# What Are These Worms



## Greg c (Apr 19, 2012)

Hi i am new to this forum and have a question, i bought a piraya about 3 weeks ago and today i noticed these little white looking worms swirling around in my tank from the filters current, none are on the glass, they are about 3/8ths of an inch long and look like this at 40 times under my microscope, they look like they have barbs or hair on them, in the last 4 days my piranha have been extremely nervous and have stopped eating, water quality is good, does anyone know what these things are and how to get rid of them?, thanks in advance.


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2012)

Could be nematodes. Is your tank newly setup? Have you added any wood to it? They are usually the result of leaving food in the tank for to long or appear when a tank is going through the cycling process.

What are your water paramteres exactly cause if you didnt cycle the tank then I doubt they are fine.


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## Greg c (Apr 19, 2012)

ksls said:


> Could be nematodes. Is your tank newly setup? Have you added any wood to it? They are usually the result of leaving food in the tank for to long or appear when a tank is going through the cycling process.
> 
> What are your water paramteres exactly cause if you didnt cycle the tank then I doubt they are fine.


The tank has been set up for about 1 month, i forgot to mention that i added some floating plants last week that i have on the outside of the tank to help lower the nitrates, i think the worms might have came from the plants, water parameters are fine, when i first set up the new tank i used a filter pad from my established tank to help cycle the new tank more quickly.


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Doesn't look like nematodes, but some species of _Oligocheata _(aquatic freshwater worms).
Should be harmless.


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