Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) I made a big mistake! I live near a lake and saw some lovely grass growing near the edge and picked up a clump. I rinsed it gently and then put it in an aquarium. Thinking that there might be some good microbial things to feed fry! Yes you can call me stupid! This morning I have a little tiny white worm looking things on my glass and plants. a bunch of them! I’m trying to include a picture but my tank is going crazy cause I had to let the parent fish out from the divider. Any idea what these things are and how do I get rid of them? Edited June 18, 2021 by Acara Mom Add photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarina Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 I think most people use "no planaria" to get rid of things like leeches and other unwanted squiggly unfriendlies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 Can you tell what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDukeAnumber1 Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) I can't tell what they are, a more detailed photo may help. But don't say yipes yet, many creatures like this are harmless and can even be beneficial, and they may just die out on their own with no action needed. Edited June 18, 2021 by TheDukeAnumber1 spelling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollypop4321 Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 I’m leaning towards fish food. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) They are wiggling around so it’s not fish food. Thank you for pitching in! They are starting to go down into my soil. They are also on the glass. Advice to everybody...do not pick up plants from the lake or a pond! I thought I was being all natural! Big mistake Edited June 18, 2021 by Acara Mom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 Wiggling makes them fishy food 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 On 6/18/2021 at 8:53 AM, Acara Mom said: They are wiggling around so it’s not fish food. Thank you for pitching in! They are starting to go down into my soil. They are also on the glass. Advise to everybody...do not pick up plants from the lake or a pond! I thought I was being all natural! Big mistake They meant that fish love to eat little wormies like those. 😄 They look like flatworms but I'm no expert. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 I don't know what they are, but it might help in researching the issue to know what lake it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 And your acaras will eat anything that wriggles and fits in their mouths, so maybe the fish food comments are appropriate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 On 6/18/2021 at 9:31 AM, TheDukeAnumber1 said: I can't tell what they are, a more detailed photo may help. But don't say yipes yet, many creatures like this are harmless and can even be beneficial, and they may just die out on their own with no action needed. That is a picture of blown up as big as I think I can get it. A lot of them are moving down into the soil. If I can get a better picture I will post it. Thanks so much. I wish I could figure it out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanoNano Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 While flatworms are...uh...visually unappealing, they can be an essential part of a healthy biome. Planaria worms (which have a very clear triangular head when you look at them closely) can be of concern as they've been known to prey on baby and adult shrimp. Other flatworms generally are benign besides the "yuck factor". My experience has been that with worms and other "pests" is that there's often an initial population explosion when they first are introduced to a new tank and that they will shamelessly be out and all over things at all hours. Give them 10-14 days- their population should "normalize"(your other tank mates will likely discover that they are delicious as well) and they hopefully will become more nocturnal in their behavior. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanoNano Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 If you're really bothered by them and want them gone, search for "planaria traps". They seem to work for just about any types of worms with the right bait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 I’ve looked as closely as possible and I do not see the triangular head. But I’ve never seen one before except for when I looked it up online. I had my tank divided because of some fry but I went ahead and opened it up because I’m not really wanting to care for Fry at the moment anyway. There were not many left anyway. I caught a few. I have a large Siamese algae eater and some panda corys and they were going to town on everything on that side. I’m getting ready to vacuum now but they’re all off the glass. Mostly because I think the algae eater cleared things up. I greatly appreciate everyone’s input because it was pretty creepy to see that today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 I did notice the traps online. I guess I’ll order that just to be on the safe side. I would rather not treat with meds unless absolutely necessary. This forum is really helpful! Thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudofish Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 My Acara would love those. He'd have the tank under control in a day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 Well I have five Acara in there right now! I don’t think anybody’s too hungry! Ha ha! I actually never saw them eating any but that doesn’t mean they didn’t But that algae eater went to town and so did those pandas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acara Mom Posted June 19, 2021 Author Share Posted June 19, 2021 Up-date! 😊 there was a feast going on last night inside my aquarium as the little critters crawled back onto the glass! I did a deep vac in the substrate, which may have helped. This morning there was no evidence of any survivors!!! Even if there are some I think I’m not worried now! pretty sure they were the worms not the planaria. What a lesson! I appreciated everybody’s input because I was freaking out! And I will not do that again!🐟 This is a great forum! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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