What Worm Is This (Vid/pics) And What To Do?

[Jeynesey]

Hi there.
 
I noticed I had a dead fish today (which was mostly eaten by my shrimp by the time I got it out). Anyway, at the same time I happened to notice a worm in the tank and sucked it out with a turkey baster. It may well have been what killed the fish, which had a cyst that could have been the worm trying to get out (or something totally unrelated).
 
Any suggestions on what it is and what the treatment should be are greatly appreciated.
 
N.B. the worm is about 1cm long. You can see some shrimp exoskeletons and what was left of the fish (a spotted blue eye). Thanks.
 
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTmSw_yUeK4
 
 

 

[laurac94]

Looks like planaria, they live in most tanks and greatly go unnoticed. They aren't harmful and just feed on left over food, lots of gravel vacuuming and lowering the amount of feed will reduce their numbers

 

[snazy]

If it's planaria, then they are hitchhikers, nothing to do with excess food. Once you introduce them via plants or other equipment, they multiply and grow in your tank. They have arrow shaped heads. They are carvnivourus pests and if big enough can kill shrimp, eat sick or dead fish too, shrimp pellets etc, but not detritus. Fish don't eat them for some reason, not delicious enough.  I'd try to get rid of them if you've got shrimp. Ramshorn and pond snails eat them as far as I know, also there are meds that can kill them but you have to pick ones that don't affect shrimp. I can't recall the name right now.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It might be a 'detritus' worm, which is truly harmless. 
 
 
 
This is a planarian.
[media]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0QzSYQGsnA[/media]

 

[Jeynesey]

Thanks for the replies. I have had planaria in the past, just after I cycled the tank. When I added fish they ate those in no time. This thing is a lot bigger than the planaria I had before, though I'm sure there are different sizes. I would say it doesn't noticeably have a diamond shaped head like those regular planaria.
 
Any more opinions more than welcome - in the meantime I'm off to do a big waterchange and do some more reading up on different planaria types. Thanks.

 

[snazy]

Maybe you didn't have planaria the first time because fish spit out planaria, especially after they've tasted it the first time.  Certain types of harmless detritus worms can grow long but they kind of move in a different way(S shape) Fish eat them too. There are different varieties.
 
A magnified planaria:
 
[media]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0QzSYQGsnA[/media]
 
And detritus worm:
 
[media]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHTh390sBI8[/media]

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Nice vid snazy. 

 

[snazy]

Ha, ha. Glad you enjoyed them eagles. Thankfully not mine
 
And here a better one showing how detritus worms wiggle in water, unlike planaria.
 
[media]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=61y7K0voIZ0[/media]

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Actually, the first one you posted was the exact one that I had posted.

 

[snazy]

Actually, the first one you posted was the exact one that I had posted.

 
Oh, sorry. I missed that post above somehow.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No worries... confirms what I've always thought... Great minds think alike.

 

[laurac94]

Oh so maybe what I had was detritus worms, I posted on here about them too and was told they were planaria.. I guess we learn something new everyday 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Detritus worms are often misidentified as planaria by some.

 

[Jeynesey]

Yeah I guess I didn't have planaria first time around. Two fish spat this thing out anyway - it's good to know it's probably nothing serious. Just a massive coincidence that it coincided with a fish dying that had a cyst that could have been something trying to get out (but probably wasn't).
 
Having said all that - I don't think it looks anything like a planaria and it didn't swim like a detritus worm. Given that my fish have had stringy poo in the past and I've had fish die from wasting away recently, it might not be a bad idea to treat for worms, right?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sorry...
 
just got back to this thread.  Treating for an internal parasite might not be a bad idea.