tarannosaurus 24 Posted February 3, 2014 I have a coworker who just started goldfish keeping. His tank is not cycled so I told him I would share some of my filter media with him. I was going to give him some of my BioMax out of my AquaClear 110 or Fluval 305. I put five or so in a plastic bag with some tank water, and then something caught my eye. Then I saw several small, clear, white flagellates moving around in the bag. They are about five mm in length each. Upon close inspection, I can see some swimming in my tank too. Obviously, I will not be sharing any media with this person for a while. Right now all of my filter media is soaking in PraziPro and I am cleaning my filter with bleach. I plan on doing a round of Prazi when I'm finished. I don't have a microscope. I don't know what they are. I'm afraid for my fish. Please tell me if there is anything else I need to do. I will provide water parameters if necessary. None of my fish are displaying any symptoms as of right now. Thank you in advance for your help. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fantailfan1 26,742 Posted February 3, 2014 Google planaria and see if that's what they look like. If so, they are completely harmless. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tarannosaurus 24 Posted February 3, 2014 Google planaria and see if that's what they look like. If so, they are completely harmless. That's not it. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tarannosaurus 24 Posted February 3, 2014 I can't see a head. They look like thin, white lines. They are not on the glass or other surfaces. They are freely swimming. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
schoolie 553 Posted February 3, 2014 They are likely harmless, and feed on the detritus in the filter media. I've seen similar "worms" in my tank, and no harm has come. It's just a wake up call to clean the filter (in dechlorinated water, of course). Also, I don't think Prazi will kill them. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tarannosaurus 24 Posted February 3, 2014 They are likely harmless, and feed on the detritus in the filter media. I've seen similar "worms" in my tank, and no harm has come. It's just a wake up call to clean the filter (in dechlorinated water, of course). Also, I don't think Prazi will kill them. I put some prazi in the bag and then like fifty of them came out. Out of the five BioMax. They weren't moving. Maybe I'm paranoid but it's only because I don't know what they are. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
schoolie 553 Posted February 3, 2014 INteresting that they were affected by the prazi. I've only heard them called "detritus worms". I don't know the the species, but you can search "detritus worms image" for a pic. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tarannosaurus 24 Posted February 3, 2014 I don't have nearly as many as this person does, but the worms in this video I found on YouTube is the closest thing to what I have in my tank. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotnickles96 142 Posted February 3, 2014 detritus worms... they are in almost any tank feeding off of decaying food and plant matter. Dont worry about it... if anything just clean out filters, gravel and tank walls and do a WC they will always be there. If they come back in numbers, try cutting down how much you are feeding. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tarannosaurus 24 Posted February 3, 2014 I have a piece of driftwood in my tank and I just noticed tiny little white specks all over it. When I looked closer, I saw several flatworms moving over it. They are also very small and white. They look more like the planaria that fantailfan told me to look at. Maybe my fish have been eating them this whole time. They are probably laughing at me now. Thanks for the assurance guys. I'm glad to know what they are and relieved that they are harmless. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helen 8,511 Posted February 4, 2014 most things of this description you can see are very harmless.. just don't feed your fish for a few days, they will make a meal out of them and all will be well 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldsguy 267 Posted February 4, 2014 I had detritus worms in my tank before (probably still do). As someone said most tanks actually have them but are never seen. They usually live in substrate and feed on waste. They can be somewhat beneficial. Fish will eat them which is ok as they are not a parasite. Numbers usually increase due to overfeeding. Reduce what you feed and their numbers will decrease. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
