!
so they are just part of nature aquarium? does every planted tank has these creatures? what can I do to control their population? do they add bioload to my system?

In your case yes. Not every planted tank has them - they likely came in on some of the plants that you have. Quarantining and dipping plants can prevent this type of thing, but once established they become very difficult to eliminate. Best method, if you don't like them, is to introduce a fish that will eat them. There are chemical methods available, but they may affect more than just the worms. They will not add anything to your bioload.

 

[lossam8199]

In your case yes. Not every planted tank has them - they likely came in on some of the plants that you have. Quarantining and dipping plants can prevent this type of thing, but once established they become very difficult to eliminate. Best method, if you don't like them, is to introduce a fish that will eat them. There are chemical methods available, but they may affect more than just the worms. They will not add anything to your bioload.

thank you for telling me so much info. I will start to feed less and see if that will help. last question: do these worms only feed on uneaten foods? do fish poops feed them too?

 

[Wy Renegade]

any type of organic debris is going to be potential food for these - so fish poop, decaying plant material, etc.

 

[gilpi]

hi guys, I need help identifying what is this tiny white worms on my aquarium glass. so recently I noticed this tiny white worms crawling on my aquarium glass. it's average size is only 0.50mm!!!, when I first saw them I thought they were dust, so I wiped it off with magnetic scrubber, but it reappears in few days, and when I looked closely, they were moving !!!! I have read planarian, but I don't think it's that small. my tank is a 2.6 gallon betta planted tank, I feed 3 pellet everyday. and I always remove uneaton foods. my fish doesn't seem bother from it, but it's disgusting crawling on the glass. please help identify what is this. thanks! these tiny white dusts are the worms, it moves.

I'm surprised they haven't become fish food yet. I would stop adding food in the tank for a day or two to see if your fish would eat them

 

[BedfordCRS]

They are small now, but I think they are nematodes, a type of round worms. Soon, they will grow bigger and longer. You should see them swimming in the water as well as roaming the side of the glass. I had the same problem, but in a much larger scale. It was a nightmare to deal with!

I'll tell you what I had tired and there was only 1 thing that actually worked for me.

I had people suggesting I was over feeding and if I just stop over feeding them they would go away. Trust me when I say this... it wont work. Even if you take out all the fishes and not feed anything for 3 months, they will still live.

I tired ODing with CO2 thinking they would need to breath to survive, but nope after 2 weeks still alive and breeding.

I tired replacing all the substrate and filter medias with new ones. I then washed the plants very well. I also dipped the fishes in a few buckets of water to get the worms off them. I also made sure the fish and filter tubing was 100% dry before refilling. This seem to work for 2 weeks, then I started to see an explosion of worms again.

I tired to OD with Iodide (without the fish inside) surely pouring the whole bottle in a 30 gallon tank would kill it, but nope, they came back again.

I was told Safe-guard canine dewormer would work, but nope 2 weeks later, again they came back.

I tired API salt, API copper meds and a few other things I wont go in to details with, but it just didn't work.

I went to my LFS and asked them for advice and they suggested i tired Subquaria worm krush. I was a bit iffy about it, but it did the trick! However, I would like to note, the instructions suggested treating twice, something I didn't do with the other meds I had tired. So, this MIGHT be one of the reason the other meds didn't work for me.

Regardless, my tank now is free of worms after a year of horror!

 

[dcutl002]

Just curious...what type of fish will eat them?

 

[BedfordCRS]

Any fish that are small enough to see them will eat them.

For me Neon tetras and Guppies was what I had in my 30 gallon. They do eat the worms, but the worms will ALWAYS be there unless you treat it.

The reason why I needed to get rid of them for good is due to cross contamination with my 75 gallon tank which had bigger fishes (Flowerhorn and Blood parrots) which cannot see nor eat the worms. They just end up stop eating food in general because they were getting sick. The population kept growing and they just kept breathing in the worms.

 

[lossam8199]

Any fish that are small enough to see them will eat them.

For me Neon tetras and Guppies was what I had in my 30 gallon. They do eat the worms, but the worms will ALWAYS be there unless you treat it.

The reason why I needed to get rid of them for good is due to cross contamination with my 75 gallon tank which had bigger fishes (Flowerhorn and Blood parrots) which cannot see nor eat the worms. They just end up stop eating food in general because they were getting sick. The population kept growing and they just kept breathing in the worms.

how long would it take for these creatures to get to the size you were talking about? I had them for about a week, and the largest size I can see is about 1mm.... they seems to attracted by light, when the aquarium lighting were off, and I put my cell phones flash light on the aquarium glass, they tends to moving toward the light source.

is the med u suggested safe for plants? I have a heavily planted tank.

 

[Wy Renegade]

how long would it take for these creatures to get to the size you were talking about? I had them for about a week, and the largest size I can see is about 1mm.... they seems to attracted by light, when the aquarium lighting were off, and I put my cell phones flash light on the aquarium glass, they tends to moving toward the light source.

is the med u suggested safe for plants? I have a heavily planted tank.

Depends on what type of roundworm they are. If they are bananna or microworms they won't get any bigger than that.

 

[BedfordCRS]

I would say give it about a month, you will see them longer 1 inch or longer. The longest one I found was about 2-3 inches. They stay think as a hair line, but they can grow pretty long.

Its safe for plants and bio filters. They also said it was 100% safe for snails and shrimps, but when I tired it, I had 3 dead RCS shirmps and a couple of ramshorn snails died. Though, a few out of 50+ isn't bad.

All fishes were also alive (neon tetras, guppies, flowerhorn, blood parrots)

I personally wouldn't mind too much in my 20 and 30 gallon tank, but i use the same tube to clean refill water to my 75 gallon and that's how the worms got in there as well. Bigger fishes cannot eat them and it just kept populating.

Is it Safe to Use Levasimole HCl Powder in My Aquarium?

Subquaria research shows that Levasimole HCl Power is safe for use with: Fish, Plants, Bio-Filters, Snails, Shrimps and Invertebrates.
As an added benefit, it also boosts the immune competence of fish, large animals, birds and some reptiles.

Source: http://subquaria.com/Levamisole-HCl-5-Grams

Is it Safe to Use Levasimole HCl Powder in My Aquarium?

Subquaria research shows that Levasimole HCl Power is safe for use with: Fish, Plants, Bio-Filters, Snails, Shrimps and Invertebrates.
As an added benefit, it also boosts the immune competence of fish, large animals, birds and some reptiles.

Source: Levamisole HCl 5 Grams

how long would it take for these creatures to get to the size you were talking about? I had them for about a week, and the largest size I can see is about 1mm.... they seems to attracted by light, when the aquarium lighting were off, and I put my cell phones flash light on the aquarium glass, they tends to moving toward the light source.

is the med u suggested safe for plants? I have a heavily planted tank.

I would say give it about a month, you will see them longer 1 inch or longer. The longest one I found was about 2-3 inches. They stay think as a hair line, but they can grow pretty long.

They also said it was 100% safe for plants, bio filter, snails and shrimps, but when I tired it, I had 3 dead RCS shirmps and a couple of ramshorn snails died. Though, a few out of 50+ isn't bad.

All plants where alive and my fishes where fine too. (neon tetras, guppies, flowerhorn, blood parrots)

I personally wouldn't mind too much in my 20 and 30 gallon tank, but i use the same tube to clean refill water to my 75 gallon and that's how the worms got in there as well. Bigger fishes cannot eat them and it just kept populating

 

[BedfordCRS]

I been getting a few PMs, so just to update, the old link is no longer working. You can buy the levamisole powder here: Levamisole HCl Powder