Ugg detritus worms

[Kimm87]

I have had an on and off problem with detritus worms for a while now . I wipe them off the glass, do a water change,they are gone for a few days and then come back. I dont do regular water changes on this tank because its only 2 frogs in a 5g tank with a bunch of plants and they dont eat that much ,so i tend to let the plants amd filtration break down the waste and only change water when it needs to be toped off every 3-4 weeks . I will take out enough water so that I add about a gallon of fresh water when it needs to be toped off. Since the worms were so out of control this time i did an 80% water change, wiped down all the plants and caves , stired up the sand, cleaned the sponge filter, and added an hob filter. The frogs seem quite stressed now im hoping they will be ok. Last time I did such a major tank overhaul was when I moved the tank about 18 months ago and they are like 5 so pretty old for ADF. Hopefully the worms are gone for a while but well see

 

[Demeter32]

Detritus worms pop up when you have too much...detritus. I'd guess the plant matter that builds up over the weeks is what the worms are living off of. If you let things build up again I'm pretty sure they will come back. Perhaps switch to every other week water changes and gravel vacs.

 

[Colin_T]

You will never get rid of them permanently unless you boil the gravel and there is no reason to do that. As mentioned by Demeter32, do more frequent water changes and gravel cleans to reduce the amount of gunk in the tank and then the worms will stay in the substrate.

The reason you see the worms crawling up the glass is because the substrate and conditions have started to deteriorate and the worms are making a break for it.

Doing a 50% water change and gravel clean each week would help keep everything cleaner and you should never see the worms again, and the frogs will be less stressed by the procedure.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

 

[Kimm87]

I tore down the tank today and put all new sand in it. I had to buy a giant 50lb bag and i only need a few cups for the 10g so i figured while i was at it id change the 5g. Its super cloudy now even tho i washed the sand like 6 times but oh well