Harmless Infusoria, or Possible pest?

[dskidmore]

I hang out on saltwater forums although I don't have the cash to run a saltwater tank properly. Everyone always has a good chuckle when some newbie panics over the tiny white things in the water, and then they are congradgulated on finally developing "pods" which are great for a saltwater tank.

A) I don't consider myself a newbie.
B) I have never seen or heard of good, visible infusoria in freshwater aquariums.
C) I have little white worms in my aquarium.

The worms are at maximum 2mm long. 2/3 of thier body length is shaped like an earthworm, the tail third is almost conical. I would not have seen them if I had not been trying to closely study a snail pearched on my mag float. The worms seem to like the mag float (dark, full of dying algae), and also dig in the sand.

Any idea what they are?

 

[dskidmore]

I wish there was some sense of scale on this picture, but this may be the guy.

http://micromonde.free.fr/galerie/aquarium/images/Nematode-b.jpg

 

[Devilishturtles]

In my opinion, they are probably some sort of nematode or species of flatworm. Infusoria are free swiming critters, I thought, and was a broad term for just "micrscopic things in your water". I know rotifers are considered infusoria, but even rotifers don't match your description quite like a flatworm. Infusoria are often near impossible to raise in anything but a breeding tank all to themselves, because they would get quickly consumed by the fish in a stocked aquarium.

HTH

 

[dskidmore]

Well, these guys seem to be burroghing in the sand, and are visible to the naked eye, so I guess they can't technically be infusoria. It is likely some sort of nematode, but that's such a broad classification. Some nematodes are used as fry food, some are parasites.

I do not see any of them attached to fish or the like, so I'm tempted to think they're harmless. It is possible they are related to some plant species problems, but I'm more likely to blame that on my low-light conditions.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Well, these guys seem to be burroghing in the sand, and are visible to the naked eye, so I guess they can't technically be infusoria

That would be my guess as well. 8)

It is likely some sort of nematode, but that's such a broad classification. Some nematodes are used as fry food, some are parasites.

My guess would be harmless. Parasitic nematodes (to the best of my understanding) are far outweighed by the harmless ones.

 

[dskidmore]

I definately have to bump the microscope up on my wishlist now. I wanted one to try infusoria culture, but now I know my sand already harbors at least one species to study.

 

[Simpte]

Looks and sounds like planaria. Harmless in themselves but a sign of an imbalanced tank. More gravel cleanings and waterchanges to remove the buildup of DOCs (dissolved organic compounds) will take care of them.

 

[Meredith]

here is an article that shows pictures of both planaria and nematodes..
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article1.html

 

[dskidmore]

Looks and sounds like planaria. Harmless in themselves but a sign of an imbalanced tank. More gravel cleanings and waterchanges to remove the buildup of DOCs (dissolved organic compounds) will take care of them.

My water parameters look great though, and they aren't doing any harm. My sand is rather fine grained, there may be nutrients trapped down there, but that only makes the plants happy.

 

[Devilishturtles]

What about your filter? What kind is it? They can grow in almost any environment, and I'm sure would just love to suck gunk off of your filter media. I'm betting you have gunk in your sand that is harboring the worms. That seems to be the only possible explanation for your worm issue.

HTH

 

[dskidmore]

I have a very small filter. My biological filtering is done by the plants. I have a small sponge to pick up any ultra-fine sand that gets kicked into the water. I was running filterless at first, but the tank would get all cloudy whenever I mesed with the plants and take forever to clear. Now it clears fairly quickly.

Most of the tank debris end up in the sand, where it feeds the plant roots.

As long as they're not harmful, they're kinda interesting. I might be able to find a way to harvest them for fry food if I get back into breeding.