Tiny see through worms climbing up the sides of my tank!

Well I just got my 10 gallon all divided and set up, and added my male betta. I've had this tank cycled and running for a while. I divided it yesterday and thought everything was good to go...until I looked at it today.

There are these tiny, seethrough worms climbing up the sides of my tank! YUCK!

What should I do to get rid of them? I just gravel vacced but if necessary I can break the tank down and start all over again.

Any ideas? Advice? I want these things gone asap.

 

A photo would be helpful, but they're likely to be detritus worms. I don't know anything you can really do about them... the cleaner your tank, the fewer you'll have, but in general, they aren't harmful.

That's IF they're detritus worms. Without photos it's hard to be sure.

 

The little clear worms are fine. A sign of a healthy tank. Good snacks for your betta too. If you really want to get rid of them just vacuum a lot and scrape them off your glass.

 

A photo would be helpful, but they're likely to be detritus worms. I don't know anything you can really do about them... the cleaner your tank, the fewer you'll have, but in general, they aren't harmful.

That's IF they're detritus worms. Without photos it's hard to be sure.

I've already taken the fish and snails out and I'm draining the tank. The weird thing is, I clean my tanks obsessively....and yet I've growing these crazy little worms? It's sad, kind of makes me feel like a failure. I try so hard yet cannot keep my tanks pristine.

 

Be careful of keeping your tank overly clean. Sounds like micro worms. Anabids ( your betta is one) will eat them happily.

 

^What could happen if I keep my tank too clean? I'm going for crystal clear water...something I haven't been able to achieve yet.

Also, would it be okay to leave the tank without substrate for about a month? I'll be breaking it down again to take it with me to college in January.

 

^What could happen if I keep my tank too clean? I'm going for crystal clear water...something I haven't been able to achieve yet.

Also, would it be okay to leave the tank without substrate for about a month? I'll be breaking it down again to take it with me to college in January.

I spoke with out thinking it through. It is really balancing act. Disregard my comment

 

Well I cleaned and sanitized everything, left out the substrate - and forgot to clean and sanitize the filter! So now, I have an extremely clean tank......with worms from the filter. I can never win.

 

umm. deter worms are signs that you are over feeding or water quality in the substrate is bad. If you want pristine clean h2o. invest in a UV sterilizer. deter worms are a good sign of an aged tank. if you don't have worms in there. other microbe will grow in place and cause even a worse case scenario.

 

I think the problem is that I feed my snails algae wafers that sit on the bottom. I feed my bettas a pinch of food every other

day, and I gravel vac every saturday, and as needed. Hmm... Most of the worms got sucked back into the filter..

 

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...elp-id-these-tiny-critters-in-my-tank.121051/

Good morning,

Check out the video in the above link, post #12. It may help you to determine the type of worms you are dealing with. With them crawling on the glass it sounds like Planaria to me. Are they white?

Planaria can be difficult to get rid of but they are not harmful unless they become over populated. Some fish may eat them. You can vacuum your substrate, and clean the glass. Be patient. Be careful not to over feed your fish which is this cause of these worms.

Over cleaning your aquarium can remove beneficial bacteria needed to sustain the tanks cycle. Your aquarium and filter maintenance should be spread out over time. Example: Clean your substrate this week, rinse your filter media in siphoned tank water next week.

Best of luck and hang in there!

Ken