white worm in my tank

[cellodaisy]

Before someone says it, I did try googling this. I just haven't found a solid answer. My questions are:

What is it?
Is it harmful?
Would guppies (the only fish I have) eat it?

I'm assuming there are more, but this is the only one I saw. It hitchhiked in on some new plants that are sitting in QT right now (no fish).

78153

[cellodaisy]

Anybody? Please?

[mostlycichlids]

They are most likely Planaria. They are not harmful to fish but definately show a concern for the tank. I would do a number of water changes and keep the tank clean. The worms are a sign of a dirty tank and can live off or eggs and waste. Get rid of the waste and keep water clean and you should be able to get rid of them.

[Dangerdoll]

actually, looks more like a nematode than a planaria to me... and is as possible to hitchhike on a plant... your guppies should eat it.... be sure you don't overfeed the fish and keep up with your water maintenance and you won't have a problem with an outbreak.

[cellodaisy]

mostlycichlids - It isn't in my main tank. I just got in some new plants and put them in my empty, recently cleaned and refilled QT tank. It has to have come in with the plants and there are no fish in that tank to feed. If starving them out is the solution, that's no problem at all. Do you know how long that might take?

Dangerdoll - I was thinking it might be a nematoad, but I wasn't sure because most of the information out there says "planaria" for basically any kind of water worm. Glad to know the guppies will eat them if they don't all starve in QT. Thanks!

[Dangerdoll]

You can probably give the plants a nice bleach solution dip after quarantining is done and before putting them into your main tank to ensure that there aren't any still hanging on... other than that, I'd say you're in good shape for keeping the main tank clean. It's a good idea I suppose to quarantine your plants prior to placing them in the main tank, might save you the trouble if there are pond snail eggs attached to the leaves... nice idea.

[leeser28]

The QT was a good idea. The worm looks like a pin worm, but they don't lie in aquariums as far as I can find out. I also don't know if pin worms are harmful to fish. I think Dangerdoll's idea is good, give them a little rinse before the main tank to be sure that any other eggs are hitchhikers dies before going into your tank.

[mostlycichlids]

Well either way it will either starve or as DD said you can give the plants a bath which will kill anything else in there.

[cellodaisy]

I read a couple of posts about problems from hitchhikers and it convinced me to quarantine EVERYTHING that goes in my main tank.

Does anyone know how long it might take to starve them out? Or will they be able to eat plant matter? I can put a guppy or two in the QT tank to eat them if that would help. With plants I'm not so much worried about diseases as hitchhikers, so I don't think it would harm the guppies to be in QT. I'd just watch the parameters carefully.

[mel_20_20]

Hey DD, please give me the formula for a proper mix of bleach and water for a good cleaning of new plants.

[leeser28]

I remember from a previous post that it is 19 parts water to 1 part bleach.

[mel_20_20]

Thanks!