# Snail/Worms



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

Alright I really need to get myself a camera but I'll try to describe both.

I had some sort of worm living in my ADA substrate, maybe it came with it? I'm not sure, but they were white and probably no more than 1 mm in diameter and max of 1 cm long. about the size of a fresh glosso root. These eventually died off (probably when I OD'd excel), but I actually liked them as my chain loaches enjoyed munching on them and they really didn't bother anything. Any idea what they can be, or how I could cultivate more?

I also have a new snail. Not even sure how it made it into my tank as I haven't added anything foreign to my tank in over 5 months. I'd describe it as a short malaysian trumpet. Spiral(but very short) shell, solid tanish color. Largest I've seen is maybe 3-4 mm lengthwise, on average they are much smaller. They don't really bother anything as they hide nicely in my hairgrass when my lights are on. They actually detach and fall into the grass when I turn on my lights. I'm just curious what they are, and how they got there. Oh, it has 3 spirals.


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https://flic.kr/p/2082166638

very similar in shape to that thing, but not in size or color. That also has one additional spiral.


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## mossback (Aug 12, 2010)

The worms might have been some Nais species. They are probably present in lots of tanks, but in small numbers because of predation. I see them frequently in a shrimp-only tank. Occasionally, I'll see one with one end coiled around a moss stem and the other waving in the water, trying to snag an unlucky protozoan, I guess. They swim, erratically, with a snake-like motion. 

I've seen a few references online to culturing them, but nothing definitive, and no indication that anyone has succeeded with any kind of intensive culture. 

Small snails similar to the ones in the photo could be pond snails. The easiest thing to do might be to search online for pond snails and draw your own conclusions based on the photos that you find.


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## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

There are a lot of snails that are not common in the hobby because they don't look good, eat algae, or proliferate so much as to become pests. It could just be some random species that hitched a ride in with your plants and grows so slowly you never noticed them until now. It is really hard to find a good reference for snail ID so you might be out of luck on IDing it if it isn't common.
Some inverts can survive the trip through the water treatment plant and out of your faucet (limpets and even the ich parasite) so it could be a native species.

Pics would help


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## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

Franco said:


> There are a lot of snails that are not common in the hobby because they don't look good, eat algae, or proliferate so much as to become pests. It could just be some random species that hitched a ride in with your plants and grows so slowly you never noticed them until now. It is really hard to find a good reference for snail ID so you might be out of luck on IDing it if it isn't common.
> Some inverts can survive the trip through the water treatment plant and out of your faucet (limpets and even the ich parasite) so it could be a native species.
> 
> Pics would help


Well my digicam just came in so I'll try to get some pics tomorrow.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

i think the worms are probably nematodes... they're like earthworms but i find them disgusting


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## Csl (Dec 16, 2010)

I don't know what the worms are, I would say nematode sounds pretty accurate, but as for cultivating them, it's not too hard. My room mate did it by putting a sponge in about an inch of water in a tupperware container and squirting a few he found under the sponge. for food I think he was using like one piece of cat food each week or something. I just used a pinch of fish food when I tried to do it. My fish also enjoy chowin down on them.


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## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

http://imgur.com/Xh33k

 heres a pic of the snails


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

looks like mts to me...


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## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

neilshieh said:


> looks like mts to me...


I don't think they are. I have some in my 10 gallon and by that size they're already getting the adult pattern, unless there are multiple varieties?


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## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

Stimz said:


> I don't think they are. I have some in my 10 gallon and by that size they're already getting the adult pattern, unless there are multiple varieties?


They seem to be getting red specks on them, mostly on the very tip. I'll try to get a photo of that.


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