Worms

D

diggozo

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Jun 3, 2004
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Have just purchased a second hand tank, internal filter and gravel - no fish. Was picking through the gravel this afternoon for old plant bits when I came across a nasty looking little worm like critter - pink and wriggly.

Is this a thoroughly bad sign allied to the fact that the previous owner seemed to be a bit of a sloppy fish keeper and should I therefore, to be on the safe side, thoroughly disinfect all the equipment which I had been hoping to use to avoid cycling the tank ? :confused:
 
I think it would be a good idea to thoroughly clean everything, like scrubbing out the tank with a algae sponge and salt and water and boiling the gravel maybe.

But your tank is going to cycle either way.
 
Actually, worms are not bad. Very few aquatic worms will cause a problem--especially for a tropical tank. Some can carry disease, but very few of these will live long in an aquarium. I wouldn't worry about it one bit.
 
I wouldn't consider it a sign of bad fishkeeping, in fact I'd guess it's a sign that the person who sold you the tank fed their fish live foods, but I could be way off base.
I've never heard of worms developing due to lack of maintenance (well, planaria if you overfeed, but that's not the kind of thing you describe), but I have heard of live food escaping and taking up residence in the gravel.
 
Was it a salt water tank in its previous life? There are nasty little bristle worms that are commonly found in live rock. They are typically red/pink with lots of little hairs on their bodies.

If they are bristle worms I would try to remove them all before setting up the tank.
 
Uh, if the tank was SW, there's a lot more than just bristleworms to worry about cleaning out--the substrate would need complete cleaning, if not replacement, to remove all the salt.

However--worms aren't bad things. Very few are parasites, and those found away from a host (ie, not on or in a fish) are not parasites. Just not a worry, IMB.
 
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