Where do Detritus worms come from?

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NStalgia

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Mar 17, 2022
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I'm wondering if these worms can just appear in new aquariums. I'm trying to culture daphnia and one batch died, there's still a couple small ones there but then I noticed these guys wriggling around. Not exactly sure where I got them from and I'm considering if I should throw them away cause they may infect my new tanks. On the other hand I'm thinking if I could use them to feed my betta fry.
 
Detritus worms can't spontaneously appear. They have to be somehow introduced. They will come on either with fish or plants, maybe a piece of driftwood or possibly in your substrate.

You wont normally see them, but they can reproduce in huge numbers if you are overfeeding in an already infected tank.
 
I just realized I had a bottle of that infusoria i used left. So I looked at it and yea, seems like that's where it came from. Interesting, so detritus can form from dead plants if left for a long time.
 
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