Small red worms in tank sediment

[Cole Berry]

After cleaning my tank I collected some of the dirty water to water my plants with. I let it settle in a clear glass and I noticed a lot of very small reddish worms on the bottom which eventually collected into several balls



Tank size: 10 gallons
pH: 6.8
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 40
kH: 80
gH: 300
tank temp: 80 F

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Weekly 20%

Tank inhabitants: 10 Bronze Corydoras, 1 pleco (I believe it is a clown pleco)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): None

Exposure to chemicals: None

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

They are probably baby tubifex or black worms and nothing to worry about. The catfish will probably eat them if they can find them.

 

[Cole Berry]

Awesome!

Thanks for the good news and the quick response.

 

[Cole Berry]

I am curious though. How would they have gotten in there? I haven't added any new materials, plants, or fish in over a year. Also I did notice a very small white thing darting around the same cup of water but I was not sure if it was even something alive or a piece of dust.

 

[Colin_T]

The small white thing could be a cyclops (copepod), they flick about in the water.

You might have had worms or eggs get into the tank with plants last year and they bred.
a lot of small organisms have very fine eggs that float about in the air and when they settle on water they carry on their life cycle. If you have a fish pond nearby, the eggs could have come from there.

 

[Cole Berry]

Thanks again, for the info.