What are these little creatures in my fish tank?

The tiny white mites you have in your tank are most likely amphipods or copepods. These tiny animals live in the wild environment and in closed aquarium systems, too. These minute creatures are actually harmless crustaceans, rather like super-tiny shrimp.

How do I get rid of anchor worms in my fish tank?

Bath the Fish in Potassium Permanganate Placing all the fish from your aquarium in a bath of Potassium Permanganate will kill any immature anchor worms that are on your fish but have yet to embed themselves, however, it may not kill the ones that have. Either way, it’s effective and a good place to start.

How did nematodes get in my fish tank?

Aquarists often first come across these harmless ‘white worms’ when they spot them in their hundreds massing on the sides of the aquarium in newly set up aquariums during the cycle process, when the aquarium is lacking in oxygen or if the tank is heated.

What is a snail leech?

Snail-leeches live predatory off worms and snails, which are unceremoniously sucked dry. These leeches are unsurprisingly VERY unwelcome guests in aquariums containing more special snails like Tylomelania sp. A snail-leech’s body doesn’t feel soft and slimy, but hard and gristly.

How do you identify aquarium worms?

Parasitic or harmful worms will not be visible on the gravel or the glass of the aquarium. Noticing small white worms the size of a few millimeters crawling along the glass are either flat or roundworms. Flat appearances are planaria (flatworms) and the more thin and wiggly ones are nematodes (roundworms).

How do you get rid of damselfly larvae?

Removing damselfly nymphs The most effective and least intrusive way of getting rid of a nymph is by manually removing it with a net or a water siphon. Since they like to hide, it is recommended to gently move any plants or pieces of driftwood around to force them out.

Where do anchor worms come from?

Anchor worm is a parasite of the skin and gills of fish. The parasite was first found in the Canning River in 2008 and has since been found in the Serpentine and Murray Rivers, south of Perth. Although originally a parasite of goldfish and carp, anchor worm has a very wide host range.

What do nematodes do to fish?

Extensive migration by large numbers of nematodes may cause significant physical damage to a fish. Large larval stages of some nematode species, including Eustrongylides species, may cause physical pressure on organs and abdominal distension.

What are the worm looking things in my fish tank?

Detritus Worms are annelid worms; this is the phylum that includes the segmented worms such as earthworms, tubifex worms, and leeches. Quite often, detritus worms are not even seen. They tend to live in between the pebbles of gravel where they eat the debris left over from feeding or deposited by your fish.

Are leeches a worm?

Leeches (often misspelled leach or leaches) are flattened segmented worms with a sucker on both tail and mouth. They move by attaching the mouth sucker, then tail sucker, then mouth sucker, and so on, flipping along the surface. Some leeches even live in moist environments on the land.

What is a little white worm?

Threadworms, also called pinworms, are tiny, very thin white worms about 5 millimetres long that live in the intestine and around the anus (bottom).

What do aquarium parasites look like?