# Red Worms in Substrate ????



## FISA (Dec 3, 2004)

Hi all...I was looking at the root formation on the side of the 75 gallon and praising how the roots were spreading in the Eco complete...

until I pointed out to my wife...hey this strand of root is red....and soon found other areas with the so called red roots...

The next day it moved....and last night i witnessed it moving around...so i am pretty sure these "red roots" are worms..

if they are...then i wonder where they came from ? I do feed the fishes and ADF frozen blood worms etc...hmm....frozen blood worm eggs?..plants? or with the eco complete...

I dunno....any of you every witness this ?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Free fish food roud: Plus your substrate will probably stay nice and healthy.

Marcel


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I feed my fishies sometimes earthworms, which come out of the soil after rains. Sometimes they escape and make it down into the substrate and interestingly survive the aquatic environment. 

Not sure if this is what you see... but "Bloodworm-eggs" don't exist, since they are larvae of mosquitos and as such can not propagate, however I wouldn't exclude the possibility that somehow eggs got mixed up with the bloodworms...

Could be leeches as well...


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## rayhwong (Aug 6, 2004)

I found these worms too. They are wide, thin, and alot longer than bloodworms or blackworms. What are these guys? They lay sacs of eggs on the roots. The fish wont eat them.


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## FISA (Dec 3, 2004)

Hey bud ...could possibly be....

but they are pinkish red .... i am supprised too as how they can survive the aquatic environment.....are there worms that also inhabit substrates under lakes and rivers etc intheir natural environment......


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## IHOR (Feb 9, 2005)

I also use Eco-Complete and the kids and I noticed a red worm. This was definitely not a bloodworm - looked more like a small earthworm. I had assumed it had come in with some plants, but as you mention Eco-Complete, I wonder if that is not the culprit. Suppose an email to Eco-Complete might shed some light.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

FISA said:


> Hey bud ...could possibly be....
> 
> but they are pinkish red .... i am supprised too as how they can survive the aquatic environment.....are there worms that also inhabit substrates under lakes and rivers etc intheir natural environment......


You are right, there are Tubifex worms that were once commonly used for fish food. But how would they get into your tank?


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## Neptune (Feb 9, 2005)

I think what you are referring to are tubifex worms. I had some of the worms you describe come with a shipment of floating plants. Most of them were flushed since I wasn't sure what they were, but a couple did escape into my substrate. When moving my tanks recently, I found one still alive. I had forgotten all about them. I left it in there, but just yesterday I found it floating around dead. Now that I realize they aren't a danger, I wish I had added them all to my tank. I'm not sure if there are any remaining survivors or not. I'm getting a shipment of plants from the same person that I got the floating plants from.......maybe I'll ask him to throw in a good bunch of worms too! I think they are good for planted tanks, kinda like earthworms in a garden.


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## BlueRam (Sep 21, 2004)

I vote Tubifex. I tried to feed live (called bloodworms, blackworms, tubifex...) worms to a puffer and some did establish themselves in the substrate. I did not know though until the puffers passed on and all of a sudden the tank was overrun! I have not seen one in my other tanks for a year or so. Some think they are good, some think they are bad but my fish sure liked to eat them.


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## rayhwong (Aug 6, 2004)

They dont look like tubifex to me. They were almost like like a bright red intestine. it hangs around the plant roots.


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Something like this?


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## rayhwong (Aug 6, 2004)

Nope not like that. Thanks for the link though. It literally looks like a twisted thin flat small intestine. It reminds me of a tape worm, but bright red.
The body is not round but flat and very limp.


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## Stu (Feb 16, 2004)

It does sound like Tubifex worms to me.

Do they look like this?
That is literally hundreds of the fellas, but you can see individual ones for identification.

The only bad things about tubifex worms for the aquatic ecosystem is if they are infected with Myxobolus cerebralis, otherwise they are absolutely fine in the aquarium.
I have read they are only a problem in young fish that cannot easily fight the parasite. In salmon and trout, it is said that after about 4 months of age, a fish can fight it off. I wonder if this is the same for smaller and more delicate aquarium trade fish?


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## FISA (Dec 3, 2004)

aquaverde said:


> Something like this?


Mine actually looks like this one.....thanx for the link....

so hmm....im guessing they are good then....

someone also said tubliflex....well ive been feeding them tubiflex too..as well as mosquito larva..... are tubiflex red when they are live..

thanx for all the responses


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## FISA (Dec 3, 2004)

Stu said:


> It does sound like Tubifex worms to me.
> 
> Do they look like this?
> That is literally hundreds of the fellas, but you can see individual ones for identification.
> ...



You sneaked past me Stu...while i was posting....hmm....those are red too...now im confused...lol....i mean how do you tell a worm from the other...lol


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## rayhwong (Aug 6, 2004)

Sorry about hijacking the thread, but does anyone have any idea about the one I found?


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## FISA (Dec 3, 2004)

hey ray...I think you have the same thing i have.....couple of them seem rounded....but i do have a couple that look like they are a bit flattened and limpy....but they both resemble each other.....

i dunno...im still learning about these worms....but im doing some research as these critters are of great interest to me...and i do wanna know more about substrate dwellers like these...

so lets see what we find out....

there are a few experts on this forum that have been into this hobby for years....maybe we'll get some info from them... :icon_bigg


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## danmhippo (Feb 3, 2005)

Back when I was in States, I have found tubifex with one of the plant purchase. It could either be plants were kept in the same tank that LFS feed tubifex to some delicate fish (such as discus), or tubifex hitchhiked when the plants were packaged back in the farm.

But either way, typical sand are an ideal place for them to multiply. Loaches love them.


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## Stu (Feb 16, 2004)

At the end of the day, without having a very clear photo (or video) of the worm in *your* tank, we will only be guessing, unless you want to get it under a microscope and look for these points.









Tubifex worms (Tubifex tubifex) are in the same class (Oligochaeta) as the one in the link provided by aquaverde, so again, the worm would look similar to both as they will share many familiarities. You would need to look for scientific anatomical features to distinguish exactly (as mentioned above).

Tubifex lay fertilised eggs in a cocoon which may well have been on a plant you introduced into your tank.


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## rayhwong (Aug 6, 2004)

Yup I need a good picture. The next time i pull one out I'll snap one. The egg sacs are clear and gelatanous. The whole sac is about the size of a pea and attached to plant roots. The worms live at the root base of the plants and look almost like a bright red artery intertwined among the roots.


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