100's of little white worms thin as thread in fish tank?

Question

We have a 55 gallon tank, one oscar and a pleco. We've had them for a year or more and have had tiny little white worms for a while as well. I'm thinking these worms came from walmart which is where we got the fish and I hate buying fish from there and never will again. These worms are thin as thread and maybe 1/2 inch long. We can see them swimming around a some even stick to the top of the tank. They stick there until the water hits them again then they are back to squiggling around. I think they come out more in the dark and when the light comes on they swim around a bit and then go away. What are these things? How do we get rid of them. I asked the pet store owner and he didn't know.

Answer 1

Actually it probably came from the food.  Always feed Freshwater fish saltwater food.  Parasites won't grow in between.

Answer 2

Part of the reason these white worms develop is because of the good bacteria which is often caused by excess waste. This does not mean you are overfeeding, it just means the tank has matured and the bacteria is building up, partly due to uneaten food.Fish tanks the only place for them (White Worms) was the gravel and walls which would eventually let them be eaten by fish. It is perfectly normal for the fish to eat them, in fact its a good thing. While they are not bad, I personally do not like to have them as they are quite noticable and unsightly. Some things you can do to get rid of them is syphon the gravel and wipe the walls, this will remove some and any left should be taken by the fish.I would not use any chemicals to kill the worms, just slowly remove them by syphon and fish eating them. The only reason for you to use a chemical is if you notice the fish have parasites or diseases, which if they do it has nothing to do with the tiny white worms. I hope I have helped. When I first experienced these worms I freaked out and thought they were harmful but in the end, and with much research, I discovered they are just tiny friends trying to eat the excess food and waste the fish have left. Good luck!

Answer 3

put a teaspoon of sea salt in the water it will kill the worms

Answer 4

Sounds like nematode worms.  They're harmless and eat the dead plant matter and leftover fish food. It's fairly common, some baby fish feed on them.  I have tanks holding plants only kept in a sunny window and they all get these worms in there.  You can minimize them in your fish tank by doing weekly tank cleanings and not overfeeding  your fish.

Answer 5

those are probably planaria.. an indication of bad water quality.. which could be due to over feeding/ rotting substances in water.

Try to cut down on feeding..

remove uneaten food

vaccum gravel, if any