long hair-like worm in the tank

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Feb 2003, 09:36

i just saw some long hair-like worm (abt 1-2cm) crawling underneath the gravel, at the side of the tank!!!

what are they???

Post by **Silurus** » 09 Feb 2003, 10:49

Nematodes. Sometimes one gets unexplained outbreaks of them. Might be the water, might be the (leftover) food. Generally harmless to your fish.

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 09 Feb 2003, 10:56

Probably a harmless Oligochaete. They are quite common in aquaria, although if they are seen in high numbers it can be an indication of excess nutrients in the system.
It probably came in with plants or live food, and in low numbers probbaly help to brteak down waste.
Pete

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Feb 2003, 11:39

sure???

there are quite a number of them and they are quite long.
colour??? not too sure cos they are really thin, maybe brown.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » 09 Feb 2003, 11:50

If there are a lot of them, you might have a bit of a problem. Do a water change and rock vac (if possible) and cut down on how much you feed you fish, maybe even skip feeding for 2 or 3 days. I once had an outbreak in my cichlid tank, and it was due to extra waste caused by a messy group of fish. Often worms are from over feeding.

What kind of fish are in the tank? Often carniverous fish will take care of the problem for you, as long as the food supply for the worms is cut down.

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 09 Feb 2003, 15:41

caril wrote:sure???
there are quite a number of them and they are quite long.
colour??? not too sure cos they are really thin, maybe brown.

Have you fed tubifex worms or similar at any point? They could actually be some that escaped being eaten and are now enjoying the good life in your substrate.

jscoggs27 · Post by **jscoggs27** » 09 Feb 2003, 16:35

It is strange that after reading this I noticed that I too had a small worm in my tank.
It was about 5mm long (1/4 of an inch or less) it was wriggling in the water slowly sinking to the bottom where it lay motionless untill I sucked it out with the siphon tube. It looked more like a lava than a worm, could this be a parasite? It was white at the ends and clearer in the middle it was trying to bury itself in the sand.
jason

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Feb 2003, 16:49

normally if u can see them, chances are they are harmless.
but its not really a good sign to find worms in the tank.

i will cut down the quantity of feeding and see wat happens.
i was worried that the worms might spread diseases.