# HELP! very small white things on glass??



## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

hi all
i have just turned on my light to my tank to check my heater was working (3am lol) to be shocked and find hundreds of very very small white/clear worm things.
they carnt be planaria as this tank of mine has only been set up for about 2 months and was only stocked up with 5 small bunches of hairgrass a week before christmas.
i have been doing a 25% water change on tuesday and then a 50% water change on a friday so its super clean and it has never had food in as i have no fish! 
i dont see anything at all in the day, i look at it all the time, cleaning, planning etc its only now as i turned the light on for a quick sec that i noticed a take over!!
they must be the thickness of a piece of string and move like bloodworm and the size of a piece of rice.
any ideas?? 
its things like this that make me want to give up on the whole planted tank thing, i was looking at buying things tomorrow and this has now upset me, first the brown patches spreading on my seriyu stone, then a fuzz thing over some of my hair grass leaves now these things.
thanks all
happy new year

chris


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

sorry, after a second look (it is 3am and im very upset and tierd!) i thought they were the size of a piece of rice, but its actualy a lot smaller, looks like dust but moving.
cant find anything, just this planaria but looking at the pics its noway like that plus i have been changing my water twice weekly and do not feed anything.
cheers
 :?


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## wearsbunnyslippers (2 Jan 2010)

if they are worm like the are probably midge larvae, they might grow into bloodworms or similar...

otherwise might be copepods, maybe cyclops?

small fish love to eat both of those!

i am having the same issue in my nano, excpet i have both, worms and cyclops, i have a large rock and it looks like it is covered in lice, eeww.... i am going to add a couple of black neons maybe, even though i wanted to keep it fishless...


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## daniel19831123 (2 Jan 2010)

A pic would be useful for this.


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

hi
they are definitely not copepods/cyclops, i checked all last night for different things and these came up.
i also tryed taking a pic last night but they are so small they come out as blurred dots on the screen.
my brother is coming around later ill see if i can use his camera to get a better shot but its doubtful.
i thought since i have never saw them before, since i have never looked at 3am before, that they would have gone in the morning like some night loving bug, but NO, they are everywhere.
im 60/40 on breaking it up and giving in.


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## Garuf (2 Jan 2010)

Sounds a lot like water fleas, I used to get them in the first weeks of a set up but when I added fish they always dissappeared, presumably eaten.


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

hi garuf, no its definitely a very very small white worm, only moves slightly just like a worm and its only on the glass for what i can see.
the only good pic i could get was a pic of the back glass but its a long shot, any closer and they blur up they are that small!
i put a black background on to show them up a bit more.
how do i post the pic?
cheers once again


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (2 Jan 2010)

bumcrumb said:
			
		

> how do i post the pic?
> cheers once again



I use photobucket - http://photobucket.com/

On the right hand side you will see: join its free, register and then you will see: upload images / video, then go to your folder where your picy are sort and left click the image you want to up load, once its uploaded add a title and safe it. Underneath the picy or to the left hand side you will see a IMG code or IMG thumb right click one of these code (Makes a copy)and then go back to your forum posting and right click again (makes a paste of the code) prior to posting on the forum, do a preview and you will see the picy being added.

Regards
Paul.


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

cheers paul ill give it ago tonight, ive noticed a few of them wormy things are floating around the tank with the current too.
 :?


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

ok then guys ive managed to do two pics but these are long shots, any closer and they get blured.
at least you can see the colour, rough size and how they act together.
any clues??


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

got a few better shots of them, any ideas?


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## daniel19831123 (2 Jan 2010)

Looks like some kinda of mites. But then again its hard to tell. One thing for sure is that they'll be gone when you introduce fish. lol


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (2 Jan 2010)

It could be daphnia

http://www.petfish.net/articles/pics/daphnia_moina.jpg

Regards
Paul.


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## bumcrumb (2 Jan 2010)

no, it is the same shape, movement as a worm.
they are attached to the glass and move around very slowly.
i dont want to put my hand in anymore to clean etc so i might just give up and breakup.


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## Garuf (2 Jan 2010)

planaria, they're pretty common in shrimp tanks and new set ups. As best I know they're harmless, fish enjoy them which is a bonus as they're not pretty.


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## daniel19831123 (2 Jan 2010)

Do you have any fish in there at the moment? Smaller fish will snack on them whereas bigger fish will just leave it.


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## Liam (2 Jan 2010)

I am pretty certain they are nematodes, about the width of a thread, they move like blood worm and only come above the substrate at night. They are totally harmless, nothing at all to worry about. They cannot cause you any harm at all. When your fish move in they will have a nice treat. I have loads in my shrimp tanks. 
Cheers
Peter


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## bumcrumb (3 Jan 2010)

i don't have any live stock in there at the moment, i planted some hair grass 2-3 weeks ago and that's it.
i was planning on having just hc cuba and hair grass in there with a few ruby tetras or Boraras micros.
it looks so ugly, i think tomorrow morning I'm going to gut the lot, chuck the gravel, plants and filter, clean everything and leave for a week dry (to kill anything else just in case).
then start again from fresh.
i cant be doing with all the stress of them coming and going just doesn't look like the clean and crisp tank that i was looking for.
the thing i cant understand is how they arrived in the first place? my no2 and no3 are at 0, i have no food in there at all?
i did start my first dose of profito on Christmas day once a week (Friday) would that have started it off?
so if i start fresh what do you think of this then;

external filter with glassware ( i had a internal filter which didn't move the water much- reason for getting brown algae every day?what you think?)
ada amazonia powder
tmc aqua gro co2 system
new fertz; tpn+?
plants; hc cuba and dwarf hair grass
lighting; 8w arcadia tropical original and 8w arcadia freshwater lamp

any good??
thanks again all for your help, i love this hobby and its stupid things like this worm that ruins it all for me.


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## Garuf (3 Jan 2010)

They arrive in the water and via the air, it's a fact of life, gutting the tank really isn't going to solve it every single tank will have similar inhabitants, it's just a fact of life. Copper treatments will kill them but then you won't ever get to have shrimp or snails. Just wait till your parameters are stable then add some fish who'll love the extra nutrients.


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## daniel19831123 (3 Jan 2010)

Agreed with garuf here. There is no need to restart all over again just because it's ugly. Keeping planted tank will mean that you will have to keep up with some ugliness of the tank one time or another whether it's a snail infestation or algae outbreak. Rebooting the tank from the start everytime something doesn't look nice is not really practical in planted tank as you'll then ended up buying loads of new plants but ending up with different problem and you will never had the chance of letting your tank matture. 

Why don't you just buy one otos and introduce it into the tank. They normally clear nematodes out.


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## jolt100 (4 Jan 2010)

Hi, the pics look like paramecium, good food for fry, as suggested prior these things can get transmitted by air-borne means but usually if you are doing so many water changes they wouldnt like the conditions, it likes dirty tanks with plenty of detritus. Flourish Excel should kill it off (Glutaraldehyde is used as an antiseptic).
I use it a food for fry and rear it, a couple of drops of milk a week in a bottle keeps it going.
alternatively get some fish in the tank, they will eat it if you dont feed them.

Hope that helps,

John


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## andyh (5 Jan 2010)

Bumcrumb

I hope you dont mind but i think your over worrying it, all of our tanks have all manner of living things. As long as they are not a threat, they are not a problem. As others mentioned the minute you introduce fish. They will enjoy them as a tasty snack.

Most of my tanks over the years have had all manner of these type of things with no problem at all. 
Normally you wouldnt see them as they would live in the gravel feeding on detrius etc and avoiding being eaten by your fish. 
You want to try marine, the live rock brings all types of desirable and non desirable things. A great example was one chap got some live rock with a mantis shrimp inside it, they are capable of breaking fingers and glass!Madness!   

So dont worry no need to restart, these things get it into tanks in many different ways, its all part of the environment put some fish in when your ready and it will no longer be a problem.

Best Regards
Andyh


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## bumcrumb (7 Jan 2010)

cheers again all, I'm going to carry on as normal and see what happens.
I'm starting up a new small planted tank for the kitchen while the other one gets settled and under control!
I'm going to do a totally different tank setup this time so it keeps me busy lol.
thanks again to all, its nice to know that there are some nice people out there that want to help people, you never know i might be answering questions on here in years to come!!! haha.
not meaning to change the subject but has anyone ever used underworld aquagrit? my brother has gave me a large tub full of this when he brought to much from seapets for his new osaka 155(which I'm going to steal of him when hes away haha)
cheers all
chris


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