Little Worms

[leoak]

I've found these little worms in the water with my Water Hyacinth. I think they are mosquito lava, but I'm not sure. They are white and about a cm in length. I also, have fish in the water with the plants, but they don't seem to be eating the worms. I want to get rid of them without hurting my fish or plants. Any ideas?

 

[sylvia]

If they are indeed larvae, they'll go on their own after a few months. I think mosquito larvae are either red or black (not shure which of the two) though.

What fish do you have? I'm surprised they haven't eaten them. You could put in a few fathead minnows/rosy reds or something like that - they'd take care of the worms permanently.

 

[leoak]

The fish are gold fish that got too big for my tank. I don't think these things are mosquito larva any more but something else. I've been checking the water and I don't see a reduction in the number even though I haven't fed the fish. Frankly, I'm scared to put my hands in the water since the worms are so small they could get into your skin.

 

[black angel]

Probably planaria and are harmless. You will see them more when you over feed or dont do enough in the way of husbandry.

 

[Pog]

Hi,

Interesting ... We have worms which seem to be identical. Ours turn in to tiny green flies and are apparently harmless. We have had them for ages, no one seems to know what they are or how to get rid of them.

Our fish are also Goldfish but interesting enough, if we need to medicate the water, we usually increase the salt content (using aquarium salt) which seems to get rid of the flies. A few months later and they are with us again.

In our case it doesn't seem to be linked to water quality or overfeeding. The fish don't seem to mind (they don't eat the flies or the eggs) so we don't mind either. Would like to know what they are though.

TTFN,
Pog.