Little white/grey worms

[RichardChen]

In my 125 gallon Cichlid tank, I found tiny tiny white worms. They are about 1/4 to 1/2 inches long thread like worms color white or grey. They hide under the gravel. The time I see them is when I do gravel wash or stir up the gravel when cleaning the tank. When they are exposed, all the cichlids igrnore them; but the giant dinos love eatting them.

What are they? How do I get them? I haven't purchase any fish for about 3 years. Are they a threat to cichlid? How do I get rid of them?

Please help and thank you in advance.

[stevenallenbarnard]

sounds like detritus worms (spelling) the only time i see them is if i have been overfeeding or if i go too long w/o a water change

[cichlid1409]

yep sounds like detritus worms aka planaria. keep up with regular water changes, siphon out any worms you can and make sure not to over feed and they will go away.

[davemonkey]

Ditto on not overfeeding and keeping up with water changes. However, the worms aren't harmful. They are basically eating leftovers and any organic matter they can find. Small fish love them as a tasty treat. They won't harm your cichlids.

[RichardChen]

What a relief to know they won't hurt my fish; but will they hurt me like enter my skin while I am cleaning the tank?

[Darbex]

No they are harmless just ugly but they are doing a job of eating decaying waste. You will probably never rid yourself of them but you can control them with what the others said.

[Zebvance]

No they are harmless just ugly but they are doing a job of eating decaying waste. You will probably never rid yourself of them but you can control them with what the others said.

+1 I have had large numbers of these in my canisters. I am just now getting there numbers down to where I only see on or two every now and again.

[aone4u2luv@yahoo.com]

Have the same thing the angels love them as a snack