white worms in my tank :0

[loubeardy]

Hey! I'm super new to fish keeping (and this is also my first post.... hi everyone!)

I have noticed two very small white worms in my tank. (my tank is a 68litre, 5 weeks old, heavily planted with various plants, with one betta and one shrimp) I saw one white worm 'swimming' across the front and another in the substrate (plant subatrate). I've only seen the two and they are very very small. Are they harmful to my betta? (or to me?). Can I get rid them?

 

[BBradbury]

lou...

This is very likely a form of planaria. They're harmless and make a nice snack for the fish. If you're keeping the tank water waste free with large, regular water changes, I wouldn't worry about these worms. Do some research and find out more about them.

B

 

[loubeardy]

I did a bit of research online bit of course a lot of the horror stories cropped up fast (parasites, fish dieing.... one even mention a tank that had fish disappearing and only after the owner lost all fish and emptied the tank did he find a 24inch worm beneath the substrate :0) and that's when I panicked!!! haha .... the worms have been in there pretty much since I got my betta 4 days ago... I'm guessing if they were parasitic they would be on him by now.

(and thank you for the reply. fish keeping is such a learning curve... a fun one though. I love my Betta already)