Semi-translucent worms + white zippy bits! AGH!

[FishMess]

I was having a coffee admiring my fish tank today, when I noticed tiny white-ish strands and was horrified. I just cleaned the tank the day before. On further inspection there is a million of them! :O(

I've read about planaria and detritus worms, but these aren't really white and not really even tubes... They look like flatworms or flukes to me?!? (AGH!) Also, any ideas about the white tinier things that zip by?!

This is really terrible news. My fish had problems when I got him (anchor worm for one!) and has been struggling with cotton wool... I'm a beginner (3 months in) with a fancy lion-chu goldfish, two kinds of mini shrimp, and 3 kinds of aquatic plant in a 30litre biOrb.

As soon as I noticed the worms I took the fish out and am keeping him out until I decide whether these will harm him or not...

I really appreciate some insights into this new problem and what I should do!

This is a video I took which shows the little critters:
http://youtu.be/_48VO1SuMVk

Thanks in advance! :O)

[Navanod]

Hi fishmess,

If you pause at 0:04, you can clearly see the telltale triangular shaped head of a planaria. From the movement and that head, my best guess is you have very young planaria. Goldfishes are messy eaters and alot of the food gets dropped. Their droppings are also quite rich in nutrients if i remembered correctly. This makes its a wonderful feast for planaria and other scavengers.

The white thing zipping by could be seed shrimp but its really hard to tell since it only flashed by.
They should not hurt the fish, but it's quite unsightly.

[FishMess]

Ok~great. Thank you for confirming what they were and for replying promptly. I will clean the tank more and reduce feeding to control their numbers.

Thanks again!

[MRJee]

Hi,
I would like to contribute my share. I also notice those tiny critters in 1.5ft tank. But then i figure that they can be food for small fishes so i leave the critters alone. One of the small fishes i put in to feed on those zippy critters is scalet badis or badis badis. The tiny badis has clear my tank of them. Now i have having touble getting the badis live food.

[felix_fx2]

everyone said all i can say. so i embed the video for better reference.

[stormhawk]

These are detritus worms. I have them in tanks without adequate water flow and buildup of muck at the bottom. Overfeeding typically causes this but the worms can be kept in check easily. I find that these worms are not easily siphoned out from the tank since they are more than capable of sticking to the wall and resisting the pull of the siphon. By clearing out detritus and ensuring that you do not overfeed, these worms will remain in very low numbers.

There will always be some sort of flatworm in the tank, including Planaria, but what you have there are a smaller whitish type with a skinny body. In the substrate layer we can have all sorts of benthic fauna, including these worms and those seed shrimps aka zippy bits.

Perhaps you can utilise a DIY Planaria trap if you wish (see videos on Youtube or threads here), or the Gush Catch Pen thing at Green Chapter. I've seen the Catch Pen in practice and it works. Just make sure you remove the CP at the end of the day or else you risk a massive die-off of worms within the CP, which can cause problems for your other fauna as their bodies rot. Ditto for the stink from the CP if you forgot to empty the trap.

If you want to keep these worms in check, I'd suggest you to remove the gravel or whatever is on the bottom of the BiOrb. In goldfish tanks, having a bare bottom will help to keep maintenance easier, since they are insane poop machines.