# FREAKING OUT - this is grossing me out



## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

I found this little white wiggly worm like thing in my 3 gallon (with one male betta) when doing a WC a few minutes ago. It's about 1/4 long and white and skinny. i tried to take pics but I think they look more like a hair than a worm. is this a parasite???? i have live plants and a nerite snail in there as well. and due to heater shortage, I didn't QT the snail properly. I know i know, please don't ream me out. 

please help!! i am freaking out!! i have serious issues with bugs and possible infestations!!



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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

please tell me it's harmless!!! I'm sooooo freaking out!!


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

It looks like a planaria? You can google it to be sure. They eat leftover food in gravel. Gravel vac every day for like a week.


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

I just found this about planaria. It does kind of look like it. I didn't think I fed him too much (too little, I thought, since he tends to get constipated easily). Could it also be a coincidence that they just showed up when I stopped using AQ salt?


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

I think mine was closer to .5 inches though...


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

I don't know. I have them too and Whiskey only gets 6 pellets a day. Mine also showed up after I added a snail, so I attributed it to snail poo and a lot of green algae in his tank. I don't worry about them. He gets a 50% change weekly and a vacuum. There used to be a lot more and now there are maybe two or three per side on the glass. I'm sure they're there to do some kinda job.


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

few ok. Man, I was really freaking out. These kinds of things just gross me out (and such things as fleas, and ticks). THANK YOU!!!


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

As long as it's wiggling around on the glass and not going after your fish, not to worry.


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

Yeah it was wiggling around in the water, but that was because I was pouring the water in from a pitcher. I inspected him thoroughly before putting him back in and didn't see anything hanging from. Plus he's right next to my computer so I see him more than any of the other guys, and haven't seen anything hanging out.


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## Heat (May 8, 2010)

Aww~ from what I read on the website, they live in the same habitat as bettas and dont eat fish scales.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Eeeuuuwwww, I'd be freaked out, too!!


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## ecoprincess (Jul 16, 2009)

gross.

so....how did that get in your tank? im confused


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## JamieTron (May 16, 2009)

Snails are carriers of parasites some harmful some not..if I remember reading about my parasites correctly the type that crawl on the glass that are white are normally not harmful. If you wanna get rid of them I would rinse your tank with salty hot water  should help get rid of some of them. Do the gravel too :-D


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## Cyphus (May 10, 2010)

gross =X I am glad I don't have snails then!!


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

I wish I never read this thread, I get totally freaked out with stuff like that, it makes my skin crawl lol. But atleast if I spot one in my tank I know not to worry lol.


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

mmmm... yeah it's still freaking me out. vacuumed again today, then filled the tank up and vacuumed AGAIN! and they were still in there. ARGH! And he's right next to my computer, so it's the tank I see the most often... AAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

I think i figured out where they came from. I got a new plant about 3 weeks ago and Cielo kept pecking (yes, pecking) at the roots. I thought he was just interested in them. On Monday when I cleaned it out (or was it sunday??) I broke up the baby plants and spread them out in teh tank. Thats when I saw them for the first time. So I think they've always been in the root system, but always wrapped up with all the roots. But when i broke them apart it loosened them and spread them throughout the tank. so i'll be vacuuming and adding salt until they are gone... which is not soon enough!


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## mfskarphedin (May 19, 2010)

Hi, looong ago, before the Python was born, I had a 15 gal that accumulated too much waste in the gravel, and soon enough, I had a billion of similar-looking things crawling around. I put my goldfish fry in there, and they went nuts eating them! Fattened 'em up real good. I have no idea where they came from, and I haven't seen any since, but they didn't do any harm.


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## Sella (Mar 21, 2010)

Its most likely for sure a planaria. I have one somewhere in my tank as well that I believe came in on the live plants. They're harmless in small numbers, and I think bettas might eat them if they happen to notice it.
I haven't seen my planaria in about three months since I first noticed it, and I haven't seen it since. You can scoop it out if you want to, but they stick really hard on to the glass so it can be tricky. I'm sure after today you'll never see it again.


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## shmifty5 (May 12, 2010)

when i had my newts i used to see all kinds of nasty little things, this is mos likely a planaria (as mentioned like 100 times before, lol), they are harmless unless you happen to get a large number stuck to your body in which case the hospital is your best friend (personal experience btw), the only critters you need to worry about are the ones that stick to your animal or come out of them.


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