I think my tank has a parasite

[Alan R]

I noticed what appeared to be hundreds of mosquito larvae in my 220g. They are very very tiny white worms about 1/8 inch in lentgh. I did a 75% w/c with heavy gravel vac hoping to eliminate most with the intent to do another w/c in a day or two. I assume there must have been more in the gravel because after refilling there appears to be millions. They are every where. All over the decor and drifting throughout the tank. Apparently instead of eliminating most I stirred them up with the gravel vac. What are they and what do I do?

 

[rcaterin1]

pics???

 

[waterismyfriend]

The mosquitoes that breed in my horses water tank are red, I don't know what would be white. I'd just continue to do water changes until they go away, maybe slow down to a few a week so you're not stressing the fish out too much.
Good luck!

Alison

 

[Alan R]

I can't post pics for two reasons. 1. They are so small I don't think there is anyway possible that my 5 year old outdated camera will focus on them.
2. I had the dsl at home turned off because it only worked part time and the phone company kept screwin me around on getting it fixed. I am posting from my black berry and can't post pics anyway.

 

[Hurley]

Can't tell for sure without pics but it sounds more like planaria. Harmless little worms that usually mean there is an excess of food and waste. Gravel cleanings and cutting back on feedings shoudl help.

 

[Notophthalmus]

If you can answer these questions it will help with ID.

Are they crawling on the glass or swimming freely?

Do they stretch and contract?

Are they at all flattened or are they cylindrical?

Can you see any appendages, eyes, etc?

Is the body segmented?

 

[NickD]

Try these sites for help IDing. There are pictures there or a lot of wormy things.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/drosera1/fish/worms.htm

 

[saram521]

If you can answer these questions it will help with ID.

Are they crawling on the glass or swimming freely?

Do they stretch and contract?

Are they at all flattened or are they cylindrical?

Can you see any appendages, eyes, etc?

Is the body segmented?

I agree that these are good Q's that you can answer to help us better figure out what's in your tank. I have white worms in all my tanks that have plants and they're not planaria. Planaria are more flat and rounded whereas my worms are thin, white and stringy. The description of your worms sounds like what I have, and I think my worms area type of nematode. They crawl on the glass and will squirm through the water to get to the top of my tank. I've noticed that they're more heavily populated in my planted tanks that have excessive algae problems and almost nonexistent in my planted tanks that have very minimal algae. My guess is that the worms I have eat the microorganisms that live in algae, and if there's a lot of algae, then the population gets larger and the worms are much more visible. The worms I have are harmless and my fish eat them whenever they can spot them. I've tried breaking down my tanks and bleaching them to get rid of the worms, but they seem to pop up every time I add new plants to my tanks (which I think is what they hitchhike on). I've just given up on completely eradicating them and am now trying to keep their pops. down.

 

[blissskr]

Theyre detritus worms and they are harmless. Now matter how clean you keep a tank they will always be living in the substrate.

Detritus Worms (from the group of worms called Oligochaetes, sub group naidid worms) are often misidentified in the aquarium hobby as Planaria without close inspection by many internet articles such as about.com.
Many of these worms are accidentally introduced by live plants, gravel (especially in the case of common Detritus Worms) live fish foods, and even brought in with fish transfers.
Many not familiar with Detritus worms will label these as everything form midge larvae, Planaria to baby earthworms, of which none is true. They are very common and most often seen during vacuuming and other cleaning procedures.
These worms generally are not a problem, however high numbers of particular species can indicate low oxygen levels and low filter productivity, which very often suggests some degree of pollution caused by poor cleaning procedures, over crowding, over feeding and poor filtration
Please reference these sources for even more identification (and further information so as to dispel the internet aquarium myth that these are Planaria):

 

[Star_Rider]

if they are detritus worms..the worms themselves may not pose a threat, but they can be an intermediate host to other parasites that can be harmful to your fish