identification help

I need help identifying a small worm like creature in my paddlefish tank. They are tiny worms, maybe 3/16 of an inch long, they are shiny like aluminum foil with a bubble like head at one end. The water column is full of them. I've seen no flies or other adult stages, what are they?

Is there any way you can get a picture of the little things? Like using the macro setting on your camera? I have friends on an aquarium forum that can help ID, but they would need a picture. Also, what are the water parameters? (pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Temperature, and how long has the tank been established, and how long have you had the fish?)

I need help identifying a small worm like creature in my paddlefish tank. They are tiny worms, maybe 3/16 of an inch long, they are shiny like aluminum foil with a bubble like head at one end. The water column is full of them. I've seen no flies or other adult stages, what are they?

Sounds somewhat like glass worms maybe? Mostly clear but can look different colors depending on how the light hits them.

I'm going to post some pictures of aquatic worms so you can compare them to what you have.

glassworms: http://upload.wikime...aoborusSpec.JPG and http://www.aquarium-...ve-chaoborus-sp
hydra: http://www.fishpondi...ydra/hydra2.jpg
white leeches: http://80.190.202.79...ckenegel18n.jpg
brown leeches: http://www.aecos.com/CPIE/leech_02.JPG
camallanus nematode: http://www.alaquairu...Camallanus1.jpg
mosquito larvae: http://www.mosquitob...ages/larvae.jpg
california blackworms: http://gallery.nanfa...resize.jpg.html
naidid worm: http://www.townoflak...Naidid_Worm.bmp
tubifex worm: http://www.nilesbio.com/prod292.html
Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri: http://www.fcps.edu/... Worm/hin01.jpg
dragonfly larvae: http://islandwood.or...onfly_larva.jpg
anchor worms: http://www.absolute-...gories/C529.jpg
planaria: http://1.bp.blogspot...00/planaria.jpg

Edited by EricaWieser, 01 February 2011 - 11:41 PM.

The glass worm looks remotely similar, I can't get one of my worms magnified enough to see if it looks like that pic.

Glass worms (chaoborid midge larvae) are fairly large (1/4" - 1/2" long). You should be able to see their distinctive hump-backed posture with the naked eye if you get one in a bag or jar. They have a "twitch and drift" movement style. I've never seen glass worms I would call shiny, but I suppose it's possible their diet or water chemistry could cause them to look that way. I too would like to see pictures of the mystery critter!

The worms are almost certainly not glass worms, they swim with a eel like motion but with the head always up and the tail down. My camera is loaned out to my son right now but when I get it back I'll attempt to take some close up pics.

Eel-like swimming sounds like an Oligochate worm (Naidids, Tubificids, Lumbriculids, other families) but I'm not aware of any with a distinct head or shiny metallic color.

The worms are almost certainly not glass worms, they swim with a eel like motion but with the head always up and the tail down. My camera is loaned out to my son right now but when I get it back I'll attempt to take some close up pics.

By the way I thought I'd mention a safe way to kill them. Not that you need to kill them. But if you decide to kill them, you should know what your options are.

1. Mardel company's product CopperSafe™ will wipe out the invertebrates and plants in a tank.
2. Levamisole HCL ( a farm animal dewormer ) will kill the worms and snails in a tank.
3. Malachite green is pretty effective at getting external parasites to let go of the fish.

Don't mix medications. Only pick one, and when you're done, use water changes and activated carbon in the filter to completely remove the chemical. And it's not like you have to kill it. Personally, I'd finish identifying it first. But if it starts transforming into flying insects or eating your fish or something, that's not good.

Edited by EricaWieser, 03 February 2011 - 03:36 PM.

I vote for planarians simply because they so commonly turn up. Wish I had a dollar for every customer that came into the pet store in a panic over their "horrible infestation of pests".
They can be poisoned out with chemicals, along with the good bacteria in your filter, OR do nothing and let them run their course - they're harmless.

I vote for planarians simply because they so commonly turn up.

Planaria crawl on surfaces, right? They don't free swim in the water column?

Is it possible for you to capture one and isolate it in a clear container? That way you can take a picture and observe them better. Sometimes I have sudden strange numbers of silvery-colored worms whose heads always stick up, similar to the description of the ones you have. However, the topmost "head" area is slightly darker and a little thicker. The silver color in the worms that I sometimes get seems to be from a very thin layer of air surrounding them.

When I first had a bunch of them spring up in my tank (in the middle of winter several years ago, all at once, and for no apparent reason), I panicked just like you are now (but I didn't have some cool paddlefish to worry about. ) The Green Sunfish I had at the time at first appeared oblivious to them but soon started gorging on them. They must have been tasty, because after the first one, he scoured every corner of the tank for more. A few days later, there was a snow day at my school, so I decided to closely observe the little creatures. It was kind of hard finding one at the time, since the Green had such a craving for the critters, but I eventually found one struggling up towards the surface while the sunfish was receiving his normal rations. I captured it and placed it in a fat droplet of water inside the lid of a jar. I watched it wiggle around desperately, then suddenly, its tiny "head" appeared to slightly break free of the water tension. The whole worm froze still. Then, within the time span of thirty seconds, a brilliant green (and absolutely tiny) mosquito-resembling bug climbed out of the old skin. It tried to fly off, but I quickly recaptured it. However, it was so delicate that the pressure from the air as I covered it with the empty jar appeared to disable it severely. I took some old tweezers and dropped the little insect back into tank (it was squished up very easily by doing such) and the Green Sunfish snapped it up before it even hit the water.

Based on my experience, I think that those worms are probably harmless to your fishes. You mentioned that you haven't noticed any adult stages, but it may be because they are very very tiny (if the worms you have are indeed the same as mine). I believe that the ones that I had came in on some stones, because just recently (a few days ago actually) I've had another "outbreak" of the creatures. The fathead minnows that are in the tank now mostly ignore the silvery worms themselves, but rather wait near the surface for the little green creatures to break free of the water. If you really want to get rid of the worms just in case, I think most of the common anti-parasitic medications should be able to kill them off (like Erica mentioned). However, I don't know how those medications effect paddlefish, and even if you succeed, you might end up with a bunch of decaying worms mucking up the water. In my own opinion, it may be safest just to wait for a little while and observe if they are having any negative effects on your fish. Who knows, maybe your paddlefish are even enjoying a tasty new treat .

Edited by Orangespotted, 04 February 2011 - 03:39 PM.

Planaria crawl on surfaces, right? They don't free swim in the water column?

Hmm, looks like you are correct. I googled it and couldn't find anything that says the little fresh water ones swim. I did see that some marine species do.

In the process I learned that planaria show withdrawl symptoms from cocaine and meth. Who thinks up those experiments?

Anyway now I curious as to what is swimming in that tank. I've got a soft spot for tiny swimming inverts.

In the process I learned that planaria show withdrawl symptoms from cocaine and meth. Who thinks up those experiments?

Anyway now I curious as to what is swimming in that tank. I've got a soft spot for tiny swimming inverts.

Mike, who thinks up those experiements? Probably grad students (or their professors) on cocaine and meth

I have had varius midges and other insect larvae in my tanks before, usually eaten by the fishes as stated above. I try to destroy planaria when I find them in tanks that hold fish I am breeding, or in by fry tanks as they eat eggs voraciously. Fluke tabs at 1/4-1/2strength work well for planaria (as well as hydra!) and are safe for delicate fry.

There are loads of other smaller Turbellarian flatworms besides the classic triangle-headed Planaria that everyone knows. Many of them are round, not flat, some with a distinct head and some without. Many of them do swim, but with a SLOW undulating or gliding motion, not eel-like like Moontan describes. (I assume you mean a fairly fast eel-like motion, Moon?) Midge larvae swim doing figure-8's, and their pupae swim like mosquito pupae, not really eel-like.

Edited by gerald, 05 February 2011 - 01:00 PM.

I think orangespotted has the right idea, i am pretty sure they are insect larvae of some sort. In my 45 years or more of fish keeping I've seen some odd things colonize aquariums, a trickle filter outside where it is exposed to various insects will be colonized with some really wild things.

When i worked for DuPont we had extensive sewage disposal systems and the giant trickle type filters were always full of various insect larvae, some of them increase the efficiency of the sewage treatment plant by a significant margin.

I have it on good authority that paddlefish have internal worms they depend on to help digest their food, medication to rid the tank of these swimming worms would probably kill the paddlefish.

I like it when odd things colonize my aquariums, I feed lots of live daphnia and to a lesser extent live black worms.

Over the last 45 or more years I've found many unusual things in my aquariums, most of it introduced by live food and some of it introduced off rocks and bog-wood (I never sterilize anything, lol) It's very rare for any of the introduced animals to survive, even more rare is for creepy crawlies to be harmful to my fishes. Most of the animals that would be harmful have such complex life histories they cannot reproduce and they die out fairly quickly. Of course there is always a exception to any set of rules. It's good to know what is in your tank, also important to remember that most of these creatures are harmless and the idea of a sterile clean aquarium is an oxymoron, lol

I am familiar with things like flat worms, round worms, limpets, snails, and various crustaceans (ghost shrimp in this tank shed young every day) but this one had me stumped but orangespotted's description of my "worms" is spot on, the tank has a Emperor 400 filter with a large course sponge as a pre-filter. I have found that using a sponge as a pre-filter in the intake of you filter gives you results similar to having a natural no filter tank. The pre-filter allows lots of tiny animals to live and even reproduce in your aquarium.

Now all we need it to figure out exactly what it is. One more thing, the worms appeared about the same time that lots of blue-green algae slime was taking over the tank. Now the blue-green algae is gone, the rocks are covered with what looks like blood worm houses, no more blue-green slime and real moss is beginning to grow on the piece of coal. {Possibly these worms feed on blue-green algae! That would be cool for sure.

The 75g tank contains four paddlefish, 8 coolie loaches, 5 bronze Cory cats, two Otto, 12 ghost shrimp, and several species of snails.

A cheap magnifying glass from an office supply store oughta be good enough for distinguishing a true worm (oligochate) vs midge/fly larva. The shiny color sounds like a midge, but eel-like swimming description threw me off track. I've seen midges do eel-like undulations in their tubes (to pump water through) but never seen them swim that way.

Please tell us more (in a New Thread) about the "good authority" info on worms assisting digestion in paddlefish. If it's true then I wonder if it might also explain the high prevalence of intestinal worms in young bowfin?

Edited by gerald, 08 February 2011 - 01:52 PM.

A cheap magnifying glass from an office supply store oughta be good enough for distinguishing a true worm (oligochate) vs midge/fly larva. The shiny color sounds like a midge, but eel-like swimming description threw me off track. I've seen midges do eel-like undulations in their tubes (to pump water through) but never seen them swim that way.

Please tell us more (in a New Thread) about the "good authority" info on worms assisting digestion in paddlefish. If it's true then I wonder if it might also explain the high prevalence of intestinal worms in young bowfin?

After spending some time looking at them with a magnifying glass I am pretty sure they are some sort of insect larvae. They are scarce the last few days.

The good authority that told me about paddlefish comensual worms was Bigfishfarms that I got my paddlefish from. He said that if i used medicine to get rid of worms the fish would starve to death.

If the worms are getting harder to see because of the midges swarming around your face, then yes, I'd agree they're probably insect larvae. |;>)

Mike, who thinks up those experiements? Probably grad students (or their professors) on cocaine and meth

No, really Mr DEA man, I swear that whole entire inventory was used to study tiny worms...

Sounds like chironomids of some kind. Unless they're getting eaten, there'll be little imitation mosquitoes flying around eventually.

I also enjoy having inverts turn up and never mind, except when hydra over ran a fry tank. They couldn't eat the fry but they caused them obvious distress when the brushed against them.
One of my ex-wife's numerous complaints about my aquariums was all the little winged beasties that would turn up in the house.
This thread actually has me digging through the archives for pics of inverts I've taken over the years. Coming soon to a forum near you...

As Moon was saying wastewater plants produce all kinds of interesting critters, I mean in the cleaner parts, not the nasty stuff.
One plant had indoor sand filters that were so full of chironomids that the dead husks had to removed from the floor with a shovel. The incredible density supported a spider population that produced webs you could barely force your way through. I used to laugh at the old time wastewater operators that had no problem with the stinky parts of the plants but refused to into the "spider room".