Thread like worms

[kagome]

OK so it seems that more than a pleco came home from Petsmart. I got a new clown pleco from Petsmart. When I netted the fish and released it into the tank, I noticed that there were what looked like little pieces of thread in the net. I thought it was just dust or lint. But now I see a few little wiggly worms. They're very thin, about the width of a hair, and they're floating around in the water column.

For the life of me, I can't remember are the ones like this a kind of nematode? I know they're not harmful, just annoying.

Other than keeping up with my water changes, is there anything that can be done about them?

Aren't the ones that everyone usually refers to as detritus worms that stick up out of the gravel tubifex worms?

[Carl]

Kagome;

This seems to describe Detritus Worms.

Do you have any close up pictures?

BTW, these are an annelid (segmented worms), which good magnification should show

Further Resource:
www.fishbeginner.info/home/what-are-these-small-beigewhite-worms-in-my-aquarium/

Carl

[kagome]

That's them! Thank you, Carl! I tried to get a good pic but the camera won't focus on them correctly. The barbs keep coming up to me, begging for food, and the camera keeps focusing on them. There are only a few, I don't think any more than 5 or 6. I'm just going to up my water changes from 25 to 50% for a few weeks and hopefully nip this in the bud. I know they won't hurt the fish, I just don't want a zillion of them in the tank. Luckily, the tank they're in has a ton of plants and I keep the gravel well vacuumed so I shouldn't have an outright zombie apocalypse outbreak.

It's funny that they are in the same family as earthworms. You'd think from the way they look to the naked eye that they'd be in Nematoda. The magnified pictures help. Sometimes I really wish I could afford a microscope. I wouldn't use it that often, but it would be cool nonetheless.

[Carl]

You're welcome

Here is an article I wrote some time back about Detritus Worms and the confusion often made with Planaria (a Flatworm)

www.fish-as-pets.com/2007/11/planaria-detritus-internet-answers.html

Carl

[kagome]

Thanks for the article. I poked around and found there to be a HUGE amount of misinformation on this topic, just like you said. The vast majority of people lump these guys in with planaria. Which is weird, they really don't look or act the same at all. To me, the planaria plainly look like a flatworm from Platyhelminthes.

I can see how you could mix up the detritus worms with a nematode, without magnification it's impossible to see the segments. They look like a smooth roundworm.

But it seems so obvious that the planaria are entirely different.

Of course, I did once help win an academic team match in college by correctly answering Platyhelminthes, so maybe I just have more background than I realize. Most people probably wouldn't be able to pull that one out if their lives depended on it.

I'm such a nerd.

[Carl]

Sept 9, 2018 14:50:02 GMT -5 kagome said:

Of course, I did once help win an academic team match in college by correctly answering Platyhelminthes, so maybe I just have more background than I realize. Most people probably wouldn't be able to pull that one out if their lives depended on it.

I'm such a nerd.

Congrats!



Carl

[kagome]

Pretty good for a history major lol

[kagome]

So far, so good. I'm not seeing a huge outbreak of these guys.

[Carl]

Oct 4, 2018 10:53:47 GMT -5 kagome said:

So far, so good. I'm not seeing a huge outbreak of these guys.

Great!

Thanks for the article. I poked around and found there to be a HUGE amount of misinformation on this topic, just like you said. The vast majority of people lump these guys in with planaria. Which is weird, they really don't look or act the same at all. To me, the planaria plainly look like a flatworm from Platyhelminthes.

I can see how you could mix up the detritus worms with a nematode, without magnification it's impossible to see the segments. They look like a smooth roundworm.

BTW; This is what happens when you have search engines driven primarily by popularity, including social media, NOT authority or content. It is unfortunately a snowball effect with the more people passing this miss-information, the more it comes up as fact in searches.
If enough people were stating the world was flat, this would rise to the top of searches


Carl

[kagome]

BTW; This is what happens when you have search engines driven primarily by popularity, including social media, NOT authority or content. It is unfortunately a snowball effect with the more people passing this miss-information, the more it comes up as fact in searches.
If enough people were stating the world was flat, this would rise to the top of searches


Carl

The truly sad part about the internet is that "flat earth theory" is now a thing again. Between that and eating tide pods I really have to question the state of humanity.

[Carl]

Oct 6, 2018 12:46:10 GMT -5 kagome said:

The truly sad part about the internet is that "flat earth theory" is now a thing again. Between that and eating tide pods I really have to question the state of humanity.

I would also state that it is everyone who takes everything at face value.
Like Google or not, they derive nearly 100% of their revenue from Advertising, making them an advertising company, nothing else.
For so many to think Google is not going to tweak results to help bring in more advertisers is naive

Unfortunately while a decade ago, many would search a couple pages of a search, stats now show that with Mobile devices so popular, most accept the very first result, further enforcing often bad results in the algorithm.

Carl

[kagome]

It is frustrating. Click rate does not mean that something is good information.

[Carl]

BTW, I've been thinking about you, I hope you are safe with the hurricane in the panhandle of Florida

Carl