Worms in my tank

Hey guys,

First time posting, apologies if I Have posted under the wrong topic. Today when doing water changes for my tanks, 2 of my 21 litre tanks I found red/ pink worms that look like a thread in a bunch (if that makes sense). I am unsure of what they are. I’ve been looking around the internet to see if I can figure out what they are but so far my research has been very vague. From what I have seen they look like camallanus but the problem is in both tanks neither have fish and from what I have gathered they are parasitic. In my shrimp tank they dwell underneath gravel and occasionally I spot them at the surface of my tank clinging onto my plastic tubing I use a as a barrier for floating plants. In my other tank that i have been cycling for about two weeks now I found them inside this white stuff that was attached to the heater when I went to clean my heater. Are these worms the parasitic ones or are they just detritus worms.

Sorry about the longs post. Any help/ advice would be appreciated!

Tubifex worms. They are nothing to worry about and if they are growing in the substrate, that is fine. If you have any catfish or loaches, they will try to eat them, apart from that they are harmless and nothing to be concerned about.

Colin_T said:

Tubifex worms. They are nothing to worry about and if they are growing in the substrate, that is fine. If you have any catfish or loaches, they will try to eat them, apart from that they are harmless and nothing to be concerned about.

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Oh man that’s a massive relief! I was getting ready for the worse case scenario of what they can be. Thanks so much for the reply!

Most freshwater aquatic worms are harmless. The only ones you really need to be concerned about are Planaria and they only attack fish eggs.