Help - tiny white curly things?!

[nanahachi]

I did an initial search, but dont really know what I'm looking for. I hope you guys and gals can help.

I just discovered that my 3 week old, planted, freshwater (no fish yet) 20 gallon long tank has these tiny white curly cue *things* all along the gravel in my tank. there are probably several dozen to a hundred? i really havent counted how many there are...I'll try and take some pics if i can.

i noticed the very first one when I planted my first 2 plants right after i set up the aquarium. I had believed it to be a piece of root or something. I hadnt really noticed an increase in their number. until now...

Last week ago I bought an additional plant from my LFS and one from Petco...sorry, I dont know the names...and now I've also found a tiny snail crawling around in my tank.

Are these related?

How can I get rid of these curly cues?
I pulled out the snail...how can I prevent any more from appearing (eggs hatching...)

[ChilDawg]

Try Googling "hydra" and see if that's it.

[Aquafreak]

Try searching for planaria too.
HTH

[nanahachi]

Thanks ChiliDawg and Aquafreak.
I'll start with those suggestions...however, let me add this:
the white curly cue things are lying absolutely still in the gravel, not on the glass (my tank is plexiglass if that matters). They dont *seem* to be alive, other than the fact that they have multiplied in number...

if anyone has any other helpful advice, please let me know.

Thanks!!

[wetmanNY]

Hmm. an acrylic tank. a newly-set up acrylic tank.

could they be acrylic shavings left over from the manufacture of the tank?

it could happen... it could happen...

[nanahachi]

hehehe

actually, i ran this tank utnil about 6 years ago. it was running for maybe 5-7 years before that. before i set it up this time, i thoroughly cleaned it. so its not shavings....

i think my digicam would have a hard time capturing one of these from the outside of the aquarium...so ill try to pull some out and take a few pics tonight

[Aquafreak]

Finger Nail Clippings!!! Check your local women for more details.