Worms WTH...

[Guest FLIP]

I just did a small gravel vac on my planted tank because it was a bit cloudy today for some reason. I dug into the gravel and sucked up a whole bunch of worms about 2 inches or longer what hell are these? How do I get rid of them? Are they bad?

[jvision]

Could be nematodes, could be bloodworms (have you fed frozen BW?), could be something else. They're there b/c you may be feeding a little much.

[Guest FLIP]

They have thousands of little "legs" or what ever they are. I have never fed my fish anything but flakes (in that tank). I also happened to find my bamboo shrimp dead as well. I'm taking out all the plants and substrate and replacing it with sand do the worms live in sand?

[werner]

Do they look like these guys on

?

Nematodes are often living secretly in aquarium gravel, but you will rarely see them unless you are doing a vacuuming. Don't worry- they're harmless and the fish would love to eat them if they had a chance. However, if they're there in large numbers, it's usually a sign that there's too much organic material in the gravel and you're probably overfeeding.

The worms themselves wouldn't have been an issue for the shrimp, except maybe as a symptom of overfeeding/poor water quality.

Another thing to watch for with bamboo shrimp: are they getting enough to eat? Since they're filter feeders, they rely on microscopic organisms. A medium sized, established planted tank should provide enough food, but a newer tank might not. If you get one again, watch it feeding- it should be in the current putting it's fans to it's mouth fairly often. I read somewhere that if it's trying to pick stuff off the gravel, it's probably not getting enough. Also watch to see if it's pooping (little brown cubes/blocks). There should be plenty of droppings.

[BlackMumba]

I've had a problem with White worms, they get to be about the size of 1/2 inch... at first i was concerned... but i believe they live in or come from my peat moss.

Are they the same thing, these guys don't have legs and aren't browish color for sure pure white but long and very slender.

[Guest FLIP]

Do they look like these guys on

?

Nematodes are often living secretly in aquarium gravel, but you will rarely see them unless you are doing a vacuuming. Don't worry- they're harmless and the fish would love to eat them if they had a chance. However, if they're there in large numbers, it's usually a sign that there's too much organic material in the gravel and you're probably overfeeding.

The worms themselves wouldn't have been an issue for the shrimp, except maybe as a symptom of overfeeding/poor water quality.

Another thing to watch for with bamboo shrimp: are they getting enough to eat? Since they're filter feeders, they rely on microscopic organisms. A medium sized, established planted tank should provide enough food, but a newer tank might not. If you get one again, watch it feeding- it should be in the current putting it's fans to it's mouth fairly often. I read somewhere that if it's trying to pick stuff off the gravel, it's probably not getting enough. Also watch to see if it's pooping (little brown cubes/blocks). There should be plenty of droppings.

They sort of look likee the ones on the you tube video only more lighter brown and theres a butt load of them. The water quality seems to be kinda crappy yesterday and today. It's always been extremely good quality until yesterday when I popped in an algae wafer now its a bit cloudy.