Help getting rid of pest worms?

[JennaNiccole]

A month or more ago I saw a single (nasty, wiggly) worm swimming in my 5 gallon, but I grabbed it with tweezers and took it out, and since I never saw any more worms except the tiny ones on my glass that seem to have disappeared since I got an assassin snail, I never bothered to figure out what kind of worm it was or do anything about it. Well, today I saw another big one, and I did a nearly 100% water change, vacuumed everything (didn't get any of those big, squirmy worms in the vacuum though,) but saw two more big ones when I was done.

Google images leads me to believe the worms I'm seeing are some kind of nematode, they range from 1 to 2.5 cm. I don't know if the big ones and the tiny ones are the same species, the tiny ones on the glass were usually hair thin and not very long, they looked like scratches in the glass except that they sometimes moved.

I've read nematodes and other worms are often the result of overfeeding, but the thing is I'm not feeding that tank at all, so I have no idea what they're eating. I guess they could be feeding on decaying plant matter? The only (intentional) tank inhabitant right now is the assassin snail, but I haven't fed her anything in that tank except for the pest snails already in the tank. (I feed her pond snail hatchlings from my pond snail tank too, but outside the 5 gallon... it's a weird system )

Any recommendations for how to get rid of these worms? Can I use chemicals with the plants and the assassin snail? Or is there any chance they'll just go away if I continue to not feed the tank, or will they just keep eating my plants? I'm pretty sure they're living in the substrate, but since I'm using aquasoil it's hard to really get in and vacuum well without turning the entire tank into mud for a week or without ruining the soil.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[TallRound]

micro size worms.

Thank you SO MUCH ,You describe them perfectly .My Assassin snail died ,I don`t know were this worms came from.I have a Tall Round Cylinder Class Tank a DIY 4 Gallons And One Wonderful Betta His name is FISH.I thought it was the white mico tiny threads coming apart of the filter. But these thing move . I have another problem also a kind of slime it almost looks like its growing mico plants or something I thought is was decaying plant matter.I did a complete cleaning one week ago ,changed water..I now will redo the cleaning and replace sub state it just small rocks ,one fake rock I will scrub .Tank & filter scrub .My Goodness I hope this works .I studied Betta`s before I got Him HE was small and His color was transparent now He is deep royal blue and bluegreen with white and clear tips on His Fins HE is a double half moon He is getting a little bit of a rugged face like he is going up ,a more masculine look. I planed to be totally responsible for another Life. FISH Seems happy . His Gills are Pink .No defects on His Body that I can see .No color change . But I Hate this in His environment .ANy how again Thank you for you post ,Be Well

 

[Funken_A]

Usually the sign of too much debris in the substrate and lack of regular water changes and clean up

Weekly 50% water changes and light substrate vacuuming.

https://www.algone.com/worms-in-the-aquarium

Noticing small white worms the size of a few millimeters crawling along the glass are either flat or roundworms. Flat appearances are planaria (flatworms) and the more thin and wiggly ones are nematodes (roundworms). Both of them do not exceed 4-5 millimeters. Both types are harmless to fish and thrive on excessive waste in the water column.


To free the tank of these worms simply do not feed your fish for 3-4 days as they will often feed on them.