??Unknown aquarium occupant??

Question
Hi!
Thanks for taking my question. I have a fresh water aquarium that only has red shrimp,  snails and plants. I noticed a long redish (at times less than 1/4" long but at times as thin as a mark made by a pencil lead that is not sharp and about 3/4" long) "worm-looking" thing in the substrata. Any ideas on what it might be?
THANKS!


Answer
Dear Pam,
There are many different kinds of worms that can get into your aquarium. They are most likely Planarians or Flatworms, which are tiny white or light-brownish worms. They can be introduced along with plants or even with fish. A tiny population can thrive unnoticed. But they will show up if there is a sudden abundance of food, which can cause the worm population to explode. A quickest and easiest way to fix this problem is to get out your siphon and do a very large water change. Make sure to gravel vacuum the best you can (while avoiding disturbing too many plant roots) A balanced aquarium won't be able to support a large population of worms. Usually just seeing 1-2 worms means that nothing is wrong but if they keep appearing more and more, you'll need to take action. It'll take several large water changes/gravel vaccumings to get rid of a large worm overpopulation.

To prevent worm over population in the future is very simple. Just be careful with feeding your critters and a few extra water changes may be all that is needed to prevent these worms from ever becoming a problem.

I really hope this helps!
Karen~