Worms inside newly setup aquascape lowtech aquarium

[Braveyr]

Hello guys,

I recently set up a planted tank with all the low demanding plants, on with fans to keep the temperature low and a avg of 6hours led light on. This tank is only 1week old.

But i discovered that the newly setup tank have some weird look worm wiggerling ard the wall of the tank. It is obvious that its a worm. It looks white and hav a little pale pinkish. Cant see any eyes or leggys from naked eye, white thin long.

When i tried to use a clipper to clip it out of my tank, it will become flatten . I friend thinks that it might be a flatworm. But i need some advise on what is it and how to get rid of it, or will it do harm to my fauna and flora.

Found a website which shows a similar picture of that worm:

img_2634.jpeg

Please help!
Thanks

[stormhawk]

If the head is diamond shaped or pointed and you can make out 2 small black dots for eyes, then you have planaria. If not, they can be nematodes or just detritus worms. You can remove them by using a DIY trap or with commercial traps like the Gush Catchpen from Green Chapter. If you prefer to use a medication, only fenbendazole or flubendazole is effective. However, getting the dosage right can be tricky.

[Urban Aquaria]

I'm guessing you don't have any fishes in the tank at the moment as its only 1 week old and still cycling.

Those white worms are very common in newly setup tanks... once you add in fishes (especially the smaller ones), they will usually start snacking on the worms and clearing them within a day.

[Braveyr]

If the head is diamond shaped or pointed and you can make out 2 small black dots for eyes, then you have planaria. If not, they can be nematodes or just detritus worms. You can remove them by using a DIY trap or with commercial traps like the Gush Catchpen from Green Chapter. If you prefer to use a medication, only fenbendazole or flubendazole is effective. However, getting the dosage right can be tricky.

Thanks bro, but i dont think is diamond shaped. will check wad is it. but not planning to dose med

[Braveyr]

I'm guessing you don't have any fishes in the tank at the moment as its only 1 week old and still cycling.

Those white worms are very common in newly setup tanks... once you add in fishes (especially the smaller ones), they will usually start snacking on the worms and clearing them within a day.

Hello bro urban aquaria,

Yes newly set up tank. Anyway i intend to keep red cherry shrimps. What small fishes will you recommend to keep with the shrimps? what amt in a 1.5ft. I just worried that if i put small fishes it will stop the shrimp from breeding or they will eat the shrimplets?

Thank you

[stormhawk]

With Cherry Shrimp, only Boraras. However, if you are worried about the safety of the shrimps but need to control these worms, then you have to rely on traps.

[Braveyr]

Hey thanks bro storm... boraras sounds good. i suppose any tetra such as amber with small mouth is possible to pair with the shrimps? do you know how much does a worm trap cost in GC?

[Urban Aquaria]

Hello bro urban aquaria,

Yes newly set up tank. Anyway i intend to keep red cherry shrimps. What small fishes will you recommend to keep with the shrimps? what amt in a 1.5ft. I just worried that if i put small fishes it will stop the shrimp from breeding or they will eat the shrimplets?

Thank you

I agree with stormhawk... tiny fishes like mosquito/chili micro rasboras could be considered as they are usually okay with juvenile to adult sized shrimps. I have used a small group (just 6 fishes) in my shrimp tank for a few weeks to clear white worms and copepods, then transferred them back to another tank after they have done their jobs, and i didn't notice any negative effects on the shrimp population and breeding.

You might lose a few day old tiny shrimplets (probably the weak or not so fast ones), but if you start with a good sized breeding population (ie. >30 shrimps from the beginning) and have enough plants and moss for the shrimplets to hide in, the majority will be able to hide and survive until they are big enough not to be hunted.

It also helps to feed the small fishes well too, so that they have less inclination to go hunting for fresh prey.

Btw, tetras tend to be more aggressive versus shrimps (at least from the ones i've kept), and they tend to grow larger than micro rasboras, so perhaps not as good a choice.

[stormhawk]

No tetras with shrimps. These are not your average small-mouthed predator. Every tetra comes with a set of nasty teeth on their jaws. The only difference is that they're usually too small too hurt us. In fact, piranhas are tetras too since they are characins as well.

Boraras or perhaps Scarlet Badis are fine, since these are true micro-predators. If you want another option, try the Burmese Sticklebacks, aka the Indostomus species, usually I. paradoxus or I. crocodilus, that makes it to our stores. Note however, that the Indostomus sticklebacks will need other sources of live food like daphnia, microworms or BBS. If you cannot provide these alternative food sources after they have dealt with your worm problem, these fish will die from starvation. Same applies to the Boraras and the Scarlet Badis, unless you have "trained" them to take sinking dry foods.

As for the cost of the trap, I'm not sure. You can check at their shop site, navigate from www.greenchapter.com

[Braveyr]

Thanks bro storm, you are very resourceful indepth. =) You guys cleared most of my doubts. I will update my new tank soon, please give me some feedback in future. Thank you!