# Little inch worms and tiny tiny bugs?!?!?!



## TexasTanker (May 5, 2010)

Wow this whole tank thing just got reallly gross. I have little (up to one inch) inch worm type things that are white to sand in color in my tank. THEN I have little teeny tiny mite looking things that act like ants on crack. They might be black but it's hard to tell. My whole body is itching and I'm reconsidering letting the kids have tanks if this is normal.... What are they?


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## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

Worms might be Planarian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planarian
Small bugs might be Copepod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod
No harm done by either. They both live all over the world where there is water. 
When you go for a swim in the sea/ocean/river/lake, etc, they are also there for a swim.
Trust me, they will do no harm to you or to the kids or to anyone for that matter.


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## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

Thinks of Mites(Acarina), they are by the millions on your sofa, bed, rug, whatnot. They are even more gross than what you have in the tank yet you go on with your life ignoring the fact that each breath of air you take might contain a good portion of mites(like 2000 of them).
If you can live with that you can live with a few worms and ants on crack in the tank(since they can do NOTHING to a human, well maybe gross some ppl out but about it).
Hope this is of help... or... more reasons for a paranoia attack :-D(joking)


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## TexasTanker (May 5, 2010)

Redknee said:


> Thinks of Mites(Acarina), they are by the millions on your sofa, bed, rug, whatnot. They are even more gross than what you have in the tank yet you go on with your life ignoring the fact that each breath of air you take might contain a good portion of mites(like 2000 of them).
> If you can live with that you can live with a few worms and ants on crack in the tank(since they can do NOTHING to a human, well maybe gross some ppl out but about it).
> Hope this is of help... or... more reasons for a paranoia attack :-D(joking)


They have pills for handling the grossness. I'll be looking to up my dose next appointment;-)


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

yeah they are harmless, I have the worms in my plant tank. They are harmless, the itching might be caused by ones mind and grossness lol... kinda like when people talk about lice, and you start scratching your head lol. Or you might be allergic to something else and noticed this at the wrong time.. 1+1=2 so to speak. 


Anyways good luck with killing them off. I never tried so let me know how it went.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Redknee said:


> Thinks of Mites(Acarina), they are by the millions on your sofa, bed, rug, whatnot. They are even more gross than what you have in the tank yet you go on with your life ignoring the fact that each breath of air you take might contain a good portion of mites(like 2000 of them).
> If you can live with that you can live with a few worms and ants on crack in the tank(since they can do NOTHING to a human, well maybe gross some ppl out but about it).
> Hope this is of help... or... more reasons for a paranoia attack :-D(joking)


I remember seeing a science show on the different type of microscopic organisms that live all around us and on us! There was a shot of the mites that live in our beds, feeding off of dead skin cells. They looked like a herd of sheep grazing over the bed sheets. It was GROSS and why I now change my sheets twice a week. They also showed the mites that live on our eyelashes. Eeeeeew. Pass the OCD pills, please.


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## Castro235 (Mar 4, 2010)

aunt kymmie said:


> I remember seeing a science show on the different type of microscopic organisms that live all around us and on us! There was a shot of the mites that live in our beds, feeding off of dead skin cells. They looked like a herd of sheep grazing over the bed sheets. It was GROSS and why I now change my sheets twice a week. They also showed the mites that live on our eyelashes. Eeeeeew. Pass the OCD pills, please.


The mites and such live in your mattress mostly, the sheet changes don't do much lol.


Does anyone have any words on whether these worms can be of benefit to a tank?

Maybe the keep the substrate aerated, or are a benefit to plants, or a sign of good tank health?


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Hmm...worms being described as inch-worm like and almost an inch long really sounds like mosquito larvae to me. Do they look like this?








They also have a distinct swimming pattern where they sort of wiggle-swim in a jerky fashion to the surface for air before swimming back down into the water.


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## TexasTanker (May 5, 2010)

it was on the bottom of a bucket and I wasn't about to get any closer. I didn't see any definition that would resemble the pic you showed. Could the frozen bloodworms I'm using have eggs or something that could have hatched? I thaw them then feed them to the fishies individually. I'm being uber careful of letting any food touch the bottom right now.


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