it appears to be white worms

Question
We came home and found what appears to be little white worms floating/swimming around the glass of the fish tank.  It seems as if it could be bacteria, but they look like worms.  They aren't on the fish but they are all over everything else. Do you happen to know what causes this or what exactly it is?

Answer
Hey Cortnei,

First off, free floating bacteria is microscopic. You'd need a pretty strong microscope to be able to see it, and when you do, it generally doesn't swim, or move very quickly. Nevertheless, these worms you see could be just about anything.

If they seem to ignore your fish, odds are they're not parasitic, and are no cause for alarm. However, I'm guessing you don't want them around because worms in your water are icky. My initial thought is that they either are mosquito larva, or some sort of plant worm from a new addition to your tank?

If you have not added anything recently, consider investigating larva. If you do not have surface currents, or agitation, mosquitos will land and lay eggs in your water. Flys, and other bugs can too. Most fish will eat these bugs, so there isn't much need for fear.

If you have good water flow, then the worms could be any of hundreds of things. Regardless, there are two seemingly simple solutions. First, you can *in freshwater tanks* raise the salinity of the tank to a level that wont kill your fish (every fish has it's own limits, but all freshwater fish can survive a fair amount of salt and actually benefit from it) and raise the temperature. The combination of these will kill bad bacteria, fungus, and unwanted visitors. The other option is simply net them all out manually and keep an eye for more in the next few weeks. Either way, be sure to clear out the bodies of these worm like creatures as to keep from spiking your ammonia levels with rotting bodies.

If you have any other questions, or think you need another idea of how to take care of this, feel free to ask.