Tiny white worms

[patrick seastar]

These worms have appeared on the glass of my aquarium. The seems for the most part dormant and still but I've cached one or two moving and changing direction by themselves. What can they be? I've never seen anything this small before.

 

[Sniperhank]

Look like a type of pods. Good things to have in the tank.

 

[patrick seastar]

Look like a type of pods. Good things to have in the tank.

Thanks for responding. No doubt it's microfauna but it's definitely not pods. This looks like a slug and moves like one too. I just don't know what it is.

 

[chefbill]

Flatworm?

 

[patrick seastar]

Flatworm?

Yes! Thank you! I looked up pictures and sure enough! Now I know where they came from and why they're on the glass. Thanks again.

 

[chefbill]

You're welcome. Though I will say that I could not tell from the picture , just going off of your description. Kent makes a product called Flatworm Exit that works but you need to watch out for the toxins released by the flatworm. There are also several species of wrasse that will eat flatworms

 

[patrick seastar]

You're welcome. Though I will say that I could not tell from the picture , just going off of your description. Kent makes a product called Flatworm Exit that works but you need to watch out for the toxins released by the flatworm. There are also several species of wrasse that will eat flatworms

That's okay, they're harmless anyway. Thanks again.

 

[54seaweed]

Just a friendly FYI , Flat worm reproduce rather quickly this is why they are considered a pest . flat worms also eat soft fleshy underwater creatures such as snails , Clams , scallops , LPS , Zoa's , leathers and also certain types of nems , from the looks of your pict you have quite a few in there , they can double rather quickly turning a small infestation into a major infestation , they can also effect your fish if they lodge themselves into the gills eating the fish inside out quite painful way to die.
seachems makes a product called EXIT to rid these pests from your tank.

 

[patrick seastar]

Just a friendly FYI , Flat worm reproduce rather quickly this is why they are considered a pest . flat worms also eat soft fleshy underwater creatures such as snails , Clams , scallops , LPS , Zoa's , leathers and also certain types of nems , from the looks of your pict you have quite a few in there , they can double rather quickly turning a small infestation into a major infestation , they can also effect your fish if they lodge themselves into the gills eating the fish inside out quite painful way to die.
seachems makes a product called EXIT to rid these pests from your tank.

Thanks for the info. I couldn't find any on the web about them. That must have been what killed my hammer. I'm telling you I had a ZERO pest tank. I put an ORA hammer in and all of a sudden I see copepods, then ick, now this. I didn't dip because I thought aquaculture coral tanks didn't have pest... I was wrong. I'm guessing the copepods starved to death since A. I use filtered bottled ocean water B. My tank is algea-less & B. I left the tank 2 1/2 months fish-less taking care of the ick as well. Apparently these guys were going to town on the hammer all this time. It was doing super beautiful the entire week! The tentacles were covering the base and then it just mysteriously started to retract and after it died, now is when they came on to the glass. I always feed food with garlic so that must be protecting the fish until I can get EXIT. It all makes sense now.

Do you mean "esha exit"? I can't find it under seachem.

 

[54seaweed]

I meant sulfert exit , pods are a good thing now you just need to rid those flat worms
.
in the future be sure you dip your coral before adding to your tank .
that little bit of precaution can help save you from something like this again ..

keep us posted

 

[patrick seastar]

I meant sulfert exit , pods are a good thing now you just need to rid those flat worms
.
in the future be sure you dip your coral before adding to your tank .
that little bit of precaution can help save you from something like this again ..

keep us posted

Yeah I know they're good but my goal with this tank was ZERO macrofauna, algea, worms etc etc by having a low bio-load with amazing filtration and fish that don't need them. Thanks again for the info!

 

[chefbill]

Zero macrofauna is unnatural, not beneficial and very impractical not to mention probably unobtainable.

 

[patrick seastar]

It's a science experiment.

 

[patrick seastar]

flatworm exit didn't do anything. I just added it. Waited one hour w/o carbon.. Still active worms. Added 50% as the instructions say, waited another hour.. Still active worms. I'm going to assume that it takes time for it to affect their bodies but it really doesn't seems that way. In any case, their numbers have greatly reduced since the date I posted this probably because they have no corals to feed on. They'll probably be eliminated that way until no more eggs hatch. Probably another month.

 

[patrick seastar]

To whom it may concern or find this info helpful...

The tiny worms have completely disappeared. I'm going to assume that worm exit helped with the process but it's hard to know for sure. Back to a pest free tank Time to add corals... Not gonna trust aquaculture lol. Let this be a lesson to anyone that thinks aquaculture corals or fish are pest free... THEY'RE NOT.