Something strange in my tank....

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Lonewolfblue

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
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Location
Wenatchee, WA
I got home from work and found something that resembles an earthworm or red wiggler in my tank. Here's some pics. Am I correct? Stretched out is about 2 inches.

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Back when I had a tire-track eel, I would occaisonally find an earthworm that had escaped the dinner plate living in the gravel, sometimes for a couple weeks.
 
Wonder if it came in with the Eco Complete, lol. Or plants from a couple members, lol. The only plants in the tank came from members here, lol. Was interesting to see, and leaving him in for now. Think it's pretty cool, lol. And if I decide to, might try feeding it to my Fire Eels, lol.
 
lol

Last time I tried red wigglers, they sniffed it and turned away, lol. That was back when the eels were in the 26G. Haven't tried recently.
 
Lonewolfblue said:
lol

Last time I tried red wigglers, they sniffed it and turned away, lol. That was back when the eels were in the 26G. Haven't tried recently.

They are spoiled, they prefer your fingers :D

-Pleco
 
Well, I was looking in my tank, and not only do I have the 1, but 2 more as well, lol. 3 total. And they are very fast little buggers. Any ideas on exactly what they are? Are they just worms or something else? I've tried feeding the eels red wigglers before in another tank, and they don't move this fast.

Also, I was looking for my single baby and my wigglers. All gone. No sign of life in the tank other than plants and snails.

Edit:

Found the little baby. Was just hiding really well. Still alive and well.
 
Well, in one of the sites it says this....

"Aquatic worms, just like earthworms, are hermaphrodites. This means there's not really a male or female. When aquatic worms mate, each worm is then able to lay eggs. Aquatic worms lay eggs inside small cocoons in the mud, on rocks, or on plants. Eggs are usually laid in late Summer or early Fall."

I have 2 cocoons on my cryts....... :)
 
Well, if they are Aquatic Earthworms then congratsare in order I guess. Another new species in someones tanks. I don't know if they would be bad but earthworms are very good for plants and soil so maybe they are good for the substrate. If they get out of control, just start feeding them to your eels.

Can't wait for a picture of the cocoons. ;)
 
Well, you asked for it, lol. Here's some pics of the cocoons.....

I never seen them until a few days after adding plants. So the question is, did they come from the Eco complete, fish_4_all, or Glenc? LOL. And the tank has been set up for a short while, so I don't think it was the Eco, lol. I love these little guys...... ;)

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It wasn't me I swear! lol. I haven't seen them in my tanks, yet, :roll:
If I do we will know where they came from.

But serously, if they were in the eco complete it could have taken a while for them to emerge and get to a noticeable size. If you can, I would take the cocoons and put them in something that I can watch and see if they hatch. Might give you a better idea of what they are for sure. Also, from what I have seen in another thread, they could have come in with live blackworms if you ever feed them or maybe another live or frozen food source. Worm cocoons/egg pods can survive the winter frozen.

I will be watching the mail for any odd packages from you, : :onfire: :uzi: :ROFLMAO:

And you thought the MTS invasion was bad :invasion:

If they are aquatic earthworms, I want them back!
 
Actually, I think I'll keep them where they are, lol. Gonna see if they hatch. IT will be interesting. As for the tank, it's never had fish, just eggs. So I've never fed any live or frozen foods. Just egg yolk. But this is quite interesting. Could be from the Eco as well.

Who knows, may i can breed something new...... :ROFLMAO:
 
Well, it only took 2 or 3 days and the coccoons hatched, lol. I've got bunches of worms, lol. And one of the bigger ones, he swims along the bottom by flattening his body and swimming like a leech, then when he get's to where he wants to go, then he's round again, rooting around for food I believe.
 
I had these in my tank. I think they were hitchhikers on a plant. They are nasty little buggers, you can’t kill them and nothing will eat them. I tried loaches and various different fish and they all ignored them. There is no pesticide out there that will kill them and not your fish. I don’t know if they are harmful or not. I’m not sure if they affected my fish or not. I pretty much know they laid egg sacks on the base of my plants. They usually came out to feed whenever food was dropped in the tank. They are a flat work, kind of like a leech. They range in color from red to black and are about 1 to two inches long. I’ve seen them swimming in the tank also.

Here’s how to kill them: empty the tank and go brackish to almost 1.015 or higher for one week. Turn your gravel over every other day to bring them to the surface. Chlorine dip you plants to kill the egg sacks, the egg sacks are immune to salt dips. The little bustards hate salt and alcohol. I’ve had some survive a salt bath for three days. Usually salt kills them pretty quickly. I nearly destroyed my tank trying to remove them. I hope nobody ever gets these. You have only two choices, live with them or go nuclear.

I’ll try and post pictures latter.
 
LOL, I'm keeping them. lol.....

They seem pretty harmless, and are currently in just a plant only tank. Been adding a small piece of algae wafer and a couple shrimp pellets for the snails, etc. I'm sure they are getting some of it as well.
 
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