Question: what has infested my tank?

[mattinwisconsin]

Hey Folks, I have a 10 gallon tank with a few penninsula newts and some ghost shrimp. Over the past month or so I have noticed an infestation of tiny white worm like things on the sides of the glass and some even swimming around in the water? Or there parasites of some sort......and if so how can I wipe them out?

 

[Coastal Groovin]

I had something like this once in a tank I kept fish in. They were small and white to almost clear. They reminded me of little tiny leeches. I ended up moving my fish to another tank and washing the tank with saltwater. I also gave all my plants a 30 second soak in saltwater. Which I always do now and it seems to kill any worms and snails that my be hideing in new plants. I think I have read that you can add panacure wormer to the water to kill your worms YOU SHOULD HOWEVER WAIT and see what other people have to say about that before u go an do it. If you did try this I would remove your newts and do some small water changes over a week or two before putting them back in the tank. Never hurts to be careful. Oh yeah clean your filter also if you have one on the tank as those worms will be in there.

 

[Jennewt]

I would suggest that you should think in terms of "reduce" rather than "wipe out". See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml

 

[oregon newt]

Yeah, they just sound like some harmless planaria.