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I noticed last week, when I did a gravel vac on one of my ten gallon tanks, something that looked like a tiny white worm. Today, I cleaned the tank again, and there were hundreds of these things down in the gravel - sucked them out with the vac. I seem to have more of them everytime I clean.
What are they? Where did they come from? How do I get rid of them?
I switched out my gravel from a garish bright blue (what was I thinking of) to a black with a few pink rocks, about four months ago. Could they have been in the new gravel?
I don't have them in my other ten or the 29 gallon.
Ten gallon, planted:
One small pleco
Two ottos
Two head and tail lights
One female betta
Water test come out fine

Most likely they are planaria, which are harmless to adult fish. They occur when there is excess food and nutrients in the tank. Do some deep gravel cleans and reduce feedings for a while to get rid of them.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Thank you! I will see if I can get rid of them with another gravel vac and maybe some coppersafe.

yeah...sounds like planaria. they wont harm your fish, but they just look freaky and ugly if you get a lot of them.

from personal experience, i have only had planaria in planted tanks. i think they come with plants. i have never had them in bowls or in non-planted tanks.

...they are one of the reasons i do not do planted tanks. hehe

~*~ Caviar? no thanks! ~*~

I had bought a pack of those little bulbs that WalMart sells in their pet department - have had them befor without any problem, but that may be where the critters came from since I have never seen them before. My gravel looks like it has tiny white dots sprinkled over it now. I think they are more tiny worms fixing to hatch? At least I am relieved to know they won't hurt my fish. I am considering tearing this tank down and restocking it later on anyway. I put the betta in her own bowl, one of the ottos was old and has since passed on. The head and tail lights are old too and the pleco can easily go in one of the other tanks. Thank you!

Are any of the fish new? Sometimes the fish injest eggs in the store, and then defecate in your tank, leaving the new critters to hatch.

Yes, the pleco was fairly new - about three months. He died this morning with no sigh of illness. I had added a very small amount of copper safe to the tank, three days ago. About one tea spoon for ten gallons. Could the coppersafe have killed him, or the tiny worms. I used then end of my net to stir the gravel and what worms came up, were no longer moving - at least as far as I could tell. I moved my remaining otto to the other ten. Now I only have the two glowlights and they aren't eating, but appear healthy. The female betta acted sick for the first two days after I removed her, but today she is back to normal (treated her with some primafix and melafix).
I actually got the pleco, shortly before I bought the plant bulbs. I have these plants in my other two tanks and have never had a problem with them before. I am wondering what to do with this tank and the remaining fish?
Ammonia 0
PH 7
Nitrite 0
nitrate 0

I ripped out all the plants, and gave it another gravel vac, this evening. These "creatures from the black lagoon", are definitely not planaria. I looked planaria up, and these varmits do not look like that.
There are still a few left in the tank (maybe more) that have survived the meds. Using a magnifying glass: They are thinner than a hair, white, anywhere from 1/4 to over an inch long, and have a small space on one end that is thicker than the rest, then something thin again that digs around in the gravel. After ripping out the plants, I added two scoops of aquarium salt to see if that helps. I will leave the head an tail lights in the tank for now.

This morning, I saw two of the critters still crawling around. When disturbed, they swim frantically in a strange sort of S pattern. I think they are some sort of nematode. It appears I may have some of them in my other ten gallon and probably the twenty nine as well. The graven in the other ten is a lighter color making them harder to see. The fish in my other tanks are very varocious eaters - may be why I have not seen them before, while the fish in the more effected tank are picky.
My two head and tail lights are not eating.
How can I get rid of these varmits; salt and coppersafe have not helped.