Should I introduce detritus worms in my tank?

[lmhicks101]

I used to have them when I had stratum media but switched to hth pool filter sand for the plants. After that I still saw them in the filter and they didn’t bother me but I eventually got plenaria and had to treat the tank. It’s been a year now and I haven’t seen anything since.

I’ve been considering adding them back for a food source for my kuhlis and Pygmy cories as well as a potential food source for chili rasboras I’m planning on getting and breading. 

What’s your opinion on purposely adding them or an alternative as well as suggestions on suppliers? I’ve considered black worms but they’d be hunted to extinction in a matter of days if not hours by my the kuhlis. 
 

Also the reason I haven’t gotten them since is after the plenaria I’ve been quarantining plants as well as hosing them with peroxide so no more sneaky buggers getting a free ride. 

[nabokovfan87]

Don't do it...

Cyclops and rotifers are awesome.  Worms are just.... nope nope nope.

[lmhicks101]

@nabokovfan87 did you have a bad experience or something? Do you have a recommendation on where to get cyclops and rotifers?

[Lennie]

On 5/6/2023 at 5:24 AM, lmhicks101 said:

@nabokovfan87 did you have a bad experience or something? Do you have a recommendation on where to get cyclops and rotifers?

Don’t mention worms and snails to him 😄 

I intentionally introduce my detrius worms to every tank I have because they are amazing snack for fish. Two days ago I have seen a baby endler ate one bigger than its size lol. 
 

If you don’t have fish, then don’t introduce them. There should be some sort of population control for critters, which is mostly fish. If it is a shrimp tank only, due to lack of predators, you will be likely to have a population bloom and unsightly look. 
 

As I keep fish even in my shrimp tanks, I sometimes see one detrius worm and mostly never with my bare eyes. I think fish enjoy snacking in them, and they play a good role in the tank health.

However make sure they are detrius worms 😄 . You wouldn’t like to introduce something that you would not like to have in a tank

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/5/2023 at 7:24 PM, lmhicks101 said:

@nabokovfan87 did you have a bad experience or something? Do you have a recommendation on where to get cyclops and rotifers?

They will develop over time. I'm sure they come in on plants. @modified lung

Has a journal where he breaks down a lot of different species of live foods. It's an amazing resource and such an interesting look at all of those things.

On 5/5/2023 at 7:24 PM, lmhicks101 said:

@nabokovfan87 did you have a bad experience or something? Do you have a recommendation on where to get cyclops and rotifers?

A lot of my issue with worms is literally just in the identification of what's going on. My tanks have pretty much 90% bottom feeders (corydoras) and I don't have a lot to predate on the worms. It shouldn't be anything more than a food source for most situations. Thinks like planaria, hydra, I tend to avoid specifically because I keep shrimp.

I would recommend grindal worm cultures as opposed to detritus worms.

Edited May 6, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/6/2023 at 2:16 AM, Lennie said:

Don’t mention worms and snails to him

This 👆

Detritus worms are a beneficial part of a healthy ecosystem.

On 5/6/2023 at 2:16 AM, Lennie said:

However make sure they are detrius worms

👆yep

[lmhicks101]

Thank you @nabokovfan87 I’ll definely take a look at his journal. 
 

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea @Lennie I’ll make sure to never mention 🪱 again haha. 

[Guppysnail]

If I can make a suggestion. Worms are fantastic. It may be hard and pricey to find a clean detritus worm culture. I use grindal worms and white worms. 
They are super easy to culture. Not very expensive for starter cultures and my corydora go bananas. Actually all my fish do. Being cultured in soil or coconut fiber chances of intruducing pests and pathogens are minimal. The worms eat high nutrient food so are sort of gut-loaded with vitamins. 
Here are some videos for you. 

 

[Lennie]

On 5/6/2023 at 3:05 PM, Guppysnail said:

If I can make a suggestion. Worms are fantastic. It may be hard and pricey to find a clean detritus worm culture. I use grindal worms and white worms. 
They are super easy to culture. Not very expensive for starter cultures and my corydora go bananas. Actually all my fish do. Being cultured in soil or coconut fiber chances of intruducing pests and pathogens are minimal. The worms eat high nutrient food so are sort of gut-loaded with vitamins. 
Here are some videos for you. 

 

[Guppysnail]

@Lennie

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/6/2023 at 7:24 AM, lmhicks101 said:

I’ll make sure to never mention 🪱 again haha

Just not to @nabokovfan87 😂
 

This is him:

 

 

Oh also, now that I actually read stuff 🙄, where I agreed with making sure it was actually detritus worms - I said that because I thought you were looking for tank cleaners/scavengers. 
But I agree with @Guppysnail on the other worms for the fish food aspect. 
 

P.S. My betta Geppetto likes detritus worms. If he sees one, it’s game over (for the worm).

Edited May 6, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[lmhicks101]

On 5/6/2023 at 8:05 AM, Guppysnail said:

I use grindal worms and white worms. 

Those are the ones I see most recommended on here and other sites. Do you ever see any that survive and establish in your tanks? That’s the end goal for me. 
 

On 5/6/2023 at 11:14 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Just not to @nabokovfan87 😂

Oh also, now that I actually read stuff 🙄, where I agreed with making sure it was actually detritus worms - I said that because I thought you were looking for tank cleaners/scavengers. 
But I agree with @Guppysnail on the other worms for the fish food aspect

P.S. My betta Geppetto likes detritus worms. If he sees one, it’s game over (for the worm).

I’ll do my best lmao and the end goal is to establish them and have them as a stimulation source for my fish to hunt but also as cleaners. 
 

I also have a Betta and worms are the only thing I can get him to hand feed with. I’m sure his moody butt would love it to be open season on worms. 

[lmhicks101]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea right now my betta Fire is sulking because I took him out of his 29 gallon tall tank and put him in a 40 gallon breaded. Turds being ungrateful for the upgrade. Plus more fish for him to interact with. Reminds me of a moody teenager that got moved and misses his old friends from school. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/6/2023 at 11:51 AM, lmhicks101 said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea right now my betta Fire is sulking because I took him out of his 29 gallon tall tank and put him in a 40 gallon breaded. Turds being ungrateful for the upgrade. Plus more fish for him to interact with. Reminds me of a moody teenager that got moved and misses his old friends from school. 

Interesting! They usually do that when they are DOWNgraded!

[Lennie]

On 5/6/2023 at 6:51 PM, lmhicks101 said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea right now my betta Fire is sulking because I took him out of his 29 gallon tall tank and put him in a 40 gallon breaded. Turds being ungrateful for the upgrade. Plus more fish for him to interact with. Reminds me of a moody teenager that got moved and misses his old friends from school. 

cutiepie! 

From my experience, long fin bettas really love shallow tanks with open areas. The constant effort to swim to the surface for taking an air gulp really tires them. I understand why she feels ungrateful tbh. If it has the same footprint but much shallower she would be insanely happy I think

Mine loves to be in more shallow tanks with no woods, just plants. Meanwhile plakats and females don't seem to mind at all.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/6/2023 at 11:56 AM, Lennie said:

Mine loves to be in more shallow tanks with no woods, just plants

Yeah mine got mad when there were rocks and driftwood in the tank!  He only likes plants but I have those swim-through fake rocks in there also which he uses. He just doesn’t like thing that block his path.

 

[lmhicks101]

On 5/6/2023 at 11:54 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Interesting! They usually do that when they are DOWNgraded!

I moved him last night so he’s still adjusting. I also just realized I forgot to turn the HOB flow down. It’s a seachem tidal 55 on full blast in a 40 gallon so he wasn’t too happy. 
 

On 5/6/2023 at 11:56 AM, Lennie said:

cutiepie! 

From my experience, long fin bettas really love shallow tanks with open areas. The constant effort to swim to the surface for taking an air gulp really tires them. I understand why she feels ungrateful tbh. If it has the same footprint but much shallower she would be insanely happy I think

Thank you. It’s 6” longer, 6” wider, and 2” shorter so it’s an improvement. I just turned the filter flow down and he actually came out of hiding so that was on me. 
 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/6/2023 at 8:14 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This is him:

 

Nope. Still there.

[jwcarlson]

I'm not trying to be a clown, but you've already got detritus worms.  I wouldn't "introduce" anything additional, I don't think.  

[lmhicks101]

@jwcarlson I’ve looked and I don’t see any. I clean my filters regularly and see nothing. My substrate is all hth sand and I vacune every other week. I’ve pulled out the wood in there and looked and nothings there. I treated my tanks with no plenaria when I had a bad infestation and even 3 months after that I still couldn’t put a nerrite or assassin snail in without it dying in 24 hours or less. Now I hose all new plants with peroxide for 30-45 minutes then quarantine them for several weeks. There’s nothing in there except rams horn snails that survived and won’t die off.

[jwcarlson]

I had a brand new 10 gallon tank, cleaned it out, put a discus for quaratine in it.  It pooped, I pulled the sample and there were detritus worms on the poop under microscope.  The tank she came from gets weekly 100% wipe downs and filter cleanings, 90% water change every night.

I never see them in my tanks and I do not vac substrate or clean sponges out very often.  Now, they might be dead from whatever you dosed with, but even if that is the case they will probably reestablish when the water allows. 

The only time I see them is if I stir up too much with water changes then there will be a bunch swimming around.  I see small fish eat them when I do stir some up, so suspect that they're pretty heavily predated.

 

[lmhicks101]

@jwcarlson I get what you’re saying but from

having them before to now, they would come out of the filter when ever it was started back up after a cleaning and when ever I vacuumed I’d stir up some and they’d be in the water column as well. I used to be able to see them under the sand on the edge of the glass or under the tank. I haven’t seen anything. Even if I do have them I would rather add more to increase the population and maybe get some of my fish into a breading frenzy. Would love some baby Pygmy corries and chili Rasboras. Maybe even some of those fabled baby kuhli loaches. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/6/2023 at 1:43 PM, lmhicks101 said:

Now I hose all new plants with peroxide for 30-45 minutes then quarantine them for several weeks

You should check out the Reverse Respiration thread. 12 hr seltzer soak in the dark for plants, it kills all the things and the plants like the CO2 from the seltzer. Then they are good to go for your tank.

tag @dasaltemelosguyif you want to add anything further (quick tips)

Edited May 6, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[lmhicks101]

On 5/6/2023 at 1:59 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You should check out the Reverse Respiration thread. 12 hr seltzer soak in the dark for plants, it kills all the things and the plants like the CO2 from the seltzer. Then they are good to go for your tank. @dasaltemelosguy

I will definitely check it out. I’m so paranoid about plenaria that I probably do go over board with soaks and quarantines. I completely understand why @nabokovfan87 isn’t a fan of the w word. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/6/2023 at 2:02 PM, lmhicks101 said:

I will definitely check it out. I’m so paranoid about plenaria that I probably do go over board with soaks and quarantines

For sure!  There was a lot of testing done on Reverse Respiration, confirming death of the baddies with a microscope. @Guppysnail posted something above, look at her signature line for the link to Reverse Respiration.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea