What is this? (Detritus? Algae? Worms? Snail eggs?)

[SWilson]

Wondering if anyone knows what this is? It’s caught around a few of my low plants- just noticed it today. Looks kinda like a string of pearls but brown. I’ve never seen or heard about anything like it. is it just detritus or some kind of algae or worm? Mystery snail poop? 

i am also noticing planeria for the first time today on the glass - still tiny - but could it be related?  I’ve been trying to gravel vac and will do more but it’s a PITA bc I have some plants not firmly rooted yet that get dislodged and the fluval stratum tends to get stuck in the hose. 
There’s various snails in there (rams horn, bladder,2 mystery, and maybe a tiny MTS or two) they don’t look like any snail egg clutches I’ve ever seen. 
tank was set up just under 3 mos ago, mostly empty other than the snails and plants.  I just added 3 endlers on Sunday night (4 days) ago including one clearly pregnant female so I’ve been feeding a lot more than has ever gone into the system.  I also started CO2 three days ago (at very low levels to begin with and gradually moving up). 

I did a small water change on day 2 after adding the endlers (maybe a little more than 10%) and will do a 20% and try to gravel vac this weekend  

Temp is 72, ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrate about 10-20, ph is about 7.2 but fluctuates. It’s a 16 gal tank. 

Edited December 31, 2020 by SWilson

[Irene]

That's so crazy looking! I've tried searching on Google and can't find anything that looks similar. Are they multiplying or did they eventually go away?

[SWilson]

Thanks @Irene!  It did break apart and I sucked out all the strands I could find, and it hasn't come back.  I guess I freaked out for no reason. 😅 Maybe it was an unbelievably long string of poop? 😝