New aquarists worry about unidentified organisms in their tanks
40 posts in the last 30 days, all from r/Aquariums.
“This is the second one I've seen in just a few days. It’s somewhat firm and attaches firmly to the glass or decor using two transparent "suction cups" at the ends of its body. It doesn't move at all, doesn't react to being scraped off the glass, and shows no reaction when taken…”
“my tank is a few weeks old; i finished cycling one week ago and added shrimp. why are the detritus worms all at the surface? in my betta tank they are all in the substrate.”
“I know fish fry are near impossible to identify but wondering if anyone could help narrow it down. Two of these appeared after adding moss balls to a tank that should have no fish. Their eyes look very blue when they go under the light, camera doesn't show the color well.”
Multiple users express concern over the appearance of unknown organisms, like 'these' or potential ich/epistylis. This points to a lack of knowledge and difficulty identifying problems for new aquarium keepers.
SOURCES (41)
“I just saw this thing crawling and stretching around in my aquarium pretty quickly, looks like a worm, I don’t know what it is or if it’s dangerous, I want to keep snails and Triops Longicaudatus inside, should I remove it?? Do I have any…”
“Caught a little white worm looking thing while timelapsing my shromps (towards the end of the video). I think it's fine and just part of the normal ecosystem but could anyone confirm? (Fairly new to the hobby) Thanks! submitted by /u/HoboCrust [link] [comments]”
“Sorry if the image isn't clear enough. I used macro mode on my phone. Is this a limpet? submitted by /u/healzam [link] [comments]”
“Multiple photos for different angles/views of the spots. As far as I can tell, they are not moving. I just noticed them today and they are EVERYWHERE and nothing I look up matches. What are these? Should I be concerned? If I should be concerned, what should I do to remedy this? submitted by /u/Comfortable-Crab9158 [link] [comments]”
“My best guess is that these are eggs my female betta laid and they have fungus? Whatever they are I’m removing them 🤢 Edit: 5 gallon tank with one betta and some pond snails, it is cycled but I’ve had lots of issues with bacterial blooms and it’s relatively new. Thanks for any help! (jokes in comments also appreciated) submitted by /u/No_Procedure_2431 [link] [comments]”
“Notice these today, they are about a millimeter in size. The tank is fresh water 29 gallon with about 10 Amano shrimp, 4 nerite snails, 8 ottos and 15 fish(rummy nose and neon tetras and some barbs). I also noticed a few tiny snails, probably blader snails. Any advice what to do, keep it to see or remove, is appreciated. submitted by /u/tomastzn [link] [comments]”
“Just did a partial water change and vacuumed up through the substrate and saw a bunch of what I thought were little hairs... then saw them kinda dancing? Then a guppy ate one?? submitted by /u/DuubyDuu [link] [comments]”
“I found this weird black worm thing in the substrate of my freshwater tank. Can someone help me identify what it is? I’m afraid it could harm the baby neocaridina in my tank. submitted by /u/MochiTheCannibal [link] [comments]”
“Hello, I am currently 2 weeks in cycling a new 10g tank and these mysterious eggs seem to have just appeared. I’ve had a beautiful Leopard Ramshorn hitchhike into the tank that has already hatched some babies, but these eggs don’t look like traditional Ramshorn eggs to me? Nothing new has been added since the tank started cycling. I was wondering if anyone can confirm what this could be? submitted by /u/SentiCarter [link] [comments]”
“This is the second one I've seen in just a few days. It’s somewhat firm and attaches firmly to the glass or decor using two transparent "suction cups" at the ends of its body. It doesn't move at all, doesn't react to being scraped off the glass, and shows no reaction when taken out of the water. Honestly, it looks a bit like a cocoon. I can't find anything like it in the Google. Has anyone come across this before? 😖 submitted by /u/SystemWild3741 [”
“Came home from vacation to see these in my guppy tank on the aquarium gravel, any idea what they are? submitted by /u/geminitiedye [link] [comments]”
“my tank is a few weeks old; i finished cycling one week ago and added shrimp. why are the detritus worms all at the surface? in my betta tank they are all in the substrate. submitted by /u/Longjumping_Ruin5183 [link] [comments]”
“I found these in my nanno aquarium and i dont know if theyre eggs or smth else? submitted by /u/Turbulent-1617 [link] [comments]”
“I know fish fry are near impossible to identify but wondering if anyone could help narrow it down. Two of these appeared after adding moss balls to a tank that should have no fish. Their eyes look very blue when they go under the light, camera doesn't show the color well. submitted by /u/TheNetherChickens [link] [comments]”
“I just found this floating in a tank that is currently cycling without livestock. This is the second one I’ve found in that tank. It looks like an exoskeleton and when I went to pluck it out of the water it made no attempt to flee. I was gonna start adding fish (livebearers) to the tank next week since the cycle is nearly completed. Should I hold off? submitted by /u/Fantastic_Bit8618 [link] [comments]”
“I found these tiny worms in my tank, ive already done a water change but these are still here. Are these bad for my betta? submitted by /u/Dangerous_Ad_6497 [link] [comments]”
“Rhabdocoela??? Ive never seen it before! submitted by /u/Ok-Wealth-2605 [link] [comments]”
“I just redid my betta’s tank a few months ago and it looks like there’s some sort of damselfly nymph (maybe) in there. Is this dangerous to the fish or can I just let it chill without removing? submitted by /u/Possible-Log6220 [link] [comments]”
“3 week old tank, still cycling. Are these detritus worms or something else? Only in this corner of the tank around the sponge filter. submitted by /u/Lilywitch_ [link] [comments]”
“What are these little white dots? I was assuming they could be eggs of some sort because my snails kinda produce something similar but this is not the works of the snails. This is in my betta tank, they only thing in there is like 30+ snails, 1 betta, and 4 Pygmy Cory’s submitted by /u/k3nnwood [link] [comments]”
“Can anyone help me identify this worm? I found it coming out of a live rock in my reef tank shortly after feeding. It looks orange/black and somewhat hairy, but I can’t see any obvious white bristles. Is this a harmless bristleworm or something I should be concerned about? submitted by /u/AndreIkari [link] [comments]”
“Can someone identify what these red worms are? I found them in one of my planted tanks that I am still cycling (no fish yet). The tank has aquasoil, plants, pebbles, and driftwood. They're about the size of mosquito larva, but some are a bit longer. Are they harmful or can they be fed to my other fish? Additional context: this tank is in a covered outdoor space in the Philippines. submitted by /u/PheonixRaven [link] [comments]”
A segmented worm? A leech? submitted by /u/Biospecter [link] [comments]
“I found these little bugs in my freshwater tank today. I haven’t added any new plants in a few days so maybe they were just hiding better? I hope they’re nice and helpful and not terrible pest. Disclaimer I did add a few wild plants from my local creek I didn’t see any pest that came along so unless I had stowaway eggs IDK where these things came from. I also plan to add some neocaradina shrimp soon so I don’t want to put them at risk submitted by /u/Nervous_Editor6810 [link] [”
“Who is this lil worm? Doesn’t seem like planaria based on her cruising around in the light and the body shape. Some kind of leech? Was juuuuust about to add stock to this cycled tank (shrimp, tetras.) submitted by /u/queerbaefarmer [link] [comments]”
“Got this larva(?) in the wall of my tank, it's tiny , has a distinct head and heeps wiggling its body. It's a freshwater tank that initially was just supposed to be a pot for utricularias but it grew in scope, so I tossed some cherry shrimps and snails today, that's probably where this fella came from. submitted by /u/Thiago270398 [link] [comments]”
“I got them maybe 2 days ago and they looked okay before i put them in the tank. What can i do to cure them? submitted by /u/Icy_Network1134 [link] [comments]”
“I’m pretty sure that these are Rhabdocoela but I’d like a second opinion since they’ve never showed up before and just sprung up today and my angel fish were eating them submitted by /u/llIIIllAIIllII [link] [comments]”
“How did this thing get into my tank and what is it? I did not introduce anything from the wild I got he tank. My substrate is just sand that’s bought from the store. submitted by /u/Happy_octian [link] [comments]”
“For context: I found a bunch of these tiny worm looking creatures on my glass. I'm worried that they are planaria, but because I don't have a ton of experience with planaria, I may not be able to correctly identify them while they're premature. Luckily my tank isn't stocked yet (besides snails that came with some plants), but I do want to add shrimp this week as my tank has been cycling for over a month now. Behavior-wise, I watched a few of them "attack" some copepods”
“Wtf is this and why is it in my tank? submitted by /u/jamescharleslov [link] [comments]”
“what is this? We noticed this squiggly swimmer in the tank immediately after a water change. There is some debris because a lot had just been kicked up but this is not a root. It was very much swimming. It is about a cm long. Thanks. submitted by /u/Secretg0ldfish [link] [comments]”
“What in the. What is this. I saw this underneath one of the rocks of my guppy tubs. submitted by /u/gohcku2008 [link] [comments]”
“Seeing a couple of these little white guys around our planted tank. Anything to be concerned about? submitted by /u/fhcky [link] [comments]”
“Hey friends, I was checking out some life in my cycling aquarium, and I saw this little guy. However, what is that wiggling out of him? What's connected under him? And did he poop on camera? submitted by /u/Simply_Just_ [link] [comments]”
“Sorry for the terrible quality, it wouldn’t let me post a video. I have a 75 gal with 4 angel fish, and i just notice a “school” of these little white things swimming around. Any ideas what they are? I’ll try to post a video in the comments submitted by /u/Akhylz [link] [comments]”