Help!!!! What is this?

[Fresh2o]

If they are on the glass, then use a magnetic algae scraper. Otherwise, not sure how to deal with them. If you are going to keep a shrimp tank then you may have to put up with other life forms as well such as snails, limpets, seed shrimp, Copepods, planaria, and hydra.

 

[bgmann12]

Ok so I can go ahead and get the shrimp? Thanks.

 

[corylover]

yea they maybe harmless as long as they aren't a hair like organism that you can see at night with the lights off but you use a flashlight you should be fine. cause that happened for me due to having tuba fix worms not being eaten all the way.

 

[Fresh2o]

Ok so I can go ahead and get the shrimp? Thanks.

I don't see why not.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Just leave them! They're helpful and help make your tank a more complete ecosystem by cycling nutrients if there is nothing in your tank now, they can't be parasitic because they wouldn't have anything to live on. The shrimp will probably enjoy eating them.
I love it when I see ostracods swimming around in my planted tank

 

[lossam8199]

dude I have the same exactly thing in my tank. it first started in my betta tank, but later I found these worms in all my tanks. they look like dusts on glass, and moving slowly. I can tell you they are completely harmless, because I have had them for months. no way to completely get rid of them, just feed less to control their numbers.

 

[bgmann12]

Thanks.

 

[corylover]

dude listen to me I just looked into my tank and I have the same thing. I forgot what the parasites I told you about looked like on the glass. yes what you have is a parasite that wont harm adult fish but will harm babies. trust me I have lost 5 batches of corys of 50+ hatchlings/ eggs. they will devour them with no remorse. please listen to me strip your tank. they probably hitch hiked on any plants, gravel from another tank, or anything you got from another tank including water. you have to strip everything and let the décor soak in hot soapy water with a bit of ammonia in it(if it is a real plant toss it and get it from a more reliable source). you have to take all but 6in of water out of the tank and put straight ammonia in it(the tank) and let it sit over night(dump the water you got from the tank)(also stir up the gravel and sand in the tank while you have the ammonia in it). they also cause your water to get cloudy. please trust me I have had to do it to a 40g that was established for a yr at that time and had fish I had to remove to another tank. and also a 10g that was 3 months established that I had to remove fish I had in there to my 40g. please listen to me go to your lfs not some stupid place like petsmart if you can go to a lfs that has been there for atleast 5-10+ yrs. they will hook you up with the ammonia and how much you need to use please please please listen to me. and for anyone that has the same issue that's what it is and you should redo your tank and strip it immediately. and when you let it sit dump it out including gravel/sand and wash it with hot soapy water and rinse it out. then dry it with a towel before you put in freshwater. please listen to me I have had a tank since I was 7 and I have been really into tanks since I was 18 and I will be 20 soon. I am saying this because I got these parasites and had to ask my lfs guy what to do which he has been in that business ever since the 1940ds because that's when his dad started it. please listen to me don't make a mistake you will regret. P.S. there is nothing not even snails or shrimp that will eat them they turn their noses away.

 

[bribo12]

How can they be a fish parasite if he has no fish? If they keep showing up it means they're not feeding on fish. They're harmless.

 

[corylover]

and if that is extreme for you you can try doing a 20%-50% water change and siphon the gravel/sand out really well 3 times a week. and clean the filtration system at the same time with hot soapy water. if that don't work then you would have to go to the extreme level.

 

[corylover]

its not from fish its from an over feeding of them and he could've gotten it from contaminated water or plants.

 

[corylover]

it can also be from a fly that lays its eggs in water here look at this website:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070930161800AAa4TF8
don't believe me if you must but don't argue with me what I state is facts with experiance

 

[corylover]

all the responses in that site will give you a good start

 

[corylover]

like I said listen to me or not but if you put in shrimp now and you get a gravid one you have less chances of getting babies because they will attack them

 

[bribo12]

Parasites are host specific. They will not attack an animal they don't parasitize. Planarian flatworms are not parasitic anyway or predatory. I'm sorry but I 100% disagree with you.

 

[corylover]

its not a host worm it lives in the gravel/sand and it does attack eggs/hatchlings don't say they don't because I have lost 5 batches because of them. one day the eggs are their in a separate container the next carnage eggs chewed open and any hatchlings that hatched were being attacked also. so are you calling me a liar. talk to an expert than.

 

[corylover]

did you even look at the site cause it did say that " There are some that are parasitic, but these wouldn't be large enough for you to see without a microscope". and I have seen the Nematodes also in there and though they aren't a parasite I still had them also joining in the carnage.

 

[bribo12]

Theyre not nematodes and no planaria are parasitic or predatory. yahoo answers isnt really a credible site sorry. lol And back to the sw side I go. To the op I am 100% sure they're harmless but you can listen to who you want. Good luck on your tank

 

[corylover]

ok what about my lfs who mind you has more experience with fish in one thump then in your entire body are you saying he is lying because you can also get this parasite from freeze dried food. hence why I don't use it to often and so far I haven't had a major out break like last time. what do you say to that.

 

[bribo12]

Oh my gosh what the op has are planaria. They're a harmless free living flatworm. What you had is something else. There is no such thing as a parasitic or predatory planaria. Does that solve this issue? Using your lfs and yahoo answers as sources is not really helping your case. I've taken plenty of bio classes to know planaria are harmless. If your lfs is saying otherwise they're wrong. Btw I worked in a lfs for two years and most ppl that worked there knew very minimal.