White Wormy Things In Water

[Elsha]

My sixteen gallon tank is in the middle of cycling with fish, after some mishaps and failed starts (two neon tetras in there right now, I'm not risking adding anything until it's cycled properly.) A day or so ago I got some bogwood in preparation for the bristlenose I hope to acquire once the cycling is done. I soaked it overnight but didn't notice any significant release of tannins, so put it in the tank this morning. Shortly after I noticed a couple of small, threadlike, white, worm-like creatures moving through the water and on the surface of the wood. I'm about to douse it in boiling water in the hopes of killing anything else living on it, but I'd love to know what these are and if they pose any danger to the fish currently in the tank. I'd rather sort this out now, before I get new fish.

 

[WILDER]

Take a look here first.
http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage...aria_Worms.html

 

[zoekin8yg]

The worms are very likely planaria

 

[Elsha]

The description in the article sounds about right, but not the cause - in fact, my ammonia level is currently 0 and has been reasonably low for the last few days (I'm waiting for the nitrites to drop currently.) I'm pretty convinced the worms came in on the bogwood, seeing as I spotted them within an hour of putting it in and several were on the bogwood itself. Hopefully that means their numbers will be very few, and thus not a problem, but I'll keep a close eye on the tank over the next few days.

 

[WILDER]

So you didn't boil the bogwood first time round.
Do the worms have forked tails.

 

[Elsha]

No, I didn't - thoughtless, I know. The worms don't have forked tails as far as I can see; they're just threads.

 

[WILDER]

Ok don't know if there harmful or not.
Keep an eye to make sure that none of them attach themselves to the fish.
Good luck.

 

[Elsha]

Well, it looks like the solution was fish - the tank finished cycling and today I purchased some glowlight tetras. They took one look at the worms and started gorging themselves. They're too full now to be bothered doing more than eating half a worm now and then, but I reckon they'll have cleaned the tank of them in a couple of days. No idea why the neons didn't eat them from the beginning, but never mind - as long as the glowlights keep eating them, I'll be happy.