# Help to ID these worms please.



## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

Worm problem here.......

I have these worms in my substrate as I circled in the picture below. They came out few days ago. They are very small and very thin.

I never overfeed my fish but shrimps I can't say because food sometimes got into substrate so they won't get it.

I was told they are planaria, but I don't see 'eyes' on them.

Can anyone ID them please?

Thanks.

ug.


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## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

Imo seems to be planaria,.....more daily water changes and less feedings.


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## shaobo (Apr 21, 2010)

Although I can't ID this worm, but it's definitely not planaria. Planaria are broader in width than what's in your photo.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

seanyuki said:


> Imo seems to be planaria,.....more daily water changes and less feedings.


How much water should I change daily? 30%? 50%? 
Thanks.

ug.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

It's not planaria. Planaria is a very distinctive flat worm, you cant really mix it up with many other things. The pictures shaobo posted will come instantly to mind when you see one for real.
(Also, while keeping a clean substrate (no rotting left overs) helps reduce planaria, it does not eradicate them. Water changes have no effect on planaria out-breaks.)

I see "worms" similar to this (it's hard to absolutely sure from the photo) in my daphnia cultures, feeding on aufwuchs and algaes. My small fish think they're tasty.


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## wsl (Apr 21, 2010)

Yeah, I have similar thin "wriggling" worms in my daphnia culture as well. They can swim around as opposed to planaria which just crawl around. Not sure what kind of worms they are, but my fish absolutely love eating them.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

These worms never come out so my tetras won't be able to eat them. 

Now how can I kill them? I just did a 50% water change, spot gravel vacuum.......

ug.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

bump.....bump.....


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## rlove250 (Apr 29, 2010)

Sorry if this is a stupid comment. 

I don't see any roots from that plant along the glass. In my tank I can clearly see roots along the glass. have you checked to see if these are roots or worms?

Again sorry, but the picture looks like roots.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

These ain't roots for sure. I hope they are though. 

ug.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Have you ever fed your fish live worms like blackworms? I found some small worms in a 2.5 gallon tank that belongs to someone else. They turned out to be blackworms, living quite happily it seems. They did have a tendency to come partially out of the substrate, though.

Or, what about white worms? Many people feed those to their fish.

These worms might not be harmful.



ug.mac said:


> Worm problem here.......
> 
> I have these worms in my substrate as I circled in the picture below. They came out few days ago. They are very small and very thin.
> 
> ...


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

I don't feed live worms, wife won't allow any of these in the house whatsoever. 

I seems have them under control by doing:
1. Water change, 50% every another day then I dose Cycle to make sure I won't have ammonia spike.
2. Spot substrate vacuum as much as I can.
3. Much less feeding to my fish and shrimp. I'm using a glass cup for shrimp food so there won't be any mess.

ug.


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## BossRoss (Jun 17, 2010)

i've got them too.... not sure what they are, but my fry are slowly dying off. have reduced feeding and upped water changes. thin thread like white worms... after a water change, they appear to be swimming in the tank.


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

Looks like this is in your chi ug? When I had my chi I ran into the same problem although those worms were a lot smaller (shorter in length). My GF had the same problem with hers and at that time we both used gravel as a substrate (so not even as nutritious as yours).

I want to blame it on the fact that the chi's water column is so obscure that it's really hard to get good circulation in the tank (especially at the bottom) whether you're using the stock filter or have upgraded.

As the others said, water changes and spreading out your feedings more should help bring your tank back to equilibrium.

As for what % to change, what's your bio-load like right now? If it's minimal you may want to do one big one (50%) and if you reduce your feedings then 10-20% every other day is probably fine if not already more than enough.


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