We all get them, and they do no harm. While they may be a number of things such as nemerteans, soil nematodes or even larvae of insects such as gnats or beetles, they are nothing to worry about.

I love this question because it occurs as often as anyone sets up a new tank. It was my first question years and years ago before the forums, and John Skillcorn of the British Dendrobatid Society answered it for me. I'm a microbiologist/parasitologist, retired and sans microscope) so when I found these slender creatures wiggling their pin heads around as they crawled over the glass, I thought the worst. They do go away in time, but seem to be a common new tank phenomenon.

Since then, I've learned that most all of the fungi, tiny critters and other strange things that crop up in a tank are almost always just a part of the biological process and a sign of a healthy tank rather than otherwise. You may find millipedes, various isopods, and springtails living on detritus, and even snails and slugs. Some snails may damage plants or eat frog eggs, of course--but those flat ones in my tanks seem to just graze on algae, and on occasion become tadpole food in the thumbnail tanks. Slugs of course, damage plants. There are some fun ways of trying to control them, or baiting them with beer or lettuce leaves, but in the long run, the original bloom in population seems to settle down to just a few and not much, but still some plant damage if you just leave them alone. This is not to say there are NO concerns, but in general, none of these surprises will harm your frogs, and many even supplement their food supply.

One thing to think about is you will probably never see anything that is pathological to a healthy frog growing or crawling around
in a tank. If a frog dies for some reason, it will be immediately subject to fungi and perhaps small "worms" which are larvae of flies, but these are not the cause of death, only the eaters of dead material.

The experience phase of a first living tank and raising darts is always full of anxiety. I still get anxiety when something new crops up.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

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