Detritus worms

[Mark.R]

Hello everyone my name is Mark and I have been keeping fish for 10 years now and i have never had a parasite problem the other day I did a water change and when I turned my canister filter back on detritus worms rushed out and my fish ate them. How do I fix this problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Duane Perry]

Detritus worms aren't parisitic. They are an awesome fish snack. They are generally caused by over feeding or lack of cleaning the substrate. They are benificial though so don't worry. 

[Cory]

Yeah, what i read is, I opened my fridge and a bunch of candy bars fell out and I ate them. Seems like a bonus to me 😉 

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

I first got detritus worms popping up a little over a year ago in my shrimp tank and started freaking out, but I’ve never had any issues with them. If they’re getting excessive, then id suggest toning down feeding and do some deep gravel vacuuming to get rid of excess detritus and debris. Other than that, let your fish snack away, live food is always great

[Brandy]

I have one inherited tank with them in the filter and would like them to be in one that has some extra small schooling fish--planning to try to establish them on purpose! My tetras just hang out at the filter outflow, waiting for treats, it is so cute, magical gifts! 

Also since I found out I am deathly allergic to blood worms, this feels like divine providence--a maintenance free worm culture that doesn't make my face swell up?! Heck, yeah!

[ForestJenn]

So how are they introduced to the tank?  Are they coming in on plants?  Are eggs common in certain (or all) substrates and then overfeeding leads to conditions where the population is noticeable?  

[Brandy]

I don't know, they were in the tank when I got it I think, but I recently moved some floating plants from that tank to my new cycling 29 gallon and watched a few tiny worms drift off the roots. They seem to like it there, and if I move floating plants to my guppy tanks they go nuts pecking the roots for about 15 minutes. I thought at first that they were eating the plants but now I suspect they can see better than I can.

[Lynn M]

I didn't have the detritus worms I had the Rhabdocoela worms, the little white worms that crawl across the glass.  My betta is not at all interested in eating them.  Don't know where they came from, but I haven't seen them in a while, since I did a major water change.

[BQuick]

My fished love them as well.  If you don't like them, then the others are correct.   Less food or more cleaning would help.

[Eli]

I'm actually looking to add detritus worms into my tank to keep a live colony/help clean up my tank. Does anyone know someone who sells them? I'd hate to buy the wrong type of worm 

[FriendlyLoach]

I had some in my tank and they were not harmful, the fish like eating them though.