Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey i have 3 RES housed together they've been fine over the past year growing well and very strong.. in their tank i have a pleco and a few other fish, but i just got home from a vacation today and for the first time ever i notivced a million clear super tiny worm things swimming around the tank after i did a water change, whats the deal???

i changed th water againn afterwards

Hmm thats odd, did the fish have babies or something..? maybe, if not, but I think it is you might want to isolate your turtles and see whats up.

Hmmmmm. First thing to pass through my mind when I saw your situation was mosquitoe larvae. Ya think that's what the wormy things could have been?

Hey, those little white worms you're seeing are harmless. They are part of your filter media. They are actually beneficial for your tank. And they will always come back everytime you clean your tank. Peace!
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3 Dobermin Pinschers
4 African Grey Parrots
1 Lesser Sulfer-Crested Cockatoo
3 Cockatiels
1 Male Iguana
1 Female RES
1 Juvi YBS
1 Juvi Northern Red-Belly Slider
1 Flying Fox
1 Pleco.
Dozens of Platies

They are harmless and they do live in your filter media, but I don't think they actually come with the media, or are supposed to be there. I have heard that once you get them in your tank it is impossible to get rid of them, but they won't hurt anything.
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I don't know what those worms are either but they really must be harmless because I've been battling them for a year. The first couple of times I found them in the tank I freaked out and bleached the tank and put all new gravel and stuff in but it wasn't long before they came back. I hate them cause they are soooo creepy but they seem to be harmless--but if anyone happens to know of anything that works to get rid of them pleassseeee let me know! Kelly

im just wondering... do the turtles eat these 'worms'? i dont have them (yet)... but i was thinking that considering they eat pretty much ANYTHING in the water, i figured they would eat these worms also!
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

i have some pumpkin seed sunfish and they eat them but the turtles dont touch them

No they don't eat them. They are probably too little for them to even see. I read on one of the posted messages that Guppies like to eat them but the problem is that your res would probably eat the guppy before it could do much good! Kelly

hey is true tat those worms r ok? i mean i see them too and they like float around in the water and some crawl on the glass. There r soo many worms tho is it ok or not. i dont wanna kill my turtle.
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3 Baby Whites Treefrog (Faygo[M], Fanta[F], Max[M])
1 Pacman (Big Mac[M])
3 Cats (Cindy[F], Rex[M], Tabby[F])
1 Mississippi Map Turtle (Lucky[M])
4 Fish (Was feeder for turtle but never ate them so now they big and family wit turtle.)
1 Parakeet (Swifty[F])
I am 14 and bought all my herp supplies and accesories all by myself. My dad has a new lab(Dental Technician) and i have helped out and saved money to buy all the things for my little froggies. proud of it!
[F]=FEMALE [M]=MALE

Yep - they are white worms and harmless. Actually if you can keep guppies in their long enough without the turtles eating them the guppies like to eat those worms.

WOW thanks i never knew that!!! thankss for everyones advice

What filter media causes this? I have not come across any white worms yet.

Well I use a Whisper Power filter whith the disposable Bio-Bag filter cartridges. The only times I see the worms is when I add extra water to the tank when it evaporates. It seems to flush them out of the filter and then my feeder fish eat them up.
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3 Dobermin Pinschers
4 African Grey Parrots
1 Lesser Sulfer-Crested Cockatoo
3 Cockatiels
1 Male Iguana
1 Female RES
1 Juvi YBS
1 Juvi Northern Red-Belly Slider
1 Pleco.
6 Platies

yeah, i had these in my turtle tank once too. i freaked out, bleached the tank and rinsed it out real well and killed them all. i didn't know what they were but someone told me they eat off old food. i know my tank was really dirty at the time when i first saw the worms. i've never seen them again and i've improved my filter so i guess that's why.

I think I may have found out what these worms are-
Protozoa: Have you ever noticed these worms in your turtle tank? Look Closely. The best way to rid your turtle tank of these is to feed your turtles in a separate tank. Protozoa are one-celled organisms and are microscopic. There are over 45,000 species of protozoa. Some protozoa are flagellates. Flagella are long, hair-like structures that can whip back and forth rapidly, propelling the organism. Other protozoa are ciliates. Cilia are much shorter, hair-like structures that often cover the organism. Although both these types of protozoa are found in chelonians, the most commonly found are flagellates.

Even though, flagellates may not be pathogenic and may aid in the digestive system; they can easily reach pathogenic proportions in a captive environment. This parasite is easily spread by the animal drinking contaminated water and being kept in poor hygenic conditions, as is often the case when the animal suffers the consequences of the pet trade. Protozoan infections can cause acute diarrhea, dehydration, and in chronic cases, the passing of undigested food because the infection can contribute to the destruction of the normal intestinal flora
For more info go to resoasis.com

so you are saying that these 'worms' really ARE harmful for the turtles???
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

that doesnt look good but how do i have them if they come from unsanitary conditions, i clean my tank on average 2 times a week

I don't think they are harmful. At least in my tank they aren't because they die after about 2 days. (but they always come back!) If you look at the message I posted Sept 11 I got that info. off of resoasis.com.