Comments on: 10.13.2. Detritus Worms

By: Jill Secovich

Jill Secovich — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 16:28:19 +0000

I don’t know about anyone else, but i LOVE having the Detritus worms in my Goldfish tank! I have the ones that are most described in your description as the tiny small white wiggly ones, they are populated in JUST the right amount and my fish love to eat them if and when i stir any up from the substrate….they are great and I know my tank is a well working, mini ecosystem…. Who could ask for anything more in the Fish hobbies? Thank you for your article.

By: Colin Flanagan

Colin Flanagan — Sat, 17 May 2025 21:08:28 +0000

I think those “tubifex” worms are California Blackworms Lumbriculus variegatus. I just got a bunch.

By: Jessica Gazon

Jessica Gazon — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 02:35:46 +0000

Hello, sorry to bother again! I’ve been dosing all the tanks with PraziPro and sadly the rhabdacoelas do not seem affected. You mentioned slowly—is there any particular reason? Or is there any other method to eradicate them? I haven’t even seen a population drop thus far.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 03:18:09 +0000

In reply to Jessica. In reply to Jessica .... Prazipro ONLY kills flatworms (tapeworms and flukes). It won't harm detritus worms or tubifex worms.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 06:23:43 +0000

Upon adding it, it *seems* like most of the Tubifex started wriggling immediately, presumably as a reaction to the Prazipro. But I’d still love to hear your thoughts if you disagree!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 05:51:29 +0000

Thank you for your reply! I’ve bought Prazipro and am wondering…will it hurt “detritus worms”? I believe I have Tubifex worms, they’re long, thin, and orange, have little spikes per segment, and stick their head out of the gravel. When disturbed they sometimes start wriggling frantically to get to the top. This is for a very small tank with a one shrimp pair, only 1.75 gal, so I’m worried that the Tubifex deaths will overwhelm the tank with ammonia. A lot of places on the internet say they kill *all* worms but I don’t believe that’s true so I wanted to check in case I misunderstood. Thank you again!

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 22 Jun 2024 01:44:30 +0000

In reply to Jessica Gazon.

In reply to Jessica ……. Rhabdocoelas are slowly taken care of by Prazipro in the water. It shouldn’t affect either the snails or the shrimp.

By: Jessica Gazon

Jessica Gazon — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 08:20:02 +0000

Any suggestions for getting rid of Rhabdocoelas? I’m trying to breed bladder snails and Ramshorns in my shrimp tank but the Rhabs are eating their eggs and the babies (I used to see tiny shells everywhere). The snails eventually stopped breeding altogether. I’ve been trying manual removal but it hasn’t really been helping.

I will say, I did notice detritus worms (the annelids, the ones that move like little snakes) popping up in one of those tanks suddenly and I haven’t been seeing many Rhabs since then. I have no idea why. But even there the bladders never started breeding again. Please help!

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 20:21:26 +0000

In reply to Elise. In reply to Elise ... Probably just a type of earthworm that came in with the soil. Nothing to worry about.

By: Elise

Elise — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 18:24:59 +0000

I had worms turn up during my cycle. Dirted tank, topped with white silica sand. Natural uncleaned rock and wood. They turned up before plants were added, have a bulbus head, are stripey, about 8mm long and are round. They sit on top of the substrate and just wiggle. A lot! Haha.
Do you know what type of worm they are? And would they have come in with the dirt/rock/wood?