Hi everyone,
I really need your help and advice because I’m honestly losing hope right now.
We recently started our first aquarium. We’re in week 4 of the cycling process — it’s a 70-liter planted tank.
So far, we haven’t added any fish yet because our water test results weren’t great:
• Nitrite was a bit too high
• GH (hardness) was too low
Up until that point, everything was going okay.
Then someone at the pet store advised us to buy Elodea (waterweed/waterpest) to help absorb nitrite.
So we did — rinsed it thoroughly and placed it in the tank.
And now… a week later:
🐌 I suddenly started seeing small and larger bladder snails in the tank.
I’m sure they came with the new plant. I’ve been manually removing the ones I can find.
But today I noticed something worse:
🪱 tiny, thin white worms crawling on the glass.
After some Googling, it looks like planaria (or nematodes?).
I have no idea what I’m doing wrong.
Today’s water test:
• Nitrite = 0
• Nitrate = low (looks fine)
• GH = still too low
I was planning to add Colombo GH+ to increase the hardness, but now I’m completely unsure what to do because of these worms and snails.
What really worries me is that this is happening without any fish or feeding at all.
I’m scared it’s going to turn into a full-blown infestation.
So my question is:
• Is this something that can still be treated or controlled?
• Or is it permanent once it starts — should I just give up before adding fish?
Any help, reassurance, or advice would mean a lot right now.
This was supposed to be a calm hobby, but I’m honestly stressed out and disappointed at the moment.
Posted by jesuis_nutella
14 Comments
sorry i can’t help, but i have heard of people getting rid of those! but don’t give up, your tank looks so beautiful and it would look even better with life in it! i’d look up reddit threads on how to get rid of the worms because people on here seem to know their shit lmao
The white worms are probably detritus worms. Harmless and free snacks for your fish. If you have a bunch floating in the water (instead of in the substrate), that means you’re over feeding or not doing enough cleaning.
Bladder snails are also harmless and will help eat algae. Just don’t over feed and remove uneaten food after 30 mins and the population will get under control. if you really want them out, stick a cucumber slice on a fork or in a water bottle and leave it in the tank for a bit. Once it’s swarmed with snails, take it out and squish them.
Hi! Don’t give up 😊. Aquariums are tiny ecosystems.
You have a few options since it’s a fish and invertebrate free tank right now. You can choose to treat for planaria chemically since there is nothing else in the tank that can be harmed or you can choose to introduce a predator for the planaria.
My guppies eat planaria and my pea puffer eats the bladder snails. Do some research regarding ways to treat for both before deciding. If you do get a pea puffer, you can’t really have tank mates with them a lot of the time.
I don’t know very many (if any) aquarists who have never had bladder snails OR planaria 😅.
Bladder snails are good friends. They help immensely in keeping the tank clean and maintaining an equilibrium in it. I can’t imagine having a tank without small snails.
As for the worms, depends on what exactly they are. But since you don’t have any fish or shrimp in there yet, it’s unlikely they’re one of the actually parasitic ones. A photo would be helpful but they’re probably just some detritivores (eating decaying organic matter). Personally I’d let the tank run its course and not worry about it too much. Eventually, when you add fish, they’ll eat them in no time.
Based off of your description it is impossible to know what the worms are. Plants won’t do anything for nitrites btw. You just have to wait for the bacteria to establish. This hobby is all about surprises and patience. Everything must be done slowly and deliberately. Either post a picture of the worms or use this to identify.
https://preview.redd.it/bqatbo8xz90g1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08121589057fe1e0dad64e95c3e07e4a750ad06a
You aren’t doing anything wrong and those are just normal things that happen that aren’t super avoidable. 🙂
Pick out the bladder snails and toss em in your garden (birds will eat them). It took me a good week of constantly pulling them/destroying nests I saw and now my snail population is fairly manageable and stable. I even occasionally sell them to pea puffer owners who are looking for snacks for their pea puffers.
Please don’t tear down such a lovely tank. Pest snails are a fact of life. I pull the ones on the front glass if I feel like it(aka rarely). They will eat algae and they will multiply. My advice is to make peace with it.
There is a freshwater micro fauna chart floating around the sub. I’d post it here, but I can’t add a picture for some reason. Most aquarium worms are harmless and even good for your tank. Detritus worms are a mark of a healthy tank and provide your fish with live food.
Even planaria are less of an issue depending what you’re stocking. They might go for baby shrimp, but so will 99% of fish that can fit them in their mouth. There are two basic treatments, no planaria with betel nut palm extract and fenbendazole, which is also a dog and goat dewormer. Panacur is branded for dogs and safe-guard for goats but you can find fish tank dosage online. Fenbendazole is supposed to treat leeches too, but I don’t have personal experience with this. Unfortunately(or fortunately), they will kill snails too.
If you’re quitting 4 weeks in due to snails and detritus worms this hobby isn’t for you😂
You’re upset because aquarium be aquariuming?
Sounds great. Snails are fun, if you have a population explosion cut back on feeding otherwise they are nice to have. White worms are free live food for your fish. They will be gone as soon as you put in livestock.
Buy an assassin snail, they eat snails or a Loche they eat snails
I would put in some fish that can eat snails and worms.
I’ve had a 10 gal tank with a scarlet badis that hunts eats the white pods in there. I didn’t feed it for a few months now. Just added 3 juvi angelfish and 4 neons and they also want to eat those. I tried to grow black worms in it before but the water is too deep so the worms went up closer to the surface and they got wiped out by fish. My dream tank would have abundant live foods.
“Clean” tanks aren’t always natural. The “dirty” tanks are usually more stable. I didn’t change the water all year and the pet store said my water test came out perfect.
I bet some fish will be happy in your tank.
Snails are fine, if you dont overfeed they don’t become a problem. And worms are free fish food.
This is all 100% normal