Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

My shrimp tank has exploded with tinny, clear, quarter inch worms and some sort of zippy swimming white specks. The worms mostly float in the water, like lint in a beam of sunlight. I also see them crawling along the glass sides of the tank. It's like a snow storm in there. I don't see anything mentioned like this in the searches I'v done.

What are they and how do I get rid of them?

Thank you,

Cinthia

The swimming white specks sound like paramecium, fish fry love 'em, I'm not sure if shrimp larva eat them or not.

I have these too. I was told by someone that they are nothing to worry about and are generally the sign of a healthy tank.

At anyone time I see maybe two or three of the little worm things, usually crawling along the glass or on some java moss.

I have both of those too. Glad to hear the specks are paramecium. Now I just need some fry to eat them. I am currently trying to spawn Weitzmani corys in a different tank so this will come in very handy if I should succeed.
The worms are planaria. Nothing to worry about. They are usually the result of over feeding. Cut down on the food supply some and they will go away. My dwarf puffer loves them and most small fish like tetras will eat them. Unfortunately you can't add most fish to a shrimp tank as they would also gladly snack on the shrimp.

Thank you all for replying. I have cut back on the feeding. There are several oak leaves and plenty of culture on the sponge filter. I also have a large piece of cholla wood in the tank. The love the cholla!

garfieldnfish wrote:I have both of those too. Glad to hear the specks are paramecium.The worms are planaria. Nothing to worry about. They are usually the result of over feeding.

It's good to know they'er harmless. I kind of figured they were. It just really buggs my brain to see my tank looking like a snow globe
Maybe I'll siphon some of this into my endler tank. I'v thought of letting loose my male endler in the shrimp tank as he is small enough not to do too much damage to the shrimp population. However, I'v been treating the fish for some kind of fungus/bacterial infecton for the last few weeks. If these fish don't make it, I think I'll go strictly shrimp! Only my pigmy corys seem to be unphased by everything. Cute lil buggers.

I had used some of the water from my shrimp tank to seed the new setup the "Chololate Neocaridina," I ordered from Karma Farms, and have noticed a few of the planaria there also.

I have not seen a picture of these "chocolate" shrimp so don't know exactly what they look like. They are discribed as follows:
"They are a small neocaridina species similar to the cherry shrimp. But these shrimp are a dark burgundy/brown/black
and have a lighter colored stripe down their backs."

Anticipation is killing me!

Thank you all again,
Cinthia

I would continue with the decreased feeding and siphoning the tank. I would not add endlers to the tank as I have seen what they can do in a shrimp tank. Please let us know about the "chocolate" shrimp when they get there.