EW! Little white worms in tank?

[Sylerwin]

So, during feeding time, I found really small white worms on the glass of my aquarium. I did a quick google search, and things are pointing at them being Planaria or Detritus. Both are said to be harmless to fish, not sure about axolotls. All my reading suggests that I need to do a thorough cleaning of my tank, including substrate. I use sand as a substrate, and though I always use a turkey baster to get any poop, there always seems to be little bits of black-ish debris that I can never clean. How do I do a thorough cleaning of sand?

I also recently had a post about my water in the tank being yellow recently. I have a piece of driftwood in there, so I could see it possibly being that, though I also read that with tannins in the water from driftwood, I'd have a lowering in pH, which I haven't had. Could this yellow be worm-related? Could the worms be from the wood?

Thanks for your help folks.

 

[melfly]

Hi

It depends how much they bother you.

They usually increase in number if you are overfeeding or missing poop.

I have had some living in my tank for about 4 years. They dont bother me. They dont bother my axolotls.

If you do intend to do a massive clean you need to remember that all the good bacteria will be wiped out and the tank will probably need to be re cycled. (and you will probably still have some little worms left)

Mel

 

[Sylerwin]

Mel,
They certainly gross me out, but what worried me most was whether or not they were harmful to the axolotls, couldn't find much on that. I'm scrubbing most of the decor but not all. I do NOT want my cycle to crash, I have the worst water supply on the planet where I live and cycling a tank is a nightmare. I still want to learn a good way of getting the bits of waste out of my sand though. I want beneficial bacteria, sure, but I don't want them swimming in their own poop either :/

 

[melfly]

You could get some kind of sand vacuum. You know like a gravel cleaner but maybe put some thick tights over it. Some experimenting would be in order i think.

I tend to stir the sand every so often just to try and make sure no black bits build up and let the filter take care of the rest.

Mel

 

[10fenny]

Ha ive had planaria in many tanks.. yet to get them in an axy tank. i wouldjust hafta tell myself to quit feeding so much and they would usualy go away on its own. maybe a temporary feeding tub?

 

[snuggly time]

I've had them in my fish tank. They went away when I controlled the feeding. They aren't harmful.