# unknown worm in plant tank



## soheil999 (Apr 20, 2011)

hi,
I have 100 gallon tank with about 12 cryptones and 7 discus fish.
From one month ago my plants stem start to rotting.
I watch a part of rotted stem in microscope and see several worms.






















Is this worm harmfull for my plants or fish?
what can i do?
can any one halp me please...

(sorry for my bad english )


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

that's pretty cool... my guess would be a detritus worm. not sure about the scientific name, but they eat leftover food and decaying plant matter. they come from overfeeding and inadequate vacuuming. in large numbers they look disgusting IMO. then again... i may be wrong. if you see these white/pinkish worms that swim through the water in a smooth S-shaped wriggle than those are the detritus worms. if they move in a random jiggly motion, those are another type that i'm not really too sure about but i believe is a parasite or stems from lack of vacuuming as well. correct me if i'm wrong.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

It is a freshwater oligochaete in the Phylum Anelida, related to earthworms. They are completely harmless. I believe it is the genus Aleosoma. I frequently see these in aquaria without fish and various cultures in jars.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

^would that be the detritus worms i'm referring to or did i completely miss?


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Yes. It is a detritus feeder.


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## soheil999 (Apr 20, 2011)

thanks all for your replies. 

I upload a video from above worms in Youtube.
Meybe this video help you...
I named my questions by Problem1, Problem2 and Problem3.

*Problem1:*





I saw another unknown creatures in my aquarium water too.
Here is some images and uploaded videos,
*Problem2:*














video:





and

*Problem3:*





















video:





can you please help me to recognize them
and find which one of them are hamful...

tanks again


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

very awesome that you can see those things!


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## soheil999 (Apr 20, 2011)

anyone can help ...


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Some kind of infusoria, one can find them in quite every water. Probably a ciliate, ID may be difficult. I mean, normal micro fauna, not a problem at all.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Various ciliates, including Vorticella (not circled). One of them is some kind of hypotrich, possibly Euplotes, pictured below. The last two pictures are of a common small Rotifer.



















None of them are parasites.

IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO STOP OBSESSING ABOUT THE NATURAL INVERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YOUR TANK!!!!!. You haven't been watching that sensationalist show on Animal Planet, "Monsters Within Us" have you? They play up the yuck factor outrageously. If they did a show on pimples, they would have their pimple victim writhing in pain, unable to sleep, having near death experiences. They would make pimples seem as bad as bubonic plague. That show is only one step away in scientific veracity from the ones they do on ghosts. Get a book on pond water life. Once you know about 'em you won't fear 'em. If your plants are dying back, these protozoa, rotifers, annelids, flatworms, etc., are not the cause. They are, instead, the result. They benefit from the decaying plant material either directly or indirectly. The protozoa and rotifers feed on bacteria that feed and multiply on the dead plant material. The detritus worms feed on bacterial films and dead plant matter.

How are your plants doing?


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## orchidnutz (Mar 28, 2011)

WELL SAID HeyPK:canada:


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Agree!

It's neat to see unintended life in my aquariums, and it rarely hurts anything.

Bill


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## soheil999 (Apr 20, 2011)

Thanks, I accept.

My plants are continuing dying slowly 
I think that my primary problem is Lighting.
My tank size is 60"x18"x26" (height is 26") and I used five 23watt CF light.
Yesterday I bought two 70watt light projector (with sodium bulb or HPS).
From today I want to use them 4 hour/day in middle of day and for another 8 hours of day just two 36watt PLL bulb is turn on. 

My new lighting schedule is:

00am to 08am: dark
08am to 12pm: 72watt PLL
12pm to 16pm: 72watt PLL + 140watt sodium
16pm to 20pm: 72watt PLL
20pm to 24am: dark 

I hope this new lighting...


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## poecelia_penang (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi, I'm a new member from Penang, Malaysia.

Though I had been keeping fish for more than 25 years (since in primary school), it was just recently I found this type of worms in my tank. I wanted to have plenty of plant just to destress. But, it seem with this worms eating up my plants, it kindda of having more stress!

Maybe, some one can tell me what is this? How to get rid of those worms? Where did it come from?


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Hi Poe....go back and re-read the last post by PK. These are simple little creatures that do not eat living plants; your plants are dying from something else, and the worms could have come from anywhere! From your substrate, from the addition of plants, from water added to your tank when adding a fish or snail or shrimp.....anywhere. Not worth worrying about.

I suppose that if it is bothering you that much, you could probably dose aquarium salt to increase the salinity, but likely, you will run the risk of killing off beneficial bacteria, shrimp, plants, and so on. I would just let them be, or remove the plant that is dying.


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