Help IDing this aquarium critter (a roundworm perhaps?)

[biotsrama]

Hi,

This is my first post in MFK, here goes...

On several occasions I have noticed a thin, white worm in my 30 gallon planted tank. I have never seen it on a fish or on glass; I have only seen it wriggling in the water, undulating its body in a whip-like fashion. It seems to show up after I disturb the tank (e.g. water change or cleaning the filter). The following video is not mine, but is a good illustration of what I've seen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NmcXUN9iw4

Note that the video also shows a planarian FLATworm crawling on the glass; that is NOT what I have in my tank. I have the thin, white undulating worm shown in the video, which I believe is probably a ROUNDworm, not a FLATworm.

The fish haven't shown signs of sickness or anything, but I wanted a positive ID on this creature just to make sure that it's nothing to worry about. I have a hunch that it may be a nematode, but that is only my guess. Water params are pretty standard (0 ammonia/nitrite, < 5 ppm nitrate, pH around 7).

Much thanks for any insight you could provide!

 

[albyoscar]

I dont know there name but i had them in a growout 40 gal one time , the burrowed into a bellycrawler pikes eye and killed him , I overfed the tank I got rid of them with lots of waterghanges salt and heat 85 degrees .Good luck

 

[biotsrama]

Hmm, I see. I used salt and heat (85 degrees) to treat ich several months ago; shouldn't that have also killed off this worm, then? Also did you consider a de-worming agent (e.g. praziquantel)?

 

[biotsrama]

Actually ivermectin would probably be better, as it should work on roundworms, whereas praziquantel is for flatworms I think.

 

[knifegill]

Yeah, I have a small colony of those. I don't know their name but they haven't hurt the fish in the tank they came out of at my wife's workplace. I like how they swim. I'd think a half-dose of formalin for a few days would take them out but I haven't tried it.

 

[albyoscar]

Hmm, I see. I used salt and heat (85 degrees) to treat ich several months ago; shouldn't that have also killed off this worm, then? Also did you consider a de-worming agent (e.g. praziquantel)?

well since heat salt and massive cleaning got rid of them i did not have to resort to chemicals . I really hate using chemicals only as a last resort

 

[Laticauda]

Probably nematodes (harmless.)

Either,
1) you are over feeding
2) you are not cleaning out the poop/gunk/detritis from your gravel/filter adequately
3) both

Have you tested your nitrAtes? I bet they are rather high, which is unsafe for your fish. I'd up your water changes @ least 50% once a week (more often/more water if you are over stocked/over feeding.)

Make sure you BANG out your sponges/filter pads to get the lodged stuff out of there. You'd be surprised what stays in there even if you squish/swish it around! Vacuum your gravel very well. How I did it: Stick siphon into gravel, touching glass on bottom, let it run, jiggling if necessary to dislodge gravel, until the water starts running relatively clear. Then move the siphon to the next square area, and repeat. Do 1/2 of the gravel one week, then the other half, the next week with your weekly water change.

I wouldn't dump salt in, or raise the temperature. Just some general good practice maintenance will do the job, and won't cause an ammonia spike due to the dead/dying organisms in your water.

 

[biotsrama]

Thanks all for the additional responses.

Regarding nitrates, I said they are < 5ppm in the original post. I have the Jungle test strips, and the color of the indicator stays white or turns just the very faintest tinge of pink after 60 seconds. However, I do have a heavily planted tank, so I presume the plants are keeping that under control.

I admit I do have a lot of mulm in the gravel. Because the tank is heavily planted it's not really feasible to vacuum in most areas (although from a nitrate perspective, that's not a problem). The tip about banging the filter media sounds good.

If the general consensus is that these things are nematodes/harmless, and are just feeding off the detritus, then that's good to know, and I won't implement any changes to the tank. They aren't widespread and don't seem to be causing any trouble as of yet.

 

[Laticauda]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate. If you can, I recommend buying an API master test kit. If you do get it, the NitrAte test is two dropper bottles. Read the directions carefully, because if you don't shake the appropriate things for the appropriate amounts of time, you will get a false negative.

I've seen test strips read as "good" when the liquid dropper test showed as much as 8 ppm of ammonia. I just don't trust them, they are a waste of money. The dropper kit is a little more expensive, but is worth it because a)it lasts a LOT longer and b)is accurate.

If you have any fish fry, I'm sure they would eat those little worms for you without a problem.

 

[rideit6578]

I found those in my aquarium as well. Water changes and bump the temp up a little bit. I didn't add any de-worming stuff but couldn't hurt, especially if you have loaches and/or fish with skin in the tank.