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It's common in all planted tanks, you might want to add a few fishes to counter it
Hi Experts!
Just got new small planted tank for a week. Set up as follow:
Dimension is 35 x 21 x 15.
Co2 @ 1bps
Lights: Beamwork hi-lumen clip on (24 x 0.5w) 8hrs/day
Plants: Monte carlo/Xmas Moss/Utricularia graminifolia
Using seachem flourish potassium once in 3 days.
Problem: After a week, I notice that there are small white micro-organism crawling on the walls of the tank! They are very tiny and probably less than 0.25milimetre. It is so small that it could not be seen from a picture. They seem to be confine only to the wet part of the tank and do not crawl out.
HELP! Please advice what is this thing and what can I do to rectify it?
Thanks a lot in advance!
It's common in all planted tanks, you might want to add a few fishes to counter it
They are either copepods or ostracods (aka seed shrimps), usually hitchhike in on substrate, hardscape or plants. Very common in most aquariums and are part of a healthy planted tank's ecosystem, they help to consume algae and detritis... though if there is alot of excess food, their population can increase very quickly.
Small fishes will hunt and snack on them, so that'll usually keep their population under control. Can consider them as free live food for the fishes.
What are those that look like MicroWorm stay at the wall but fish fry don't eat it. Are they Copepoda ? Thanks for yr advice.
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The tiny white worms are usually detritus or nematode worms, also harmless and part of a tank's ecosystem (unless you see the head has triangular shape, then those are planaria).Originally Posted by MCE
Worm populations will tend to increase very quickly if there is too much excess food too, so they could also be used as an indication of tank conditions.
Usually small fishes will also eat them, but if the fishes are well fed or haven't recognised the worms as food yet, then they'll have less tendency to eat them... too much work to hunt, compared to tasty commercial fish foods.
So i will just leave them alone ? when I introduce fishes in and they will all be eaten up? There seems to be tons of them! Hopefully all will be fine!
Well, the less excess food they can have access too (ie. commercial food, rotting plants, waste material etc), the less they multiply. The worms have very short lifespans so if they don't multiply quick enough, the population will gradually shrink within a short time.
That's one of the reasons why those who reduce feeding and do more tank cleaning/maintenance notice that the worms appear less and less over time.
Small fishes will help to eat them, but if the worms multiply faster than their eaten then the population will still grow... so the fishes are only one part of the solution, have to combine with the above other solutions to help balance the tank conditions and reduce the worm population.
Thanks UA!! Well I guess I have to perform more water change. No livestock at the moment so there isnt food/waste material haha! Is there any safe solution to combat the growth of such worms?
If you have soil substrate and plants in the tank, that's already plenty of food for the worms to eat, they eat up all the organic material, algae and dead plant matter, hence a natural (and important) part of the ecosystem... you'll never be able to get rid of them completely, but in a well maintained tank with small fishes the worm population will be kept minimal and they'll become unnoticeable.
Its very common to see those worms appearing and crawling about during tank start up because there is so much detritus for them to eat and no fishes/predators yet... but once the tank is cycled and you add fishes, the worm population will also naturally decrease too.
Oh! I see I see! Thanks for your explanation. Now I understand how this work! At least I am pretty relieved that its not as harmful as I first thought!
Thanks so much UA
Hi UA, here is a macro shot of those white worms-like creatures. There are on the wall of a breeder box which draws the water from a heavily planted tank.The tiny white worms are usually detritus or nematode worms, also harmless and part of a tank's ecosystem (unless you see the head has triangular shape, then those are planaria).
Worm populations will tend to increase very quickly if there is too much excess food too, so they could also be used as an indication of tank conditions.
Usually small fishes will also eat them, but if the fishes are well fed or haven't recognised the worms as food yet, then they'll have less tendency to eat them... too much work to hunt, compared to tasty commercial fish foods.
Wonder if they are from the planted tank or created from the waste from within.
Picture repost
Yeah, those are the common detritus/nematode worms... they crawl and float around the water column, therefore easily populate everywhere in your tank and filter. In your case, since the breeding box shares the tank water, the worms populate it too.
Thank you for your reply and great answers, appreciate much.Yeah, those are the common detritus/nematode worms... they crawl and float around the water column, therefore easily populate everywhere in your tank and filter. In your case, since the breeding box shares the tank water, the worms populate it too.
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