Small Worm

[Marcusa]

I found some small worms crawling on the glass and I was wondering what it might be? It looks about 1/4 of an inch long and it has a red head with a black body. I am trying to get a good picture of it then I will post it.

 

[joy13]

Check out this link it might have your worm. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html

 

[Marcusa]

I got some better pictures. I looked at the website and I can't figure out what kind of worms they are. I removed about ten of them in two days. So for now I will just remove them untill I can figure out what they are.

 

[Marcusa]

Here is the Pictures.

 

[David S]

probably bristle worms which are good for your system.

 

[the_fish_man]

yep definetly bristles

 

[mr_X]

yep. no need to remove them.

 

[Marcusa]

Thanks for the answers, but is it ok to have many of these? I Took out over 30 of them in the past four day. Sometime I feed them back to the fish and the eat them.

 

[mr_X]

if you keep seeing more and more it's because there is an abundance of food in the tank. cut back on the feeding, and their numbers will diminish. to answer your question, it's not hurting anything having them in the tank. they are consuming left over food and fish poop.

 

[Keysman]

Get rid of the worms they are ugly and they sting

 

[Marcusa]

I have been removing them when I seem them on the glass. I do find they are rather ugly. How would you suggest the best way to remove them?

 

[mr_X]

cut back on the food you put in the tank. that's the best way. otherwise, you'll be removing them forever.

 

[Sarcothelia]

They are ugly and I don't like them, but they don't ruin your tank by any means. As said by Bob Fenner, they are "beneficial detritus eaters/sand stirrers".