Worm Identification

[nwsharksfan]

I was vacuuming out my freshwater aquarium when I noticed what looks like thousands of very thin (thinner than hair) free floating worms that are about 1 cm long. They are pink looking. Some appear to expand and contract while others just wriggle around. Aquarium is well established with a sand bottom and bog wood. I don't feel live food - just Hikari pellets, frozen blood worms occasionally, and krill. Question 1 - what might these be and 2 - can these be of any health significance to humans? I looked up planeria and I don't think that's was they are because they are round - not flat.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Kat767]

Do you have pics

 

[nwsharksfan]

They're too small to capture in a photo - at least with my level of camera skills. I'm thinking they're either nematodes or insect larvae.

 

[Kat767]

They might be. To cut down on them clean the gravel really well and make sure you don't over fee because over feeding is the usual cause of worms in the fish tank.

 

[bobbymac29649]

Could Nematodes cause my Cherry Red Shrimp to die? I had a fantastic swarm of shrimp that were doing great. All of the females were berried and all was well. I had 40-50 of them. The tank is heavily planted, water parameters great and all seemed perfect except for the 1/4" - 1/2" worms that were wiggling around in the water column. I noticed over a two week period that the worm population was increasing and the shrimp population seemed to be dropping. At feeding time every evening the shrimp would come running when I dropped their food in the tank. Last week only maybe five came to eat, then three and now none.
Any ideas?