Tiny red worms!

[Terri Manning]

I hatched out some mystery snails several weeks ago. I started noticing that they were dying 2-3 weeks or so ago. I only have a few left alive from that clutch. Anyway, their breeder box had gotten really covered with brown and green algae so I decided to clean it...especially since only a few snails were left alive in it. While trying to sort out the live snails, I noticed a lot tiny red worms on the plate I was using to sort through the snails. I then started moving some of the red colored debris around and realized that the debris is tons of the red worms bunched together. Can anyone tell me if these are parasites or a result of the snails dying? If they are parasites, what are they and how do I get rid of them?

I have also had a couple of adult mystery snails pass away these past couple of weeks. I really do not want to lose any more. I have attached images.

 

[Terri Manning]

I am not sure why it put my images in the middle of the text. Sorry!

 

[Terri Manning]

Also, I have seen a few tiny gnats/flying insects around my tank. Maybe these are the larvae of them. I have no idea what kind they are, however.

 

[Terri Manning]

So, I am pretty sure that my fish have Camallanus worms. I have lost a fish here and there that looked like it quit eating and got really thin. I treated for parasites when that happened, but had no idea if that was the right treatment. I have not had any problems for quite some time now. I have not added any fish since then but did add some shrimp. Anyway, I can see worms coming out of some of my fish now. I will be treating them again and hopefully I will be able to save them.

 

[OrionGirl]

I've not dealt much with camallanus worms...the only time a tank had them was in quarantine and I just dumped it, bleached it, and didn't worry. That said, I don't think the worms will infect snails. They usually target microcrustaceans.

 

[J@ckson]

If these clump together what you have are dero digitata

I’m pretty sure that’s what they are they look just like them

 

[J@ckson]

If these clump together what you have are dero digitata

I’m pretty sure that’s what they are they look just like them

Terri
I apologize I missed the part where it said they bunched

These are harmless worms
Microfex/dero worm/dero digitata

The flies if green could be a non biting midge

 

[Terri Manning]

I do not believe they are harmless. I can see the worms coming out of my fish now that I know what I am looking for. I am certain they are Camallanus worms. These just happened to make their way into my baby snail breeder box. I am down to only 10 or 12 baby snails from that clutch. I do not know if the worms were killing the snails or simply feeding off of the dead snails. If it is the later, then I have no idea what was killing the baby snails.

I have been treating with praziquantel because that is what I have on hand, but it does not seem to be doing much. The fish seem a bit more active but not much. I have ordered levamisole and hope that the praziquantel will be enough until the levamisole arrives. I am also soaking the food in praziquantel so the fish are ingesting it, as well. I ordered food with levamisole in it as well as a powder to treat the water.

I am getting pretty frustrated with everything that is going on! First, I got some hard to treat fungal infection and now a hard to treat parasitic infection! I had not had a tank in years and I do not remember it being this difficult! I was told that I should just euthanize everything in the tank, bleach it all, then start over. I am not going to do that. I have too much invested in my tank. Hopefully, I can treat the parasites and at least save some of my fish (and hopefully the invertebrates, too). I am not giving up, yet!

 

[Terri Manning]

I actually looked up dero digitata and they do look like what I found in my snail tank. I am now thinking that they led me to discover a parasite, as well. I think there are 2 worms in my tank!

 

[J@ckson]

I actually looked up dero digitata and they do look like what I found in my snail tank. I am now thinking that they led me to discover a parasite, as well. I think there are 2 worms in my tank!

They’ll eat anything dead.
You’ll see them crawling out/or all over snails when they’re alive and don’t do any harm. They’re usually just eating whatever is on or around or produced by the snails.

Amazing live food
I feed them to my baby turtles and fish

Can co culture them with daphnia and bladder snails

All the years I’ve been dealing with them I can say 100% they’re harmless