I have a really long thin worm in my gravel. I'd try to get pics, but it isn't really worth it. Imagine a a 4-5" piece of write string that writhes and you have my worm. I looked up planaria and that didn't seem to be what i had at all. Is this thing harmful, or should I not worry about it and just be happy that it's in there cleaning my gravel?
long thin worm in my gravel
- Thread starter the Dregs
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The only live food I have fed is newly hatched brine shrimp..I doubt that was the cause. Maybe it hitchhiked on a plant, or hopefully it didn't pop out of a fish. All my parameters are good and I have been doing tons of water changes lately because my driftwood is leaking tannins like crazy.
Do you have shrimp or crayfish in your tank? The worm could be a nematomorph (horsehair or gordian worm); they are parasites of crustaceans and insects as larvae, free-living and non-feeding as adults. Sometimes feeder shrimp have them; you can see the parasite as a big white coil in the shrimp's gut.
If you pick up the worm and it seems unusually stiff (like waxed thread), that's probably what it is.
If you pick up the worm and it seems unusually stiff (like waxed thread), that's probably what it is.
If there's only one worm, it won't reproduce; they have separate males and females. But if there's more than one you could have a problem. They probably won't affect anything but the shrimp, though.