Can Someone Tell Me What On Earth These Are?

[spongy]

I'm not sure what section to post in but I have some weird things afoot in my tank .....

They started growing about a month ago, out of my piece of wood, I find it strange as the wood has been in there for about a year. I pulled the first lot off and they have disappeared, but there are more appearing in different places, they were also very hard to snap, which sounds as bad as it was to do.

Here is a pic, they're vary in length from 1cm > 3cm, I have no idea how long they will or could get...


I've also had 3 mysterious fish deaths over the last week, could they related to these things??

And a close up, not the best picture but only taken on a phone.....

 

[Blubble37]

that looks very much like an algae of some sorts...
 
if it is algae, removing the wood and drying it out thoroughly will kill it, then it can be scrubbed off

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Haha looks almost alien-like.. these are the kinds of algae that fishes don't usually eat. Doesn't taste nice maybe

 

[spongy]

Algae? Seriously? They look like they're alive wafting in the flow and rather disturbing actually!

Can anyone tell me what type it is and what the best way to get rid of it?

 

[Ch4rlie]

I wonder if these are detritus worms?
 
Did a quick google search and came up with that. Hope it helps.
 
http/www.fish-as-pets.com/2007/11/planaria-detritus-internet-answers.html

 

[Primous]

I forget the actual name but they are worms. Worms which are present in the fishs poop but only get a chance to grown and become a nusiance to the tank and more importantly fish if there is an abundance of uneaten food. I had a few when I first started out. The easiest and most effective way to get rid of them is to...
 
A) Feed less. Feed once a day. Feed only what the fish can consume inside of 1 minute And most importantly, feed only when there is no filter/powerhead running as this will distribute the food around the tank and continue to feed those worms.
 
B) Do a massive gravel clean. 90% focused only on siphoning the gravel/sand and then refill. Those steps will starve those things inside of a week. 10 days at the most...

 

[ythao01]

Im not sure what it is but if it's a type of parasite worm you could try feeding garlic based foods like new life spectrum thera A. parasites hate garlic and it's super healthy for your fish and will get rid of it naturally instead of using chemicals. You could get some on amazon for around 10 bucks or whatever your lfs sells it at if they carry it.

 

[spongy]

I wonder if these are detritus worms?
 
Did a quick google search and came up with that. Hope it helps.
 
http/www.fish-as-pets.com/2007/11/planaria-detritus-internet-answers.html

Thankyou! It seems we have a winner!

They are useful things to have but not in large numbers by the looks of it.

I don't over feed and do my regular plant trimming and maintenance once a week so I'm not entirely sure how they got there, and they're near the top of the tank, I have good flow so for them to get on to the top of my wood is some effort!

Less feeding and a massive gravel clean is on the cards for me today then!!!

 

[Primous]

 
They are useful things to have but not in large numbers by the looks of it.


 

I don't know how to put this but that is false information. Both planaria and Detritus will attack shrimp, fry and shrimplets and infest fish if given a chance. A lot of sites have that particular write up "they are harmless and don't worry" but the reality is different and although they are birthed by left over food they can in fact, become a parasite. When I had them they cut through an apisto spawn in a matter of days and killed shrimp.
 
Below is a few vids of there less harmless cousins going to work on a shrimp. They also latch onto exposed area of adult fish and will do damage at night so for me, personally, having a "few" isn't really an option in maintaining a healthy tank. 
 
There is also another vid of the detris worm latching onto a fish's fin and the fish then going crazy, another where you see them breaking down a dead fish, and another where the detris worm kills a shrimp (timelapsed) I mention those because it's a Dutch guy/hobbyist that has those vids in crystal clear detail but I don't remember the name (foreign language) but they are on youtube!
 
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6gqqIVMqMg
 
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hZIJwPhUU
 
*EDIT* I posted the planaria vids because if you have detritus then you also have planaria as 9/10 planaria come first.

 

[spongy]

Oh.

Better get this sorted then.

Bugger.