Are these Detritus worms?

[LynxGen]

Hey all, so relatively new to fish keeping.
Thought i was doing ok..
3mnths ago I broke my leg, and was unable to get downstairs etc, had the kids n old lady feeding/tending the fish.

I can finally get up n down the stairs, n hola... like 8mnths worth of food gone in like 2mnths...
Filters so clogged barely moving water.
So a day of cleaning, water changing, etc.

I know i have too thick of substrate. I just didn't know when i set it up.

Anyways, to the point, feeding n staring at my penguin tetras n blue dream shrimp last night, I discoverd some squiggly little wormy things, that after initial panick, then google-fooing, i think are detritus worms, which are apparently nothing to be wortied about, and are actually a good thing.

I need to clear out n redo this tank, but I'm probably moving next mnth or 2, n trying to hold off till then, so im only removing the critters n cleaning etc everything once.

Anyways, made a short vid of these wormy things.
Please advise!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Detritus worms are normally half inch to one inch. I dont know what they are but they look too long to be typical detritus worms. Although the term detritus worm is a collective name for a lot of different species of worm, so it could still be a detritus worm, just not of a type that is normally found in a tank.

How long are those worms?

 

[LynxGen]

Gosh they got to be a good a 3-6inches? That i can see?

Could it possibly be the ends of a hydra or something?

 

[LynxGen]

No ideas? Anyone?
Well guess im removing the fish n shrimp n starting from scratch... idk what else to do.. ��

 

[ADsnail]

Epitoky worm? There are many varieties, that looks like one of them. Otherwise, hydra might be the answer

Clearing out the tank now might be a good idea because A.) One less thing to worry about when you move, and B.) What if they reproduce fast and then you have a worm farm?

I have a little cut piece of new kitchen sponge, about 3/4" wide, that I dip in to manually remove slimy things. Whatever it is, from a worm to unwanted algae, slippery doesn't stick to my fingers and a paper towel disintegrates. But the sponge grabs it right up.

 

[LynxGen]

I don't think they're the Epitoky.. i couldn't see any signs of little hair/leglike structures along the sides etc.

Im about 95% certain they are Tubefex worms, basically detritus worms, and they're ok. I haven't even seen em other than that 1 time... im gona cross my fingers n hope for the best at this point.

I have moved several shrimp to a new home.. i mean who doesn't want a 5 gal bedside shrimp tank to stare at while fallin asleep? Lmao
I wanted to take my time n plant/seed that little tank etc, but will hold off for a future project.

I'll get the penguins tetras outta there shortly, and then i can begin redoing that tank. It just means ilm have 14 penguin n 10 silvertip tetras in a 25gal tank for a while... with shrimp n kuhli loaches.

I didn't want to put kuhlis in there as its sand n carpet plants. Ill never see or find them again!!! Lmao.

On the other hand.. i seen some great deals on fb buy n sell your junk site. 90gal tanks... n theres a 500 gal with stand etc for 1000$
The ole lady got a new van n just sold her old one for 2500... seems only fair... (like that'll happen... �&#56611

Id like to one day just have one large show off tank n maybe the 25gal n 30gal just for like shrimp n snails/feeder food... lol

 

[gilpi]

Why aren't your fish eating that?

 

[LynxGen]

Why aren't your fish eating that?

My fish are penguin tetras, don't think they've ever explored the bottom ⅓ of the tank... lol (and shrimp)
I've only ever seen those wormy things once... not much chance to eat em! Lol

 

[TUCCI]

The Mrs had a salt display at her work some time back and it had worms similar to those and I had never seen them before and I did salt tanks in the mid 90s. I always associated worms like that with an infestation but I didn’t do coral or shrimp. Anyone know what they are?