What is this worm?

[Penelope .R]

Hi, sorry, I wasn't sure where to post this. It's not an emergency, but I couldn't find a category for pests.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows what these worms are and if they could hurt my fish? They live in my 65 gallon tropical aquarium and have been there for a while. This was a planted aquarium until the rosy barbs ate everything lol, so I think these may have been introduced with the live plants. I haven't added any new fish or plants since February though, and I've only been noticing these worms for a month or so.

 

[Colin_T]

What is this worm?
a wiggly one?

On a serious note, it looks like a detritus worm and they normally live in the substrate. If they are on the glass or in the water, then you need to clean the tank. Detritus worms are harmless and live in all freshwater aquariums. They only swarm on the glass if the tank conditions deteriorate.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.

 

[Penelope .R]

What is this worm?
a wiggly one?

On a serious note, it looks like a detritus worm and they normally live in the substrate. If they are on the glass or in the water, then you need to clean the tank. Detritus worms are harmless and live in all freshwater aquariums. They only swarm on the glass if the tank conditions deteriorate.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.

Very wiggly

That's why I'm confused. My tank should be clean. I tested the water today, ammonia is at 0, nitrates around 10, I did a 50% water change four days ago and cleaned the filter, and I always declorinate before adding new water to the tank.
I also just cleaned the filter this week and replaced the filter floss.
The tank is overstocked, someone gifted me 13 rosy barbs, so I've been doing large water changes weekly because of them (I'm setting up a separate tank for them now, just waiting for their filter to finish cycling).

I thought they looked like detritus worms, I've just never noticed them before. There are only two out right now above the water line, if they go below they get eaten.

Then again, I don't usually gravel vac because I have a sand substrate that gets sucked into the sink very easily, but I'll do a water change tomorrow and try to vacuum a bit, and send the water out the window instead of into the sink.
Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

Don't replace the filter floss because you get rid of the good filter bacteria that helps keep the water clean. Just wash it out in a bucket of tank water and re-use it.

If you have to replace the floss, put a sponge in to replace it. You can buy sponges for external filters like an AquaClear and cut them to fit with a pr of scissors. Sponges last for years and don't need replacing unless they start to fall apart, and that takes decades.

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If you kink the gravel cleaner hose, it won't suck the sand out. You can also gravel clean the tank water into a bucket and tip the water out, then pour the sand back in the tank.

If there's only a couple of worms on the glass, then the tank probably isn't too bad. But monitor them and the water quality and keep doing big regular water changes.

 

[Penelope .R]

Don't replace the filter floss because you get rid of the good filter bacteria that helps keep the water clean. Just wash it out in a bucket of tank water and re-use it.

If you have to replace the floss, put a sponge in to replace it. You can buy sponges for external filters like an AquaClear and cut them to fit with a pr of scissors. Sponges last for years and don't need replacing unless they start to fall apart, and that takes decades.

-------------------
If you kink the gravel cleaner hose, it won't suck the sand out. You can also gravel clean the tank water into a bucket and tip the water out, then pour the sand back in the tank.

If there's only a couple of worms on the glass, then the tank probably isn't too bad. But monitor them and the water quality and keep doing big regular water changes.

It's just a layer of floss to catch debris. It falls apart every threeish months and I replace it. I wash it out in tank water once to twice monthly depending on how many water changes I do. Otherwise I have bio rings and sponge in a Canister filter that I haven't changed in a year, I just wash it when I do water changes and the sponge is still in near perfect condition.
I'll try that, I'm not so concerned about losing sand as I am about it clogging my drain, but it's not a big deal. I'll be sending it into the yard tomorrow anyway

Thank you, I always get concerned when I see something different. I've had the same two fish for seven years now and I just love them. I'm working on redoing their tank now starting with moving the rosys and redecorating.

 

[Sgooosh]

i didnt read all the posts but if you don't feed as much your "pest " population will go down
he will eat the stuff that the fish cant eat and clean the tank and whatnot so the tank needs to be fairly clean, try to trim dead plants too that might help