Shardies Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Hi guys so I have a 50 gallon planted tank and today I noticed some worms in my tank in the substrate. My fish don't really show any signs of disease and I haven't had die off, But I'm not sure if these worms are something to be worried about or not. I know that a lot of planted tanks get Detritus Worms I'm just sucky at identifying them from harmful worms haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 Got a lil video of them moving not sure if that helps identify them or not thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 Hi guys so I have a 50 gallon planted tank and today I noticed some worms in my tank in the substrate. My fish don't really show any signs of disease and I haven't had die off, But I'm not sure if these worms are something to be worried about or not. I know that a lot of planted tanks get Detritus Worms I'm just sucky at identifying them from harmful worms haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 They look like leeches 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 crap hahah any idea what to do for leeches ? I don't see any on my fish at all and everyone looks great. I only notice them in the substrate too only like 6 of them tops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungle Fan Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) These look more like large detritus worms to me than leeches; but then I'm no expert on worms I just slept at the Howard Johnson years ago. So you don't have to just take our best guess here are some links that might be helpful: https://fishtankmag.com/worms-in-fish-tank/ https://www.tankarium.com/worms-in-tanks/ https://www.aquariumsource.com/detritus-worms/ Edited June 10, 2021 by Jungle Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 thank you so much going to check out those links now. I'm thinking they are just large detritus too ...... at least I'm hoping they are hahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanoNano Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 I'm with @Colu - the one on the left has it's read end anchored and is moving it's smaller head/mouth back and forth which is typical of a leech (not exclusively however). There are some species of leeches that prey on worms and inverts and leave fish alone so they may possibly be one of those species. Can you post some more pics of them (especially the heads)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanoNano Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 3 hours ago, Shardies said: crap hahah any idea what to do for leeches ? I don't see any on my fish at all and everyone looks great. I only notice them in the substrate too only like 6 of them tops It looks like Planaria traps are effective at catching just about any worm like thing when baited apppropriately. I found this primer on leeches and worms (hold off looking at it if you just ate something) that might help you rule out and/or ID what your critters are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 looks like one of the types of planaria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 2 hours ago, NanoNano said: It looks like Planaria traps are effective at catching just about any worm like thing when baited apppropriately. I found this primer on leeches and worms (hold off looking at it if you just ate something) that might help you rule out and/or ID what your critters are. I work in an ER so I have an Iron stomach. I'm checking it out right now and I did buy a worm trap that I'm dropping in as soon as it gets here. just not sure what to bait it with really. I will post some more pics of the head as soon as I get a chance thank you guys so much for all the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 I'm so curious if there is something that I can put in my tank that will feed off of these things and wipe them out. I have a bunch of cories and a few kuahli loaches in the tank. Seeing as they are bottom feeders I kinda thought maybe they would eat these guys ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardies Posted June 12, 2021 Author Share Posted June 12, 2021 still waiting for these worm traps to come in can't see them any more but I'm still going to lay the trap and see what if I can pull them out. don't see any other sign of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 if all else fails, a small thermo nuclear device should rid the tank of them!😈 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanoNano Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 On 6/10/2021 at 9:47 PM, Shardies said: I work in an ER so I have an Iron stomach. I'm checking it out right now and I did buy a worm trap that I'm dropping in as soon as it gets here. just not sure what to bait it with really. Most people seem to have success baiting their traps with standard protein rich fish food. A small piece of sinking wafer for bottom feeders would likely do the trick nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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