Sponge filter question/concern

[swimfin27]

Hello Everybody. I have a question concerning the two sponge filters I have in my 30gal. One is air driven and the other has a power head. I wanted to pull my air driven sponge out to use in another tank so I unplugged it and came back a few minutes later and noticed a bunch of tiny ~2mms long worms that swim in a figure 8. They were also pushing their way through the sponge to the surface. The cories and angelfish were going crazy for them. I plugged the air back in and they all receded back into the sponge. I only squeeze them out once a month and keep up on my weekly changes. Should I be concerned?

[swimfin27]

www.planetinverts.com/what_is_that_bug_in_my_aquarium.html. I'm going to guess nematodes. Going to do a partial water change and give them a good rinse.

[devonjohnsgard]

May 5, 2015 18:13:44 GMT -5 swimfin27 said:

Hello Everybody. I have a question concerning the two sponge filters I have in my 30gal. One is air driven and the other has a power head. I wanted to pull my air driven sponge out to use in another tank so I unplugged it and came back a few minutes later and noticed a bunch of tiny ~2mms long worms that swim in a figure 8. They were also pushing their way through the sponge to the surface. The cories and angelfish were going crazy for them. I plugged the air back in and they all receded back into the sponge. I only squeeze them out once a month and keep up on my weekly changes. Should I be concerned?

Never had that happen. I could manage it would, but I wonder why their in the tank.

I would rinsing one filter at a time about every 2 weeks. Rotate them. Otherwise the sponge gather a lot of mulm and add to Nitrates.

"Depending upon your aquarium (or pond) bio-load, as well as the pore size of your sponge material, the frequency of rinses can vary.
Generally a well “mated” sponge filter, or other filter that employs a sponge, assuming some quality, will need to be rinsed every two weeks. Although once per week or as long as once per month are not unusual either. Often in aquariums or ponds with multiple filters, the frequency of rinses is less due to the redundancy of filtration, which is what I recommend."

www.americanaquariumproducts.com/sponge_filtration.html

[Carl]

I would not at all be concerned, these are much more likely to be Detritus Worms, which are an annelid, not a flatworm and are quite common.

Planaria are rare and usually are found individually, not living in gravel sponges, or other filter media. Unfortunately anecdotal websites such as the one you provided continue to re-post the myth of Detritus worms being instead Planaria, which they are NOT

Good References:
From our Fish as Pets Website
www.fish-as-pets.com/2007/11/planaria-detritus-internet-answers.html

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

From the Fish as Pets article:
"What are Detritus Worms?

These Detritus Worms are normally not a problem and often go un-noticed aiding in breakdown of wastes while living in the gravel or filter media (such as sponges, bio balls, etc.). In fact these worms are generally beneficial in aiding in larger waste breakdown, as well these worms can even be a healthy food source for fish."

Carl

[swimfin27]

Awesome! Thanks for the great responses and links. My angelfish pair are always pecking at the sponges and now I know why. It is interesting the way they leave the sponges when water is not being pulled through it.

[swimfin27]

I don't know why I went anywhere else for information, D'oh!

[angelminx]

I just rinsed my sponge filter (and prefilters) during my water change yesterday. I don't think there are worms in any of them; although I'm sure my fish wouldn't mind, I've never noticed anything. I'll have to let them sit for a while during my next rinsing, and then take a close look. I have noticed, though, that when I remove the FilterMax prefilters and put them into the bucket to rinse them, that despite squeezing them out a few times, if I pull them out of the water with the connector facing down, the water that drains out is full of little pieces of brown debris. I've never really noticed any come out of the sponge's connector (or the sponge itself) while I'm squeezing it out. The actual sponge filter basically has only had dirty water come out of it, and no real pieces or flakes of debris. I forget what the "model" numbers are, but the 10G (which also has the sponge filter) has the finer-pored sponges, and the 55G the coarser sponges.