# Can someone ID this worm like creature



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Hello Everyone,

My name is Yuri, and I'm a new member of this forum. ameekplec introduced me to this place and I am so glad to be here! 

I've been reading posts (mostly in beginner's circle, as I'm one of them - only 2 months into this hobby) for hours over the weekend and already found many valueable tips and provided me new ideas to try.

Anyway, I have a question for everyone. In my 12G tank with several fishes, I began to notice some worm like creature next to guppy breeding trap. Please take a look at the attached picture, the lengh of the creature is 5mm to 10mm, very thin and white, swims in open water in S shape. One of them was eaten by the guppy fry.

Now, I'm not sure if this is pest that I need to treat with medication immediately or yummy meal for guppy fry? I do not know where this originated from, the only recent introduction to the tank was some Java moss and Trumpet snails. 










I've looked up internet and my fish health book but couldn't find anything yet. I've never seen a microworm, but it looks somewhat similar based on description, that's about it.

I'd appreciate any advice!


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

They look like nematodes or microworms - a microworm is a specific family of nematode.

I don't think you have anything to worry about unless you want to keep them, if there are fish in that tank, the worms might not last too long!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Hi Yuri!

You got those from the moss from me  They are indeed some kind of microworm. They are not parasitic as far as I know, and the fish eat them happily. I have not observed any detriment to any fish that eats them. You can get rid of them by treating with an antithelmintic (prazipro, etc).


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Actually, it's OK to have worms like that. But they usually live in the gravel and rarely venture out into the open. Normally, they are a good thing for a gravel tank as they will eat what every food that falls through the crack rather than wait for the food to decompose. Which in turns, will polute your water. Unfortunately, if you begin to see them all over the tank, it's also a sign of overfeeding. So you need to cut back on the amount of food you feed to your fish.

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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Yep like everyone suggested good old planaria. Some fish will eat them as well.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> Hi Yuri!
> 
> You got those from the moss from me  They are indeed some kind of microworm. They are not parasitic as far as I know, and the fish eat them happily. I have not observed any detriment to any fish that eats them. You can get rid of them by treating with an antithelmintic (prazipro, etc).


Thanks, so this is one of the freebies I got from you with your plants. Since my guppy fry seem to like it, I'll try to let them grow more then. The other freebie was duckweed. I did not know what they were, some floating leaves. Later I learned they are called duckweed and I kinda like them, and my fishes seem to be interested too. 

As for overfeeding, does this normally indicate *uneaten* food or too much waste? I'm feeding my fishes mostly twice daily, some floating flakes and sinking pallets, usually consumed within a minute or so (except the pallets which takes time to get soaked in water and softened enough for little fishes to take bite at it).

In my 12G tank, I now have 4 guppies, 3 zebra danios, 1 pair of dwarf grouramis, 2 amano shrimps, 1 upside down catfish, 2 panda cories, 3 small grouramis (looks like danios, forgot the name). It looks a little crowded but the tank appears to be stable overall.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

If your not overfeeding then you need to gravel vac a bit more and they'll subside.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Katalyst said:


> If your not overfeeding then you need to gravel vac a bit more and they'll subside.


Thanks, Kate. At the moment I was just concerned that these are harmful parasites. Since they came from the Java moss recently introduced to the tank and not considered harmful, I'll definitely watch out for future growth due to the waste deposits in gravel.

While I do vacumm routinely during water change every week, I do find it difficult to do this throughly because my tank is a little small and there aren't many places in gravel bed where my vacumm cup can be reached at. 

Again, thanks for all your feedback! Now I'm relieved.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

So I am in for a treat too I take? I've had those things before. Not sure where they came from then. Zebra danio I suspect will eat the things. If I were a fish I'd say yum. I panicked the first time, but if everyone says okay and they will be benifical in a way, I won't mind so much.

Edit: I've been doing some research on these things and most say what the others have said. Harmless. The sites I have read said that a lot of them means bad house keeping so, keep up with the water changes and things should be okay.

As it is, I had some nemetodes before I added any fish to my tank. They were on the driftwood (I had sterilised it) but I think it came from some plants. Interestingly, I haven't seen any in a while.

While I am at it and we're on the topic of worms; this is a scary looking thing... http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5749&highlight= I am gonna watch for these in future shrimp. I had no idea.


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