planktonic detritus worms

[CT_]

My newish (~2months now) shrimp cube had what I thought were random extra fine threads floating in it.  for a few days i thought maybe i just got a linty sock or something too close.  but it never went away and the numbers went up so i took a closer look and they're alive.  They're thinner than a human hair and 3-10mm long and they just float around in the water colum.  I have the mini HOB that ACO sells.  This tank has a decent number of plants, which is where I assume they came from, but I feed it so little.  a minimal dusting of bacter AE and either a tiny bit of snow flake (part of one pellet) or a single pellet of xtreme shrimpee for about 12-20 neo's. 

 

Do these things hatch from eggs?  Is that why there's all of a sudden so many?  I don't really see them on the substrate, and in total there really hasn't been much food added to the tank.  I realize they're "healthy" but it bugs me to see them swim around in the water column.

 

I'm thinking of dropping in a couple medaka fry when they hatch out in a week.  I'm trying to figure out if they'll be able to eat the floating worms but not baby shrimp which I expect to be hatching around the same time.  Has anyone tried something like this?

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by CT_

[CT_]

well, I just pulled a totally rotted anubias nana petite from the tank.  It was 10 days old but it randomly started having leaves drift off after day 8.  I just now noticed the rhizome was totally white and mush.  I bet thats what the worms were eating :(.  This tank is pretty much all anubias right now so I hope it doesn't spread.